Whew. I'm not feeling well today. It didn't keep me away from the paints though. Practice, practice, practice. I really never liked these sketches (both done yesterday), and adding paint today didn't make them any better. But, I don't care right now; I feel yuck.
On a happier note, I was treated to a Texas Art Supply trip yesterday. Boy-oh-boy, did I have fun! I had heard they had kolinsky sable brushes on clearance, which they did, but I didn't get one because they didn't look very good. I've been told they should have a nice point on them and these did not, so I passed. BUT! I did get a 9"x12" pad of Arches Hot Pressed paper, a bottle of W&N masking fluid, and, drumroll please, a 24 color, full pan set of Yarka professional watercolors! And I do love them. They have a very nice color saturation that I often have to fight for in my other set. I can't wait to play with them some more, when I'm feeling a little better.
The first thing I did was, well what is this called, a color chart? I wanted to see how all the colors looked on paper and with each other. My favorite colors, which I did not have before, are the Golden (ochre), and the violet.
This was sketched on site, yesterday, at the William Clayton Library. It's not a regular library, it's a genealogical research center. My mother had some things to look up before heading to the art supply which was nearby. I made so many mistakes in painting it, that I didn't even bother to finish. It is dim in my room right now (because it's gray outside), so I mistook the purple for green and then I mistook the green for purple. So, I have a row of purple somethings near the fence which did not exist, and the closer plant has dark, dark green on the underside of the purple leaves. And since I didn't like it so much, I went ahead and tried out my new masking fluid on the fence. This stuff will definitely come in handy!!
And this was from inside the library, where the walls were white and everything seemed to lack color. So I put some extra in. ;)
I haven't tried the hot press paper yet, thought I'd wait until I felt a little better. The masking fluid is interesting, and the bottle is so big that I probably have enough to last the rest of my life. And the travel set, I love it. It's a little large, but they didn't carry the half pans so...you know, I had to get them!
I admit, it may not look like much of a breakthrough, but for me it is-- and, I'm ecstatic about it! So ecstatic, I can almost not wait to do it again. Yesterday, I drew in public. Right there, in the middle of the crowd, not hiding in the protection of my car. I was at the VA hospital, with family and while I waited, I sat at a table in front of this Starbuck's kioske. The table was tiny, maybe two feet in diameter and I was sharing it with two people so I didn't pull out the watercolors like I wanted, maybe next time. I still plan to add color, but I just had to show you! I was out in the open-- sketching! And nobody came and yelled at me or made fun of me or anything horrible! I lived through it, and actually, I wasn't even nervous! This is a HUGE step for me!
