19 April 2016

a wee green froggy


The next few pages in my sketchbook journal have been totally random and unfocused. Some quotes from books I've recently read, a silhouette of one of the many herons flying overhead recently . . . and then there's this wee green frog who had decided to live inside the chest where we store charcoal next to our smoker-grill outside. He is actually quite shiny but I painted him in gouache and did not quite capture the shine.


It's been a while since I played with gouache, so I tested the colors in this small palette, decided to cut down to 12 colors whenever the current bits of paint are used up. On the left side, I tried different mixes to find out which to keep and which to get rid of. As much as I love dark blue indigo, it can be replicated by mixing ultramarine with a brown. Helio turquoise is similar to phthalo blue in how it mixes, making it a good cool blue, but cerulean seems best for skies. Gamboge seems a bit too garish to me -- I prefer a more subtle warm yellow like the yellow ochre. Another option might be titanium gold ochre, which I did not have in this palette.

The palette came from Wet Paint years ago, no longer available. In the center, I placed four metal paint pans from Expeditionary Art and a half-pan of white. When the colors are used up, I will eliminate the colors I'm weeding out and use this space to hold a bit of a sponge.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Vicky,

    I so admire your sketches. I just caught up on all your recent blogs and enjoyed every one. I live in Houston but know Lake Somerville well and I'm glad it's coming back after the flooding. Be careful, fire ants can sometimes even bite through socks. Keep sketching, keep blogging. Your efforts are appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the words of encouragement, Leigh --- they are greatly appreciated!

    ReplyDelete

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