Speed Painting

I tried to do one small painting in an hour tonight.  However, it probably took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  This is another painting from Île d'Yeu in the same location as the previous post.

I used the little Moleskin sketchpad and liked it better this time because it didn't curl as much. I used the Koi travel palette and mostly conventional brushes.  I tried using the water brush, but kept picking up the old standbys, both from Cheap Joe.  I wanted a flat brush tonight and I always turn to the Golden Fleece by Cheap Joe.

Here's a picture of my set up as I worked from the computer screen:

More Fun with Art Supplies

I continue to play with watercolor pads and paint. Today I painted from a photo of an old truck that I took in Northwest Arkansas. (There are more old trucks in NWArkansas than any other place in the country.)  Tonight I painted on a spiral watercolor pad by Cotman (Winsor Newton). It wasn't nicely bound and pretty, just a plain little inexpensive spiral.  I liked the paper because it was easy to lift out color, and I didn't like it because it was easy to lift out color. ???  I like the lifting to create highlights and to make corrections.  But color also lifted when I was glazing and adding layers. I loved the weight of the paper and there was little buckling.
I used my very old and very used metal travel palette which is filled with all of the colors and brands I love.  It is much larger than the cute little travel palettes that are available now and with which I have been experimenting. But it felt very comfortable and familiar. Of course I am trying to find a palette  the students will be comfortable using.  I know there are some  some plastic versions of these on the market today that are much lighter than the metal one I have.
Also a dear friend gave me the collapsible water bucket you can see in the picture.  It is a rubber and folds down to about 1 1/2". Love it.

Testing Watercolor Sketching Supplies

I am trying to find the perfect watercolor sketchbook, watercolor palette, and travel brushes for a summer trip to France with 8 high school girls.  Last night I painted on a Moleskin watercolor sketchbook, with a palette I made from an old Prang watercolor kit filled with Utrecht watercolor paint. This is my result.

Oops, the picture has the Koi palette, but I used the Prang one. I didn't love the Moleskin.  Notice how the paper curls up.  The paper also had a texture I didn't care for,  and I wish the paper had been a little heavier.  It might have prevented the curl.  But the final result was not too bad. I did use masking tape to create a border and the tape stuck to the paper.   This sketchbook paper has perforations so you can easily remove the painting from the book if you like.  Personally I like to fill up a sketchbook.  I have other books and palettes to try.  I will post those soon.