Many palette boxes of gouache

These are my palette boxes of various gouache.  Of all the gouache brands that I have tried, Schmincke gouache I like the best.  It does what gouache is suppose to do, especially on toned paper.

 

 

Pill Box is filled with Holbein Gouache.  From left to right:

Cad Yellow, Sap Green, Leaf Green, FUB, Carmine, and Cad Red.

 

Schmincke Gouache : From left to right:

First row: Cad yellow light; Indian yellow, Cad orange, Carmine

Second row: Cobalt green light, Helio green blueish, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue light

Third row: Violet, Burnt umber, Madder red deep, Titanium white, Ivory black

 

 

 Compact watercolor Palette box filled with Holbein, Winsor & Newton, and  Schmincke Gouache. 

 First row left to right Cad yellow light, Cad Orange, Carmine, Cad Red,

Second Row:  Madder Red Deep, Dark Indigo Blue, FUB,  Cobalt Blue

Third Row: Cerulean Blue (Holbein), Violet, Cobalt Green Light, Brilliant Green (Winsor/Newton)

Fourth Row:Sap Green, Burnt Umber, Ivory Black, Titanium White 

 

 

 Winsor and Newton Gouache.  From left to right

Zinc white, Burnt umber

Cad yellow, Primary red, Ultramarine

 

 

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor sticks palette

Cleaning out my studio has been interesting.  I keep on finding stuff that I could use or re-purpose.  This 3" Round Altoids container was one such item. 

 

I've had these Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor Sticks for awhile.  I've used them, but wanted to find a way to assemble a small palette with just a few colors.  That's where the Altoids container came in.

 

 

 

 

To make, I used empty half pans.  Magnetic  adhesive sheets were put on the bottom of each empty half pans.

 

 

 

The watercolor sticks were cut down to put into the empty half pans.  I applied a little water to the bottom of  each half pans, so when dry, the watercolor stick would stay in place. I put the watercolor sticks half pans in the container. Then got a small watercolor sheet of paper, painted each box with watercolor.   I  then cut down the WC paper to fit on the bottom of the Altoids container to make a WC reference sheet.  Using my Sharpie, I noted down the colors on the WC reference sheet. Then the WC sheet was laminated.  I then cut a square piece of the magnet strip to put on the back of the  WC reference sheet.  Once that was done, I attached the WC reference sheet to the bottom of the Altoids container. 

This Altoids container is so small, there is no reason why I can't do quick watercolor sketches when I'm on the go.

 

Numana, Italy

 

It was a beautiful warm day in Numana, Italy.  I was looking down below to the wonderful color of the ocean and the blue sky.

 

 

Gubbio, Italy

 

 

Last year at this time I was in Fabriano and Florence, Italy.  Today I decided to paint from one of my photo's that I took in Gubbio, Italy,  a view looking down the valley.  It was mid-afternoon when we arrived in Gubbio and had about an hour free time to explore.  Needless-to-say, I didn't make it very far on the main street.  I was looking at all the shops and stumbled into a book binding shop.   The owner/artist was rather friendly and told us about her shop, how she made books and leather goods, and where she was trained in Rome.  I bought a ostrich backpack and a glass dip pen from her.  

 

 

 

Big Kitty

 

Saw this guy sitting in the middle of the street today on my way to my chiropractor.   Lucky for him that we live in a gated community, otherwise, he might of been road kill.  Took his picture with my IPhone so I could paint him when I got home this afternoon.  You never know when inspiration will appear.

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Cockatoo

 

Cockatoo's are beautiful and come in many colors.

 

 

 

 

Indigo

I've been cleaning out my studio and have been going through all my tubes of watercolor paint.  I was amazed at all the tubes I have; some duplicates and some that I forgot I had.  When I first started to paint in watercolor I was only using Winsor & Newton.  But as I got comfortable painting in watercolor, I started to try other brands.  It wasn't until I discovered Daniel Smith that Winsor & Newton was kicked to the curb.  There are still a few of WN colors that I'll use.  This little painting of Maddie was done with WN Indigo.  Once it's all gone, I'll replace with DS Indigo.

 

 

 

Experimenting

 

As I slow re-organize my studio I've been coming across unfinished paintings.  Before I added the flowers, the background had already been colored with green and blue neo crayons.  I then sketched out the flowers with a brown sharpie and used kids Crayola watercolors.

 

 

Working on a set of note cards

Today worked on a painting using kids watercolors.  All I need to do is add a greeting.

 

 

Bread Machine Challah Shabbat and festivals

Today I made bread.  It was so beautiful that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. 

 

I bought my bread machine when they first came out years ago and had a $400. price tag.  I made a few loaves, but was never really satisfied with the shape or texture.  So my bread machine sat in my appliance grave yard.

