What I'm Painting These Days

Here it is, my painting day, Tuesday, so I thought a little update on the painter bit of me was in order. I am still really enjoying watercolor and kind of think that I will stick with it as "my" medium as an artist. I am tempted by gouache (say "gwash") and water soluble oils which my drawing teacher just told me about. I think I will do a bit of dabbling in both of those sometime but, I do love watercolor quite well.

I think part of my allegiance to watercolor is the fact that my grandfather was a watercolorist, somehow seems cool to be carrying on the tradition...and then I also really like the challenge of working with such a difficult medium and the beautiful translucent, light-shot quality that ends up on the paper.

Another thing I have discovered along the way is the truly brilliant fabulocity of tube paints over a tray of block colors. Tube paints are more vivid, more energetic and they feel better somehow too. I have just begun using up a couple of the colors in my tray and bought tubes to replace them, I look forward to being 100% in the tube paint world someday soon.

Related articles

• I like {watercolors} (invisiblehouse.typepad.com)
• Watercolors As You've Never Seen Them (chicagoist.com)
• art journal on the go (shaunaleelange.com)
• What's so good about gouache? (susanwellingtonart.wordpress.com)
• Chagall's Biblical Gift to His Wife (online.wsj.com)