Slight setback...

I've been a bit quiet here for a while as I was travelling for 5 1/2 weeks in the UK, Europe and of course to the fabulous Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago, thenI had another week away skiing in New Zealand. Where, as those who follow me on Facebook or Instagram would know, I broke my wrist. As it is my right, dominant, hand, it's been scary to see the X-rays and to go through surgery to have it plated and pinned, but I am on the mend and will still be heading to the West Coast of the US in late September as planned.

I'm looking forward to re-visiting San Francisco, driving down the ocean road sketching my way to Santa Barbara, driving to Gig Harbor, returning to the Daniel Smith factory in Seattle, exploring McMinnville in Oregon and meeting up with the urban sketchers from many cities including LA, SF, Seattle and Portland. Details are on my website here.

I am a bit slow one-handed on the computer and my planned full video on-line class launch has been delayed since I can't yet make the videos, but I have a number of posts in mind so you'll hear from me again soon...

M.Graham Watercolours

M.Graham watercolours have been produced in Oregon for over 22 years. The M.Graham colour chart shows 70 colours and the website is very helpful.

It's been challenging testing the MG paints since they are made with a high honey content, making them tricky to for people to mail me samples. However people have been ingenious - as they have been with the Sennelier range - so I've tested all but 6 of them and they are beautiful paints, just best suited for studio use and/or less humid environments I think.

As always, I have tried to match the colours accurately. The first section are all single pigment cool to mid yellows. The first four are almost the same in hue though vary in characteristics. 

* I will be updating all the swatches during the first quarter of 2023.

M.Graham Watercolours - Hansa Yellow,  Cadmium Yellow Light Bismuth Vandate Yellow, Azo Yellow,
Hansa Yellow Deep.

The Gamboge swatch is fairly accurate but Indian Yellow is just a bit more orange than it looks here. PY110 is a perfect mid yellow-orange or orange-yellow colour.

M.Graham Watercolours - Cadmium Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Deep (not shown), Gamboge, Indian Yellow, Cadmium Orange (not shown).

These swatches are fairly accurate in hue.

M.Graham Watercolours - Azo Orange, Scarlet Pyrrol, Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Red Light, Naphthol Red.

These swatches are fairly accurate though the Permanent Alizarin Crimson has a slightly brown cast here that is not visible in reality. The Alizarin Crimson is the fugitive pigment PR83 so shouldn't be used in paintings that will be exposed to light. Permanent Alizarin is made from the lovely rich PR264 that mixes so well with PG7 to make blacks.

M.Graham Watercolours - Pyrrol Red, Cadmium Red, Maroon Perylene, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Alizarin Crimson.

I find Quinacridone Rose to be a fabulous primary red as it mixes beautiful purples with almost any blue, but sometimes a more textural purple can be useful. the colours of these swatches are fairly accurate. Ultramarine Pink is now made with PV15.

M.Graham Watercolours - Cadmium Red Deep, Quinacridone Rose, Quinacridone Violet, Mineral Violet, 
Ultramarine Pink (original version).

The colour of these swatches if fairly accurate. PV14 and PV15 are lovely granulating pigments.

M.Graham Watercolours - Cobalt Violet, Ultramarine Violet Deep, Dioxazine Purple,
Ultramarine Violet (not shown), Ultramarine Blue.

The colours of these swatches are fairly accurate. Lots of beautiful single pigment blues. The Cerulean Blue Deep is really rich and a great partner to Ultramarine for a sketching palette.

M.Graham Watercolours - Anthraquinone Blue, Cobalt Blue, Phthalo Blue Red Shade, Cerulean Blue, Cerulean Blue Deep.

These swatches look slightly richer than in real life but are fairly accurate. 

M.Graham Watercolours - Prussian Blue, Phthalo Blue, Manganese Blue Hue, Cobalt Teal, Turquoise.

M.Graham Viridian is one of the stronger versions of this often weaker or more gentle pigment.

M.Graham Watercolours - Phthalo Green, Viridian (not shown), Phthalo Green Yellow Shade, Cobalt Green,
Permanent Green Light.

There is slightly more difference between Sap Green Permanent and Hooker's Green that shows here - the latter being less yellow. Either work as useful convenience foliage greens with the Sap being slightly brighter and the Hooker's being slightly more neutralised.

M.Graham Watercolours - Permanent Green Pale, Sap Green Permanent, Hooker's Green, Olive Green, Azo Green.

There are also plenty of lovely earth colours to choose from. I like the purity of the MG pigments -  PY43 for yellow ochre... Naples Yellow is now listed as a single pigment PBr24.

M.Graham Watercolours - , Yellow Ochre, Nickel Azo Yellow, Naples Yellow, Nickel Quinacridone Gold,
Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide.

