Behind the Pencil
Welcome to my artist journal where I document and share my creative life and passions
Pigment Exploration: Quinacridone Violet PV19
Watercolour pigments often have a range of hues and properties available, and PV19 is a great example of this. When I was a beginner to watercolour I started with a split primary that used Quinacridone Rose as the cool red. Years later, I am curious about its sister Quinacridone Violet. Both are the same pigment number, but with very different hues and producing different colour mixes as a result. Let’s dive in to some first impression discoveries about Violet-PV19!
Celebrating My Favourite (Discontinued) Warm Red
Art supplies change or get discontinued entirely more frequently than people may realise. Rather than letting discontinuations be all doom and gloom, I want to share with you all the joy and help that an old pigment has given me in my painting practice over the years. Today we’ll be looking at Transparent Pyrrol Orange by Daniel Smith - but the much redder version that was discontinued before 2019 - and the process of a tiger painting.
Palette Check Up: Is the New System Working?
A few months ago I changed my watercolour palette set up to see if it would help my painting process and creativity. Now that I have experience using the new palette system in practice, do I think its working for me?
Painting Bella for International Pet Day
A peek inside my thought process for creating a watercolour pet portrait of Bella, a sweet elderly dog for International Pet Day.
Embracing Granulation in Watercolour
How do you handle very intensely granulating paints in watercolour? Join me as I walk through how I planned the painting of a lion portrait in watercolour and gouache to account for the heavy granulation of French Ultramarine PB29 by Schmincke.