Before 2020 my palette selection had remained relatively unchanged for decades, there had been a few alternatives, and I dropped aureolin yellow a long time ago. When I did this palette cleanser painting it occurred to me that every paint I am using in 2020 is new to me. It goes to show that you can change your habit, even drastically and get even better results. To a viewer it would not be easy to notice which particular paint I am using, but if you have followed the blog you may notice a brighter, more livelier group of paintings this year. Not only did I overhaul my entire palette, but I rethought how to mix colours, guided by Handprint.com (MacEvoy) and the artists colour wheel that plotted every watercolour paint on a hue circle. My experience now, is an easier time mixing, and less guesswork about how to create certain colours. The best example was asphalt, which is a low saturation, low value blue-violet. To lower saturation add water, to lower value add carbon black, then adjust the hue if needed. When I mix colours now on location I guess the colour property (hue, value, chroma), then use a strategy to create it. It was a good move to overhaul the palette, and the new paints are incredibly lightfast, meaning they will last for generations.
Palette Cleanser #38, 9 x 12" watercolour paper, watercolour, October 2020
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