2020 – INDIGO BEACH ART

Creating Salt Patterns

Above are some awesome salt patterns I created. The colours I used for this wash were Indanthrone Blue and Cascade Green by Daniel Smith. The Salt I used was a coarse grain sea salt.

Creating salt patterns in watercolour is never going to be an exact science but I have found that when creating salt patterns it helps to know the properties of your paints – ie. whether they are Transparent, Semi-transparent, Semi-opaque or Opaque. The transparent paints generally create good salt patterns because they are made up of finer particles that move more readily across the paper. Opaque, Semi-opaque and some of the more heavily granulating paints are made up of heavier particles that don’t move so quickly across the paper – these are much less likely to create very good salt patterns. Also, a coarse/larger grained salt will generally create larger patterns than a fine salt. So it’s good to consider what effects you would like to achieve and then choose your salt type accordingly.

In my wash above the Indanthrone Blue is a transparent paint – hence it has created really good salt patterns. The Cascade Green, however, is made up of two colours – Phthalo Blue GS (transparent) and Raw Sienna, (granulating). The Phthalo Blue part of the Cascade Green has created some salt patterns but the Raw Sienna part less so, probably because of it’s granulating property. So overall the Cascade Green has produced much more subtle salt patterns.

Something else to consider when creating salt patterns, is the type of paper you are using. Cold pressed paper is smoother and allows the paint to move more freely across the paper and creates salt patterns more easily; but a rough surface paper will slow down the movement of the paint and makes creating salt patterns more challenging!

You do need to add the salt to the paint at the right time. If the surface of the paint is very shiny, then it may be too wet. Wait till the shine has gone off a bit, so the paint is still damp but not too wet.

Using salt with watercolour is a very old technique but it’s still a lot of fun and great for creating textural effects. Why not give it a go… ?

SPRING FLOWER STUDIES

This is a post from my archives, added to my new blog with it’s original post date – 8th April 2020…

Spring is springing very beautifully in my little corner of the world. You can’t lockdown spring! Above are some Buttercup and Forget-Me-Not studies in watercolour. They were painted on Arches Bright White paper, NOT surface, 300 gsm. The paper was torn into 10 cm x 19 cm strips.

I used Daniel Smith’s Cobalt Blue for the Forget-Me-Nots, plus a little Cobalt Violet Deep and some Hansa Yellow Medium. Just quick loose studies, trying to capture the essence of the flowers rather than detailed botanical studies.

Buttercups – weeds or wild flowers? What ever your view, they add a vibrant splash of colour to the environment. For the buttercup flowers I used Hansa Yellow Medium and Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue; for the stems I used Olive Green.

Beautiful pink Blossom seen on my daily walk. I used DS Quinacridone Rose for the flowers and Undersea Green for the stems. Again, keeping them simple, not too much detail.

I kept all these spring flower studies simple, trying to adopt a “less is more” approach. I loved painting these – they were so much fun to do and a valuable part of my watercolour journey.

FLINT GREY

Those of you who are familiar with Daniel Smith’s awesome range of watercolour paints will know that in the last year they brought out a new range of grey watercolour shades, most of which are named after very well known watercolour artists. I was quite excited about this new range of grey watercolours coming onto the market. There was (and still is) a definite gap in the market where grey watercolours are concerned; in many ranges of watercolours the choice of ready made grey’s is very limited. When these new grey colours arrived, lovely as they all are in their own way, I found that none of them quite matched up to what I was looking for. I am a bit picky with my colours…

This was the point where I decided that I’m just going to have to create my own “ready made” grey… ! Here it is – FLINT GREY…

Flint Grey ~ my own grey mixed from DS Ultramarine Blue + Yellow Ochre

Flint Grey is a mix of Daniel Smith’s Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ochre. Both of these watercolour shades are transparent, granulating and have an excellent lightfastness rating. These colours, mixed in the correct proportions, make a soft, stunningly beautiful and totally neutral grey that is just what I was looking for.

In mass tone Flint Grey is a lovely charcoal grey and it will wash out to the most beautiful delicate light grey. It’s perfect for skies, landscapes, winter seascapes, soft shadows and shading. It’s uses are endless. It also mixes well with other colours to create lovely soft muted colours. To my Flint Grey, I can add a little more Ultramarine Blue to cool it down or add a little more Yellow Ochre to warm it up if needed:

Flint Grey (middle) + more Ultramarine (left) & + more Yellow Ochre (right)

When I run clean water through a dark wash of Flint Grey I can get a subtle separation of colour and some lovely granulation:

Flint Grey – subtle colour separation & granulation

Flint Grey is named after myself (Flint being my surname) but also appropriately named because flint stone comes in lovely shades of grey, blue-grey and yellow ochre. Flint Grey is now going to be a permanent part of my palette. I will just mix more as I need it. I stored my first batch of Flint Grey in a large pan, which you can see in the first image. I’m so excited about this grey – it’s so beautiful!

There are so many different ways of mixing grey. Any mix of red, yellow and blue, in the correct proportions, will make some form of a grey. For example: a green (blue + yellow) mixed with a red (in the correct proportions) will make a grey; blue mixed with a little orange (red + yellow) will also make a shade of grey. Different primary colour combinations will make different shades of grey. Why not have a go at creating your own grey’s – it’s fun… !