So … I’ve been playing with my new gouache paints lately. As I’ve written in my first Schmincke gouache blog entry, I bought eight single pigment paints (a warm and cool version of each primary, and two secondaries):
- Lemon Yellow (PY3)
- Indian Yellow (PY153)
- Vermillion Tone (PR255)
- Purple Magenta (PR122)
- Quinacridone Violet (PV19)
- Ultramarine Deep (PB29)
- Helio Blue (PB15:3)
- Helio Green Bluish (PG7)
For tinting purposes, I’m using Winsor & Newton Permanent White (PW6) at the moment.
I have intentionally limited my color palette to force myself to learn about color theory and mixtures. I think the number one mistake I made when I started painting a couple years back was buying too much paint. I find that using a limited selection of single pigment paints and mixing them produces a more unified painting rather than having a hodge-podge of convenience colors that looked out of place on the paper.
After experimenting with my gouache paints, I’ve come up with a color chart:
Schmincke Horadam Gouache Color Mixes
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Schmincke Horadam Gouache
Related posts:
- Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils
- Derivan Liquid Pencil
- Schmincke Horadam Gouache
Eversince I saw some sketches done in gouache, I had wanted to try working with this medium. During one of those crazy Dick Blick internet offers, I bought a starter set of Holbein Artists’ Gouache. When it arrived in the mail, I began squeezing them into half-pans that I had setup in a metal palette box. Nearly all of Holbein’s gouache are convenient colors with moderate to poor lightfastness. Some of the colors are dyes, not pigments. This fact didn’t bother me much because I just wanted to use them for sketches.
After doing a quick color chart, I put the gouache away. When I opened my metal box a few days later, I was dismayed. The Holbein gouache had cracked and crumbled in the half pans. I was rather upset by this … obviously I needed to squeeze out fresh color everytime I wanted to paint, which is to me, an inconvenience. The gouache had noticeable chalkiness to it when dry. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed with Holbein Artists’ Gouache.
After researching about gouache brands in the internet, I came upon Roz Stendahl’s blog where she wrote about how wonderful Schmincke gouaches are. There was one problem though …. those tubes are expensive 
! I couldn’t justify buying them. I was determined to use up the remaining ones from Holbein.
Then a few weeks ago, I came across a seller in the UK selling Schmincke gouaches on eBay at very, very discounted prices. He had all the colors I wanted! The gouaches must’ve been from an old stock somewhere, but for the purpose of doing sketches, they should be fine. I bought them, of course! 
They came in the mail last week:
My Schmincke gouache colors, L-R: Lemon Yellow, Indian Yellow, Vermillion Tone, Purple Magenta, Quinacridone Violet, Ultramarine Deep, Helio Blue, Helio Green Bluish.
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Holbein Artists' Gouache,
Schmincke Horadam Gouache
Related posts:
- Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils
- Derivan Liquid Pencil
- Schmincke Gouache Color Mixes
by Faye O. on January 31, 2010
in Thoughts
Wow, it’s been two months since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been SUPER busy. Taking care of an infant is hard work!
Anyway, at the start of the new year, I’ve made several art resolutions in order to keep myself prolific. Here they are:
- Paint at least once a week.
- Draw at least twice a week.
- Play with color and mixes combinations once a fortnight.
- Finish reading self-imposed study text for visual arts by the end of the year.
- Keep a visual journal, to be updated at least twice a week.
The frequency I assigned for myself to draw and paint seemed meager because time is so precious these days. Not easy taking care of a pre-schooler and an infant fulltime.
Anyway, I’ve experimented with a variety of media for the past two months since my last post. My workspace is sooooo messy now, my hubby deemed the room not fit to be inhabited.
Updates soon to come!
I love 888 Black Tea Dust by Thong Guan. I used to make teh tarik with the run-of-the-mill tea bags, and I had to use three bags per mug to make the tea look dark enough after I mix in the condensed milk. After I moved to Sarawak, I was introduced to ‘Teh C’, which is tea with evaporated creamer. The best thing about ordering a Teh C is that you can request it ‘kosong’, which means without sugar because evaporated creamers are not sweet to begin with.
The restaurants used a type of tea dust called 888. This is when I was introduced to the brand. I found a small tin at nearby supermarket, brewed a cup, and the epiphany struck me: this was the magic stuff those mamak restaurants use to make teh tarik!
My Daily Addiction: 888 Black Tea Dust
Needless to say, I drink this stuff daily (I’ve since found a huge 2kg pack at Giant, hehehe). So much so that I had to cut my daily intake because of, er …. digestion problems. [click to continue…]
Related posts:
- Derivan Liquid Pencil
- Geisha In Waiting
- Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils
