Wooohooo what a way to start 2017!
Yesterday I spent the whole evening + night painting these little leafy shapes, reminding me of clover leaves. I was completely mesmerized by the tininess of them, the super thin branches, with curving them to form patterns and shapes, and most of all, with the color combinations and transitions.
Although I tried to make bigger ones, with bigger brushes, the ones I liked best were all made with a 0 sized brush.
I took some crappy photos
The ellipse was the first attempt, I’m going to use it in some design soon enough, I really like its look.
It’s easy to make nice color transitions in these tiny leaves since when looking with a naked eye, you don’t notice any blooms or other different paint consistency issues.
Next I moved on to the wreath. here I tried painting several layers, letting each layer dry before applying the next. I was looking for more depth.
In the detail photo below you can see all the imperfections, I like that they don’t matter at all, I’m not used to that.
Then I moved on to blues and browns, and I love these color combinations!
In the mix – all watercolors:
- Talens Van Gogh Cerulean blue (phthalo)
I have to say this specific shade is so vibrant, translucent, crisp – so beautiful! Seriously, it takes my breath away. I got another cerulean blue, by Winsor & Newton (professional series), and it doesn’t come close to this one by Royal Talens. It’s not as translucent, not as vibrant, and when mixed with other colors, somehow the result isn’t as nice. The Talens’ one adds a shine of sorts even in mixes. - Talens Van Gogh Phthalo Blue
- Sennelier Prussian Blue
- Sennelier Raw Umber
- Winsor & Newton Yellow Ochre
- A hint of Carmine Red (Sennelier) in some of the brown shades.
(A magnificent shade, by the way)
As you paint them, the colors mix on the palette, and most hues I got were mixes, not pure colors. I’ve found out it’s a good idea to wash my brush once in a while, to get a purer color, the vibrancy of the hints of pure color add a lot. This was especially true for the Cerulean Blue and the Yellow Ochre, and the Lemon Yellow in the green ellipse.