...PBr7 for raw siena, PBr7 for Burnt Sienna. Transparent Red Oxide is now a single pigment PR101.

M.Graham Watercolours - , Raw Sienna, Transparent Orange Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Rust, Transparent Red Oxide (original version), Burnt Sienna.

Terra Rosa is a gorgeous version of an earth red and Raw and Burnt Umber make an excellent warm and cool dark brown pair. I really like the Neutral Tint being a mix of two bright coloured pigments (in this case Phthalo Green and Quinacridone Violet) rather than a black pigment - it keeps life in watercolour paintings and is difficult to find commercially (which is why I make my own).

M.Graham Watercolours - Terra Rosa, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Sepia, Ivory Black.

M.Graham Watercolours - Payne's Grey, Neutral Tint, Lamp Black (not shown), Chinese White,
Titanium White Opaque (not shown).

Those who use M.Graham watercolours speak very highly of them. Hopefully I'll be able to eventually try the whole lovely range, even though they don't suit my plein air style of painting.

For paint-outs of other brands of watercolour, use the search button :-)

Lukas watercolours

Lukas it a German company founded in 1862. They make watercolours in half and large 24ml tubes in their Aquarelle 1862 artist range. They also make studio gouache and various watercolour mediums. I have only tried a little over half of this range, but I've decided to post them up as they paint our very nicely. They are available from Jacksonsart (affiliate link) and Jerry's in the US. The colour chart can be found here and shows 70 colours. They no longer include the lovely Manganese blue shown below.

Lukas Watercolours - Chinese White (not shown), Opaque White (not shown), Lemon Yellow (Primary), 

Aureolin Hue, Cadmium Yellow Lemon. 

Lukas Watercolours - Cadmium Yellow Light (not shown), Permanent Yellow Light, Gamboge, 

Indian Yellow (not shown), Naples Yellow (not shown). 

Lukas Watercolours - Yellow Ochre Light, Permanent Yellow Deep, Cadmium Orange (not shown), 

Permanent Orange (not shown), Cadmium Red Light. 

I like PR255 as a warm red so would be interesting in trying the Cinnabar Red. Lukas Red and Madder Lake Deep are made from another favourite crimson pigment - PR264.

Lukas Watercolours - Cinnabar Red (not shown), Permanent Red, Cadmium Red Deep, Lukas Red (not shown), 

Madder Lake Deep (not shown). 

It is a shame they use PR176 in many of their hues - it drops the lightfast rating in every colour it is added to.

Lukas Watercolours - Carmine Red (not shown), Alizarin Crimson (not shown), Genuine Rose, 

Magenta (Primary), Ruby Red (not shown). 

I am guessing that Purple would look like Quinacridone Violet in many ranges. Dioxazine Violet is very similar across brands - a powerful mid purple.

Lukas Watercolours - Purple (not shown), Dioxazine Violet (not shown), Cobalt Violet, Indanthrone Blue, Ultramarine Blue. 

Lukas Watercolours - Ultrmarine Blue lIght, Cobalt Blue, Paris Blue (not shown), 

Prussian Blue (not shown), Cerulean Blue. 

Lukas Watercolours - Phthalo Blue, Permanent Blue, Cyan (Primary), Prussian Green (not shown), 

Manganese Blue (discontinued). 

Lukas Watercolours - Turquoise, Cobalt Turquoise, Indigo, Green Yellow, May Green (not shown). 

Lukas Watercolours - Cinnabar Green Light (not shown), Sap Green, Permanent Green Yellowish (not shown), 

Permanent Green, Cobalt Green (not shown). 

Lukas Watercolours - Phthalo Green, Viridian (not shown), Verona Green Earth, 

Oxide of Chromium, Olive Green. 

Lukas Watercolours - Raw Sienna, Gold Ochre (not shown), Naples Yellow Reddish, 

Burnt Sienna, English Red Light. 

Lukas Watercolours - English Red Deep (not shown), Caput Mortuum Deep (not shown), 

Burnt Green Earth, Burnt Umber (not shown), Van Dyck Brown (not shown). 

Lukas Watercolours - Raw Umber, Sepia (not shown), Ivory Black (not shown), Payne's Grey (not shown), 

Neutral Tint (not shown), Gold (not shown).

There are many more to add of course, which I will do as I come across them. I have read that Lukas is a very affordable watercolour range available in Germany, from Jacksonsart in the UK and from Jerry's in the US. Happy painting!

Australian Watercolour Institute 94th Annual Exhibition.

One of the themes I return to again and again is that of decay. Rusted metal, dried up plants, fallen leaves... I love to depict the beauty in the unexpected.

