I have been enjoying playing with colour and you can see some of my recent experiments here:

The particular prompt for taking this photo was that I bought a couple of new tubes of paint today – Phthalo Blue and Neutral Tint from the Schmincke Horadam range. Both of these were colours I got to use during the summer school earlier this year, although I think the blue was from a different manufacturer. Having spent a lot of time reading about different ranges and watching YouTube videos, I ended up settling for picking from the two professional ranges available in Broad Canvas down in Oxford. Of course, while a bit more expensive, it meant I got to play with them today.

Phthalo blue is a very intense blue pigment. A little goes a long way and it produces some magical mixes. You can see two different greens I produced by combining in various combinations with yellow ochre at the top right of the sheet. Neutral tint is a warm dark tone, less stark than most blacks and, again, great for blending. The gold and brown strips below the two green ones are again different combinations with yellow ochre. You can get a similar effect by mixing colours (see the blend in the deep green / vermillion experiment on the bottom half of the page) but it is convenient to have a utility colour like this ready made.

As a bonus, you can see a couple of other things I am working on – a try out of painting red and green tomatoes and a sketch I did on location in Staithes last month which I am attempting to work up into a more finished painting. I’m also pleased with the overall photo, bursting with colour thanks to the iPad’s HDR mode, and I’m counting it as this week’s contribution to my 52photos project.