Friday, August 3, 2012


carmella's dream ~ oil paint and graphite on collaged cardboard

as i paint more  with water soluble oils i'm reminding myself to keep it simple, keep it fun...   when the urge to 'get better'/more polished creeps in i shoo it away.  because oils seemed so outrageously fun to me from the beginning, i wanna keep it that way...

 for a while now i've been wanting to do a post about shinhan watercolors and miscellaneous other watercolor stuff...  

 i found shinhan watercolors last winter when i was looking for a nontoxic naples yellow, and i've bought a lot of colors since then.   they flow beautifully and they're very inexpensive at dick blick.   i've read some reviews claiming that they're not lightfast - and then i've read others claiming that most of the colors are, so i don't know what the story is with that, but since i'm not concerned about my paintings lasting for hundreds of years it isn't an issue for me.  and besides, i'm mainly using them in my journals where they'll see very little light.


here are some of my favorite colors...   from the top: juane brilliant no. 2,  looks very much like salmon (the color).  i use it all the while on lips and cheeks.  next is shell pink - sigh...   i swear i could eat this color!  below that is lavender, which is a beautiful lavender-ish periwinkle blue.  then leaf green - almost a chartreuse, wonderful for leaves.  and greenish yellow - this is so beautiful!  an olive green but prettier.  and finally, davey's grey - a deep grey green.  these three greens have become my favorite greens...

i also use them like gouache and paint right out of the tube with them.    they work great like this.



this is sennelier's warm grey (# 705 on blick's color chart) which is the only other buff titanium (in watercolor) that i've found besides daniel smith's.  i might've gotten a bad tube of daniel smith's buff titanium because it's downright gooey, but  whatever the case, i was happy to find this user friendly version!


and my fav watercolor brush...  hands down, after trying quite a few,  the raphael kolinsky red sable, series 8404.  it holds a lot of paint, the tip is fabulous, and it's springy - not floppy.  i have no words for how perfect i think this brush is!


my zecchi paint set with other half and full pans added, and lots of gouache and shinhan watercolors squirted on the lid.  i've been loving painting with this set this summer.  my travel brush is a  #4 escoda, series 1214 brush, and i also stick in an inexpensive filbert for when i really wanna push the paint around.  i don't like the escoda brush nearly as much as the raphael, mainly because it's not springy. 

for fellow face painters, in case it's useful, the main colors above that i use for skin are: zecchi raw sienna (middle row, second from the right),  zecchi flesh tint (middle row, fifth from the left), sennelier warm grey (just left of flesh tint), and for darker shading,  zecchi raw umber (middle row, far right).  for cheeks and lips i use lots of the reds, oranges, and pinks - the shinhan juane brilliant no. 2 sees a lot of action, as does the shell pink!

and not shown here, white and ivory albrecht durer watercolor pencils...  if i want to paint a face white or ivory first i use them, because once they're dry  the color is permanent.  which means that they won't cause red on the cheeks to become pink.

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“10 rules for students and teachers” from john cage (via tumblr)

20 comments:

  1. Ooh, I love seeing other peoples' art materials, the Shinhan watercolour colours you mentioned look gorgeous.

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  2. Hi Lynne! Thank you yet again for sharing so much. I love being here(your blog) as you are always so full of excitement about what you do! Carmella reminds me of my mom. I think her eyes, lips and jaw line( OK, minus the bunny ears! )..... very cool! OH, and I love that you collaged over cardboard. Briliant! xo

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  3. Lynne, I love your bunny girl!
    Thank you so much for sharing all your paint info.
    As for the John cage list, I save everything! It gets hard to store it, I do eventually use it in an
    art piece, sometimes it takes 15 years, but then I need it and I am so glad I have it :-).Happy weekend.xoxo

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  4. I love this painting, I love the effects you get!

    I agree on the oils...you are right keep it simple keep it fun! I have to try that!

    Thanks for the info on all of the other art goodies!

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  5. okay - #8 needs to be stapled to my forehead and I know plenty of people who really do "save everything" but I'm not one of 'em. Lately I'm more about jettisoning stuff.
    really do love seeing your well-used tools - lush ...
    Be on the lookout for a large black envelope.
    smooches!

