I have been calling myself an artist for a long time, But study and practice is more of a recent endeavor.
Cadmium Yellow Hue(PY97, PY65) , Alizarin Crimson Hue(PR206), Ultramarine(PB29), Sap Green(PY139, PG36, PR101), Yellow Ochre(PY42), Raw Umber(PBr7, PY42), Burnt Sienna (PR101), and Paynes Gray(PBk7, PB29, PB15).
The pans came with the kit, this is all the pans I have. The case has 4 empty slots, before “Inventory full”. I was thinking of getting some more. Any suggestions.
I would have called this “Picasso at Play”: 
I was struck by how rarely he blinks. I love that. I was once told that about myself by a close friend. “You rarely blink; you tend to scan the world around you.”
I love the gestural play, how physical it is.
@Sir_oops As far as suggestions, I guess you could pick a few colours/pigments from my list above that you don’t have, but as long as your pigment choices are compatible with one another, colour is one of those personal choice things.
One of my personal guidelines is to not use “hue” colours as they can contain extra pigments that may not be compatible with one another, and can create dull muddy colours in mixes. Unless that is the tonal quality you are going for.
Anything with black (BkXX) in it is a no go for me. I prefer to mix my own darks/blacks using my main colours that I already am using for the painting I’m working on. One of the loveliest transparent blacks can be created from mixing Permanent Magenta and Phthalo blue/green. Both pigments are intense, staining, and one must be careful with them, but lovely together as a chromatic black.
And of course “Cotman” is WN’s student grade using less expensive pigment mixes, instead of single pigment colours. It is a very good set to start out learning with, but may end up being frustrating after a while.
I think your skill level is good enough to start phasing out the student grade pans, unless of curse you find they work well for your tastes.
Yes! What sparked that desire to study and practise? Was there an epiphany moment or did it come upon you gradually?
@sheralmyst Thought of you when this arrived in my inbox this morning:
I haven’t had a change to do more than lightly skim the article but I thought you might enjoy it.
Bookmarked! Will definitely deep-dive into it. Thanks!
My sweetie, Mal, brought me a potted Orchid today. “It has some of your favorite color!” (Magenta) 
So I made a quick ink sketch of it for him.
I also started a new small oil painting. I got as far as getting the main shapes blocked in when I realised I was really tired and in a bit of pain, so I had to go and rest and leave it until tomorrow. Le Sigh…
I love it! @TravelEcho
It has been so hot here, I have not started another piece. Ceiling fans and acrylics do not work well together. And the grass is growing an inch a day (no joke) So I am exhausted from the work but, I am squeezing some time in tomorrow.
My youngest bro is laying claim to my mushroom pics. Says he wants them all. 
Thinking of matting them with a slightly oversized matte…thinking…have not used my mat cutter in ages.
Oh, how lovely! You have obviously worked to develop a good level of skill with your art. So nice to get that affirmation and support from people close to you!
I meant to ask you about that. Did you manage to get your air conditioner fixed?
Just warning: apparently the oil pigment sticks have wax in them, and they will melt, and even on a substrate, if left in a hot car, so best to keep them in a cooler place. Although I’m not sure there is a cooler place where you are right now.
Sorry to hear about the lawn. I believe you! And mowing is hard enough work without temps of 90-110 degrees!
My mat cutter is also in storage, but I may have to drag it out since I now have way more pieces done on paper than even the years worth of acrylics. 
Some of those are on watercolour paper too.
Looking forward to seeing your next pieces!
This thread is so lovely for artists who spend a lot of their time alone in the studio --or alone out in the great outdoor studio, too. Thanks to @stryker99 for starting it!
You guys are most welcome. 
