This week and the end of last week I as forced to slow down with my daily paintings. I was babysitting my niece for a few days and it is nearly impossible to paint while watching a toddler as I’m sure many of you with young kids understand. I still painted every day and took a few minutes here and there to work on Day 58 over the course of three days.
You can’t see it clearly in the photos, but I used a metallic silver paint on the metal part of the collar on Day 58, in the eyes and nose on Day 59, and in the stars and stripes on the party hat on Day 60. I’ve had the metallic paints for a while, but struggled to find the right place to use it. It’s the same problem with some of the other paints I bought. I wanted to try them, but it turns out I’m pretty set in my ways and I’m really only using the original colors I bought.
The only new color I’ve used consistently is Yellow Ochre. I was frequently mixing Azo Yellow and Burnt Umber to get a similar color so Yellow Ochre is a big convince color for me. Honestly, I’m failing to see the need for most colors. There are 8 colors that I use in nearly every painting and beyond that it’s just colors for the sake of colors.
It would be interesting to force myself to use different palettes. For instance, it would be fun to do a paintings with the primary colors Hansa Yellow, Primary Magenta, and Cobalt Blue. It would be especially interesting because those are some of the least used colors on my palette. I tend to prefer Azo Yellow, Pyrrol Red, and Phthalo Blue which are all much warmer colors.
Follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on my daily progress. I post daily or nearly so. If you’re interested in purchasing one of these paintings or would like to commission a portrait of your pet, please send me an email at amber.honour@burntumberarts.com.