Granulating Pigments are a Painters best friend!

I admit to being a paint, colored pencil and any art supply I can get my hands on junkie. I don't go to art stores very often and when I do, I am like a kid in a candy shop. I get massive amounts of e-mails on a daily basis with great deals on supplies online and it is very tempting. When I moved to Gainesville, Florida my studio and storage space was split in two so I had to down size. I gave away or sold a lot of my supplies but all my paints came with me. Daniel Smith is by far my favorite watercolor manufacturer. They used to have a promotion every week or so for a new tube of paint with postage included…. I bought every single one they offered. I must have 100's of tubes of watercolors so I am trying not to buy anything until I use a lot of the ones I have. One of my goals for the 30 day leaf challenge was to work with different greens. The leaf for day 26 is a Virginia Creeper. It is a native plant to Florida and also New Jersey. In New Jersey it turns bright crimson red but here in Florida the colors are more burgundy, olive and somber.

I used the following Daniel Smith watercolors, "Serpentine Genuine, Bloodstone Genuine and Carmine". The Serpentine separates creating a brilliant green in the bleed and stays olive where the pigment was placed. The Bloodstone was too Purple (can you imagine me saying that?) so I had to add some Carmine to it to make it more maroon. These pigments are what Daniel Smith calls PrimaTek colors.They are mined from the earth and he has created a nice range of paints that have special effects. I like to let the watercolor do most of the work for me, rather than have to spend hours with fussy details. My method using bold wet and wet watercolors is great for granulating pigments because I use so much pigment and so much water. The water acts as a vehicle to allow the colors to separate. This is another time you will hear me say…."Drop in tons of color and DON'T TOUCH IT!" Let the paint do its thing. The results are amazing!

This painting is available through my Etsy Shop: BugsBeasts Botanicals