I want to celebrate a bit of creativity in here. Art… not yet. But I have been writing for the first time in months, and a lot. More than ever. I think 200 pages or so, and so much I split it into two chapters. At least two. The second is still being born. The story is finally getting somewhere, which should make a couple of people happy. After chapters of scrounging and diversions and relationship fluff, Nijol is finally getting to the good stuff. And a peck of troubles, but what else would it be? I want to add that my game and anime soundtracks are a huge help with getting into the mood of a scene, from humor to horror and everything in-between. Ratchet & Clank’s composer David Bergeaud is particularly good at painting emotions with songs.
Writing is just too much fun, and sharing it even more fun. But I have a lack of images to stuff into the fic, so I hope to at least do some quick sketches and studies to put here and there. After some more writing.
AC is working fine. But in the deep south, 110 degree heat index is caused by high humidity. To keep my bill from reaching $300/mo, I rely heavily on ceiling fans. I tried turning it off while I was painting but was miserable.
The ozone is also very high right now.
The temps are supposed to drop next week. I am hoping I can work outside. My paints are staring at me and my brushes look lonely.
I am also waiting on some gesso…
Wonderful!
I know that feeling! :sympathy:
When I can’t get to actual painting I try to “paint with my eyes”. Like how would I mix the colour on that?, etc. 
So I was determined to slap something down before going for a grocery pickup. Too much yellow? 
but I have tons more shroom pics to choose from. and my phone is still blurring the edges. I have a Samsung Galaxy S21…I have walked all through the settings to no avail.
If that is a serious question… Someone may like it that way.
If I personally didn’t like that much yellow, I would mix in, or dry-brush over it, a little transparent magenta or (dioxazine) purple (or both) mixed with some acrylic medium to make sure it is transparent. I guess I would keep the value of that background lighter at the top, and bring it gradually darker toward the bottom, like between a value of 2 at the top to a value of 5 at the bottom (roughly). But you are the artist. You get to choose. Trust yourself. If you like it that way go for it!.
Have you tried backing up, taking a larger/wider shot so the blurring is farther out, and then cropping?
Ive been working on this over a three day period. Normally I’m done in a couple of hours with a small oil study like this, but lately I’m getting pretty tired after only about half an hour, and I still need some energy in order to clean up.
So here it is at the usual “ugly stage”.
It’s coming along, though. I didn’t lose as much momentum as I thought I would from taking the whole winter off from oil painting.
This phone camera is so weird. The painting on the easel is much darker than this, as I haven’t really got halfway to adding lights. It’s almost as if the camera shines a light on the subject before it takes the shot. Also it never gets the colours right. 
Looks yummy! Did you grow it yourself?
I know my back pain is limiting and how frustrating it is. Once I get into a ‘zone’, I hate to leave it. So I have stuck to my small pics. But I must move on.
The phone cameras today just don’t measure up. They brag of their capabilities and how many lenses they can cram onto your phone but the results are lackluster…My old digital is still better but for some reason, I can’t make it communicate with my PC. It had been working fine on Win10. I suspect Microsoft killed off something I needed. Maybe my drivers for it? I don’t know…
I will try that.
Hm. sheral’s images look fine to me. And TravelEcho’s painting looks like how I would have painted the scene. Perhaps Mel can whip up a chroma edit in a free or cheap art program like Paint dotnet or Gimp, or an affordable Photoshop.
We have grown tomatoes in pots out on the back deck for a number of years, but with Mal and I both having medical issues, we sadly had to forgo this year. :cries:
The one I am painting is the last one of package we purchased hoping that because they were still on the vine in the package, maybe, just maybe they would be closer to garden grown. But alas, same old picked-green-golf-ball tomatoes like any other at the stores. They look like juicy red tomatoes, but that is where the resemblance ends,le sigh
I’m with you on that. I’ve gone back to 3x5" panels. I hope things get better for both of us.
Hey everyone! Nice to see old friends!
Analog Collage is my thing!
Instagram is Arpodraw !
Cheers and a lovely week-end to you all!
WB! That looks like fun. Is it real media, like cut up paper, comix, and magazines?or is it digital media, cutout digital stuff?
And do you use other media with it like acrylics/guache, etc?