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  6. I am loving the direction you are on Miss Lynne. But as flighty as it may sound...I would adore any direction you go in. But there it is. Love your work.
    I chuckled when you mentioned eating the color. I bet there are artists out there in this world who HAVE eaten the color. I bet there are. More than one artist along the timeline I bet. I've also had this urge and the closest I get to it (the eating that is), is to use it full strength directly from the jar (acrylic) to the page. I stuck my finger into the jar and then directly to the page. It did not go anywhere near my mouth (fear not--I will not be one of the souls who have eaten paint.)
    I have a jar of 'raw titanium' (or unbleached titanium) which is custom mixed by a store here in Vancouver, Canada, which is the most beautiful color, or non-color that I can imagine.
    Color is emotional hey? Hugs, N. xo

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  7. Whew you have given us a wealth of knowledge! I love the photo of the watercolor tray of colors and splashes of blended hues. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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  8. hi Lynne Carmella is another cutie and love her bunny ears lol thanks for the heads up on the watercolour paint i dont worry about archival lol leave that to the masters hehe

    hugz bev

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  9. Your work always fascinates me and i love how open your are in sharing your knowledge. I had such a good visit here catching up with your posts. Those seashells are awesome too!! Love your work... xox

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  10. I have a question about your water-soluble oils, Lynne: do they have that great oil-paint scent? OK, two questions: do they 'bleed' oil on paper that hasn't been gessoed?
    (I really like carmella - her dream seems to have troubled her though). xxoo, sus

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  11. I have no words for how perfect I think *YOU* are! And I love Carmella's bunny ears!

    Isn't Dick Blick the *best* source for art supplies?!?!

    I've been away from blogging much too long, and I need to catch up with so much. But I can't leave here without saying how happy I am for you both that you went to Roxanne's workshop with her! It looks like it was such a lovely time.
    xoxoxo

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  12. Hey Sweet Lynne I so do love it when you chit chat about your favorites. I'm always on the search for a good brush and agree with you tons about nice 'springy' brushes, oh such a joy to paint with, not a fan of the paint brush 'flop' either..paint brushes are about as personal as finding the right jeans or the shoes that feel like they belong on your feet; were meant to be there..makes all the difference in the world. Your newest face is a treasure...I ADORE the lavender hues and think she must have come from a lavender laced meadow...I swear I can catch a hint of the delicate fragrance on the wind, cuz I've thrown open every window to catch the sweetest NW wind...so I know it must be a gift from you...many many thanks ;)

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  13. I always love peeking at others studios and supplies. Great post...will give that paint a try. Thanks.

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  14. I love it when you offer posts like this to us! love hearing what you are enjoying and how you use it.
    love this piece of art too, the lavender ears, rosier cheek with pale rosy cheek, the color of the shirt and the bit of green love it all!
    lovely summer to you Lynne.

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  15. This John Cage list is So GREAT!!

    I'm on a shopping freeze right now, but thanks so much for this inforatnion! Knowing the colors for faces is really helpful!

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  16. I love this list. Thank you for been so giving of your knowledge. I am wanting to explore watercolours more coming up (on my neverending to-do list :)) and this will be very helpful. So many tips and practical information!

    Thank you.

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  17. Lynne, you are my go-to person for art supplies! Thank you! I bought cheap watercolors and watercolor pencils...but was planning on graduating eventually because they are fun to use.

    Carmella is divine sporting her bunny hat and all...I am guessing she is a huge animal lover...so much so she wants to dress like them.

    I love the rules by John Cage...well said...I had to google him though...had no clue who he was...now I do.

    Whack! :)

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  18. "carmella's dream" is dreamy, and so is your painting box. Thanks so much for the rules for students and teachers from john cage. I love it all.
    roxanne

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  19. Hey, just to let you know, because I just tracked it down: they are just about as light-fast as any other paints, the confusion originated with the fact that they use a different rating scale, and none of their paints earned a perfect or absolutely lightfast rating, but in that scale, neither would most other paint pigments. I think to compare to the industry standard, their paints are mostly 7's and not 8's.

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    Replies
    1. dave! thank you for that info! it's what i intuitively felt, so it doesn't surprise me...

      funny, i haven't painted with them in months now! i'm wandering around in acrylic world these days.

      i wish you the best, and thanks again...

      lynne

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