Blue !

The summer break is nearly over and the kids will head back to school. Although I have been painting a little during the summer months it is hard to find the time. So soon I am diving right back into it. I'm doing a little warm up with a small (tiny!) painting, enjoying some rich colours, painting deep blue velvet. I think I am nearly using all of my blues (which is probably a mad thing to do, so much for a limited palette) but it is really letting me get re-aquainted with my blues. For a lot of my work bright high-chroma colours are of little use and I either spent time toning them down or I use ready-mixed greyed tints, but sometimes it is so much fun to indulge in sheer colour! I am trying out my newly purchased Cerulean blue, which is a lovely greenish colour. I finally found use for my Vasari Video Blue, which in most situations is way too strong for me. The same goes for Cobalt Blue - it only rarely sees its cap taking off. I definitely want to try Vasari's or Mussini's Ultramarine as my old Rembrandt tube is nearly finished and although I never used it much I am appreciating its depth once again. For most of my more monochromatic works and my portraits I work with low-chroma colours such as Mussini's Indigo Tone and Vasari's Bice. They are lovely and subtle and work well for a natural look.

For now I am having one more day of fun with my crazy blues, before I return to the triple portrait I was working on.....