 

Things changed a few weeks ago when I discovered www.allrecipes.com.  I was looking for an easy pizza dough recipe when I came across All recipes website.  Not only did I find a great pizza dough recipe, I found lots of recipes that I could make in my bread machine.  I looked at bread recipes that I would only use my bread machine dough cycle.  So far I've made Italian bread and whole wheat bread.  I've always have liked Challah Bread, so I decide today was the day to make it.  It was so easy to make that I plan to make each Friday.  I've include a link to the actual recipe at all recipes.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Machine-Challah-for-Shabbat-and-Festivals/Detail.aspx

Elephant at night

This elephant was painted with gouache on toned paper.

 

 

Elephant mowing through the grass

This originally was suppose to be done on toned paper using gouache, but after sketching the elephant and laying down the gouache, I realized that it would take longer to render the painting with gouache, so I started over on watercolor paper and used Daniel Smith watercolor.

 

 

A orange/red Parrot

 

I seem to be on a roll with gouache and toned paper.  Painting the last few days has been a joy.

 

Penguins

I'm really enjoying working with Schmincke gouache and toned paper. 

 

 

Golden Eagle

 

Gouache painting on toned paper.  I really like using gouache and toned paper together.

 

 

White Duck

 

I like dining at restaurants that have out door seating.  That being said, living in the high desert there is only a small window of opportunity to dine outside.  So when ever we travel down below, we try to go to a restaurant that does have out door seating weather permitting.  While we were in Valencia, we had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen on the patio.  We had a view of the small pond that the ducks frequent and this is one of the ducks that waddled by.

 

On this painting I used gouache on toned paper. 

 

 

 

A Field of flowers

 

Sometimes I find the unexpected...like a field of flowers.

 

I love brown dogs...

 

What can I say...I love dogs, especially brown dogs with long hair. I especially like them when they prance down the street with their happy face and tails wagging.   It's something about this combination that makes me smile.  So today I was lucky enough to see 3 brown dogs...all with their happy faces and wagging tails.  How many brown dogs have you seen today???

 

 

Brown bunny

 

I've been using this mix media paper for my watercolors.  I've finding that I have to push and pull the paper to get my glazes down, otherwise, the paint just streaks across the surface.

 

 

Pansy

 

Today was a day to just drop paint and knowing when to call a painting finished!  Sometimes the paintings that appear to be easy to paint, in reality aren't.

 

 

Panda Bear

 

I've been going through all my original watercolors that I've painted over the last 15 years.  I was amazed at how much my artistic ability has grown.  I remember buying a greeting card when I was in college of a Panda.   The greeting card was rendered in watercolor and I thought I'd like to be able to paint like that some day.  Even back then when I was questioning if  I could even draw, even a likeness, I took baby steps to figure the mechanics of drawing that panda.  Now I can draw the Panda with no problem.  So this afternoon I took 20 minutes to paint this guy.

 

 

Sheep

 

From yesterdays driving adventure, on the way home, I saw lots of sheep.  So yesterday wasn't a total loss.

 

 

Screaming Ostrich

 

I can imagine this is what an ostrich would be doing if they were stuck in the car all day driving...that's how my day went.  It's been rather hot in the high desert, so my husband suggested that we drive down to Santa Barbara for the day.  I checked the weather and the forecast for the day was 69 degrees...that was good.  When we finally got to the coast, it was rather gray and cold.  So we decided to go to Ojai, which is higher in elevation.   Turned the car around and off we went to Ojai. 

Ojai was a nice 80 degrees, unfortunately, it was crowded, so we drove home.  It wouldn't of been so bad if it was just me and my husband, but we had all four dogs.  The dogs were rather good the whole time they were in the car, but having to deal with them in crowds can be a problem.  So tomorrow we stay home!

 

 

 

Baby rhino at sunset

 

Some animals are rather cute when they are babies. 

 

 

Just in time for Father's Day

 

I think my dogs will give this to their daddy for father's day.

 

 

Horse Carousel

I was going through my photos from Paris and came across one of the Carousels.  What originally started out as a brown horse seem to take a life of it's own.  I went a little crazy in Photo Shop using the layers feature.  I changed  some of the colors of my watercolor and added a textured background. 

I think this is a keeper.

 

Maddie...my cute little Shi Tzu

 

I decided to pull out my Chinese Brushes and do a quick study of Maddie. I think I captured her expression.

 

 

IF - - Sweet

Nothing is sweeter than a piece of French fruit gateau.

 

 

 

Gold Fish

 

 

 

Since I was still in a fish mode, I thought I'd paint some gold fish painted in Chinese Brush style.

 

Koi Fish

 

Today went over a friends house to sketch her pretty Koi Fish.  Just watching them swim around was rather peaceful.