Joy, I like the macro idea and I like to see that you’re trying stuff. I know your ability and I know that you pick up on the issues. I do see some of your struggles here because I know what you can do. So I know it’s part of getting used to trying new things. In my experience, the shadows of a pink flower can be very tricky. Because red is still too warm. I agree with more blending if it’s gonna be macro. Being closer to the subject now, it’s under more scrutiny. That would be fine if it’s part of a larger painting. I run into that myself.
The blotchiness. Yeah, I see a little bit. Sometimes I’ve run into problems by adding a lot of colors. As you mentioned, a lot of artists keep to a very small limited pallet because it keeps the colours all related by mixing only those colour, but it’s also more than that. Colours that look good in the tube can act differently on the paper, especially if you start mixing it with other colors. The fugitive pigments can sometimes come through. Pigments used to make that colour can sometimes lead to surprising results. You mix it with a little white or another colour and all of a sudden you’ve got black coming through! I’ve had that happen more than once. Also, they start not to relate to each other. It’s funny seeing colour in a tube versus on the paper. I’m thinking of a mauve from the tube. If you mix a mauve with the colours you have on your limited palette, it is related. It pleases the eye. If you take it out from a tube already premixed and you put it down beside those colours it can look jarring. They don’t relate, even though you’re thinking hey I’m using pink and purple. I can use this mauve. Not really. When you’re blending it and these pigments start to show up, it will look kind of muddy. I hope you don’t mind me saying this because it’s just what I have found to be true. So when you get all those sales or those good paint hauls you’re so excited to use, you can run into a lot of problems with all these pre-mixed colours. I find I hardly ever use them anymore. They barely get touched because the colours are nice but to blend them is a nightmare. Now if I’m doing an abstract and I just wanna lay paint down of different colours and I am not looking for a uniform relationship on the canvas then I will use them. I don’t blend them though.
There’s some artists that love exploring the pigments of paint. Particularly you’ll see this in oil paint. But watercolour paint it’s the same kind of thing. They like the deeper understanding of these pigments and how they work together or how they do not work well together. Certainly it’s easier to avoid the mistake in the first place before putting it down on canvas. It is important as getting to learn if you’re paints are granular or staining, etc.. It makes a big difference in watercolors. For instance, you pick a French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, or Manganese Blue and let’s say you want a smooth blue-those are not it. You could have a sky or water that looks all granular. Of course the staining reds in particular are just impossible to pull off the paper. All these things to know and learn. But it’s the fugitive pigments that can cause the most trouble in paints. Seriously I’ve been almost done a painting and it’s going great and all of a sudden I’m doing a mix and I apply it and it just goes into a dark smudge on my painting! Especially if I mix it with a white. Anyways, there’s only one way to learn and that is by doing and finding out what happens. So keep going. I know with your ability you’ll be able to get there quickly. These are just the thoughts off the top of my head, but I may be rambling because I only got two hours sleep last night.
