Daphne Goes to Venice (Part 2)

In just 5 weeks, I head to Venice with Daphne (my 6 yr old artist/granddaughter) and her Daddy (our son, Antoine....he kept his French name when we moved from Montreal to the U.S. when he was only 3.5 yrs old.)

When Antoine decided to join us on this Venice trip, I wanted to be sure he wouldn't be bored, because Daphne and I will sketch or paint every day (probably all day long, since it's her favorite thing to do).  Antoine reassured me and said he might actually paint with us!  As a child, he was good at sketching, but real life got in the way of things creative although I'm sure he'd say golf is his creative outlet!

As part of my effort to get him up to speed quickly, I've created a tiny TRAVEL PALETTE for him (it's actually a pill container!).  I've included 3 cool colors, 4 warm colors and I've added Shadow Violet by Daniel Smith which is a color I can't live without lately. It plays so nicely either by itself or mixed with other colors.

Pill Container turned into mini travel palette.  Buy it HERE
(If you buy a different brand, make sure it's still white.)

Pigments from left:  Daniel Smith (DS) Thalo Blue (green shade), Winsor & Newton (WN) Permanent Rose, DS Nickel Titanate Yellow, DS Quinophthalone Yellow, DS Aussie Red Gold, WN Cadmium Red, DS Ultramarine Blue, DS Shadow Violet (in the center).

The first 3 are cool colors.  The other 5 are warm.

You really could use whatever cool and warm colors you already have, but try to stick with blue/red/yellow since there are not many wells.

You may buy the water brush HERE.

Then I created a chart in the back of his SKETCH BOOK that shows him what every color looks like, painted over every other color.  Look at all the colors you can create with just 7 colors! Check out the variety of greens w/o one single tube of green being included!

I used a PINK PIG 270g A5 Posh Banana Watercolor Book, but when I went to find it online for you, it's only showing up on Amazon UK.  I do believe I actually bought it through them and it shipped to me in about 2 weeks' time.  The price is right and the paper holds up very well to lots of water.  Check it out HERE.
The colors bled only because I didn't wait long enough to cover the initial color with more color.  I knew better.

For Venice or France, I particularly like the combo of Shadow Violet with all of the other colors (as shown in the top row of the chart)! Except when you're on the Venetian island of BURANO, when all of the other brighter colors will come into play!

Even though I use all kinds of travel palettes, I'm planning on all 3 of us using this new mini version in April. I'll let you know what Daphne thinks about that in a future post! We're really starting to get excited now!

You may also enjoy "Daphne Goes to Venice (Part 1)" HERE.

In September, I'm teaching at a castle in France (where we'll LIVE!)

You can find all that info right HERE.

Non-painting spouses are also invited! 

READ MY LATEST POST HERE

www.HelenKBeacham.com

Tippette #31: Mix up your Color Scheme

I recently added this Robax palette to my supplies and I'm loving it.  You add your paint to these little removable wells (they call them Liners).  

I used a Sharpie to write the brand and color name onto each (I tipped some over for you to see).  

I used to always use the same 20 colors because I'm comfortable mixing them to create new colors.  But at some point, I tired of the predictability of them. 

Robax allows me to pull out strange and new colors for each new painting, so that I stay engaged and excited about what's on my easel (table?)!

Robax palette
NOTE that there's a lid that goes on top of the whole palette.
Available from www.Robax.com

So, the way I handle this palette is to pull out the colors I'm going to try for today's painting, and I separate them into families on paper plates.  I write the name of the family onto the plate (Red, Blue, Green). Sometimes I pick up the wells and it makes it quicker and easier to drop them back on the right plate if I've written the color family on there.  I use the plates as big mixing areas.

THE ROBAX PALETTE is not inexpensive. You buy the liners separately from the lidded palette (total cost for this 85 well palette setup is currently around $98, but you can buy less than the 85 well size, for less money).  My artist friend, Carrie Waller, uses BEAD CONTAINERS to accomplish the same thing.  Do any of you have unique setups that you want to tell  us about? 

p.s. Did any of you notice the title of this post?  Remember the 30 Tippettes I shared with you in April of 2013? I figured I'd keep adding to them! Let me know you want more!

 www.helenKbeacham.com

Carrie Waller will do a workshop in the Charleston area this July (details HERE).

My Montreal workshop (Aug 9-16) is open for registration (details HERE).

SEE MY LATEST POST HERE.

2016's Color of the Year

Every year, PANTONE comes out with a Color of the Year, and off go the fashion designers and interior decorators, doing their thing!  

This year, it seems Pantone chose Rose Quartz.  Baby Pink?/  Hmmm.  And what do we think of that yellow below?  How many of us can pull that one off?  And what's with having 2 colors so close to each other in hue?  (Peach Echo and Fiesta).  Can I please swap out a purple for one of those??

Anyway, I'll definitely keep this in front of me as I paint (although art is probably a year or more behind fashion changes).  Many of these shades are already on my typical palette, so no worries there.  Are you sad that some of your favorites aren't on there?  I really don't think I'm willing to give up my grey-greens.  (OK.  I'm done complaining now.  Thank you for listening.)

www.helenKbeacham.com

Come paint with me! 

In 2016, we're going to Venice again.

Check out my classes HERE.

Packing Light (for Overseas Painting Workshop)

As our October #Venice workshop gets closer, I start to make mental and physical lists of what to pack (and sadly, what to leave home).  Traveling light is the key, especially in a city like Venice where there are  no cars and walking is the prevalent mode of transportation (unless you ride a vaporetto or a gondola, which have their own issues around carrying heavy suitcases).

Vaporetto - Photo courtesy of http://www.earth-photography.com

The other day, while visiting Tanger Outlet in Charleston, I wandered into Travelpro Luggage Outlet to see what was new (lighter?) on the market.  After mentioning my preferred budget and requirements for a new suitcase, the nice gentleman that was helping me, pulled out this model below.

24" Walk About Lite 3 (about $85-95)
with Inline Wheels (the salesman said I'd love them, and I think he's right)
It weighs 11 lbs.  That leaves me about 39 lbs for my gear, in order to not exceed the max.

Here's the kicker:  this baby measures only 24"h x 16"w x 12" deep.  I AM taking a carry on with me (it's a converted laptop bag that will house my travel-sized watercolor palette and other inflight necessities).  Does it seem even remotely possible that I can get all my stuff for 2 weeks into this thing?  I told him I'd have to lay out my gear, clothes, etc on the bed and eyeball my pile before I could decide.  But it's my goal to make it work.  I bragged to #KellyMedford, my fellow teacher in Italy, that I was traveling light, and light it shall be!

Note:  I have yet to verify with U.S. Air (which is the airline I'm traveling on) to find out what exactly the maximum size and weight limitations are for carry on and checked luggage, when traveling overseas.  (That's not exactly true...I HAVE tried to read the fine print on their website to no avail and now I have to make myself phone them, or drive out to the airport to ask!  I bought my tickets with "miles" so no travel agent is involved and available to help me).  If anyone out there knows that answer, pleeease send it my way!

In case you're curious about the other watercolor supplies I'm taking with me, you may find my Supply List on my Workshop page by clicking HERE.  If any of you are oil or acrylic painters, don't feel left out.  You're invited too and we'll send Supply Lists for your preferred medium.  Just ask us!

P.S.  The only medium we won't be teaching at this Venice workshop is pastels, but for you pastelists who are thinking of traveling elsewhere with your gear, here's pastelist Richard McKinley's TIPS for traveling light, many of which can pertain to other media just as well.  Wise words!

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Come with me (Helen K. Beacham) and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

Click HERE for details!

SEE MY LATEST POST HERE.

Watercolor Palettes for Large Paintings

I'm in love with painting larger paintings.  When I do, I use bigger brushes and find that the wells on my regular palette are small and get in the way of being spontaneous and creative.  As a result, I've come up with several homemade palettes that work best for me.  

The one on the left is your basic muffin tin (plastic...the microwavable kind...found at Goodwill).  It's already a pale color, so it works.  The middle one is a box top that I've cut openings into.  Into the openings I drop plastic wine tumblers and I squeeze my paint into them.  As I need different colors for different paintings, I pull them out and replace as needed.  I never throw the cups away because watercolor is resoluble.  The tool on the right was given to me by my friend, Sonia, who bought it at either Lowe's or Home Depot.  It was black, so I spray painted it white (you want to see your true paint colors, so white is best).  Lowe's is one of my favorite spots to shop for the unconventional art tool...I have no idea what this was intended for, but it works for me!  Balanced on the box top is my 2" brush so that you can see size relationships.  I combine these tools with either styrofoam plates or my regular watercolor palette lid for the mixing of my colors.

www.helenKbeacham.com

Come with me to paint Venice this October...click HERE for details!

READ MY LATEST POST!