I guess one of the reasons they appeal is that those subjects have interesting colour and texture. Take a leaf, for example. So many species, so many colours. Some have darker veins, some lighter - lots of techniques can be used to depict them. There are also so many shades of green, with or without other colours. I often tell my students that if they were to just find and paint a new leaf every day they would learn so much about drawing, colour mixing and painting with watercolour.

'Fallen Colour' watercolour. A3 Arches medium paper.

The subject that I first started drawing about 35 years ago is the dried Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise). They appeal for the line-work that is to much fun to explore with a pen. These grew in my garden and remained on the plant until they had dried up completely. I've used Sailor 1911 EF and Pilot Falcon pens with De Atramentis Document ink to draw the lines, and watercolour in a range of earth pigments to paint them. 

'Past Their Prime'. Ink and Watercolour, Arches medium 300gsm watercolour paper A2.

Those on Instagram (janeblundellart) may have seen some photos and videos of both of these paintings in progress.

They'll be exhibited at the 94th Annual Australian Watercolour Institute exhibition at Juniper Hall, 250 Oxford Street, Paddington. Open from 10th June until the 9th July 2017. Closed Mondays.

Sketching and Sketchbook Exhibition

I have been busy preparing for two exhibitions - the first opened on Tuesday night, and the other, the AWI annual exhibition, opens on the 10th June at Juniper Hall - more about that soon.

Chantal and Rooi hanging about :-)

The Sketching and Sketchbook Exhibition features a number of Urban Sketching artists with sketchbooks and framed sketches on display. It's a fabulous chance to peek into the precious sketchbooks of about 40 artists of various levels of experience and to buy framed sketches or larger works inspired by sketches.

It is at the Creative Space, 105 Abbot Road Dee Why. It is on until the 11th June.

I'll be doing an artist talk on the 6th June 2-4 about using sketchbooks in the process of creating published books.

Chris's canvas paintings made a great statement

Three of my paintings - Bo

Opening night.

I've exhibited a painting based on a sketch I did in Jindabyne  - the sketch is in a small Moleskine watercolour sketchbook A5. The painting is a half sheet watercolour, called 'Snow Gum'.

I have also exhibited two versions of paintings created from a sketch I did at the Shaolhaven River. 

On the right is Boyd's Rock Quartet, Shoalhaven River

(The software is playing up and I can't edit this post properly or add captions to the rest so sorry about the random layout!)

Below is the sketch on location - the water really was a remarkable gold as it reached the bank I was sitting on.

On the right is Boyd's Rock Quartet III, intended to really zoom in on the lovely group of rocks that Arthur Boyd painted over and over again. This is a full sheet of Arches watercolour paper.

I've also put in two studies from life - Shells and Jacaranda Pods, and a study of a Venetian Door. 

For more information click here. 

Council website here, 

Facebook page here.

Rembrandt Watercolours

Rembrandt watercolours are the professional range made by Royal Talens of Holland. I had only tried about 15 of the 80 colours shown on the colour chart until I was generously lent a brand new set of 48 by one of my students. Consequently most of these 53 colours shown are painted out from pan colours.

I love the Rembrandt soft pastels, which I have used for many years, so it was good to paint a large number of the professional watercolours at once. The student range is called Van Gogh.

They painted out nicely and I think it's a very no-fuss range. Great colours, a good choice of pigments, excellent earth colours and plenty of single pigment colours. While my plan was to show the full range of all brands, even though I am missing 27 from this range I decided to post them up anyway since there is not much available showing the Rembrandt colours. 

(updated June 2017)

September 2019 - I've created a new blog about Rembrandt watercolours here, based on their updated range.

Rembrandt set of 48 half pans.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Chinese White, Transparent titanium White (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Permanent Lemon Yellow (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Light.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Azo Yellow Light (not shown), Cadmium Yellow Medium (not shown), Azo Yellow Medium, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Azo Yellow Deep (not shown)

Rembrandt Watercolour - Aureoline, Indian Yellow (not shown), Gamboge, Naples Yellow Deep (not shown), Naples Yellow Red (not shown).

Rembrandt Watercolour - Cadmium Orange, Permanent Orange (not shown), Vermilion, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Red Light (not shown).

Rembrandt Watercolour - Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent Red Medium (not shown), Cadmium Red Deep, Permanent Red Deep, Permanent Red Light (not shown).

Rembrandt Watercolour - Madder Lake Deep (not shown, but PR83 so not recommended), Alizarin Crimson (not shown but also PR83 so not recommended), Permanent Madder Lake, Carmine, Quinacridone Rose.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Permanent Red Violet, Permanent Madder Purple (not shown), Cobalt Violet, Mauve, Permanent Blue Violet.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Ultramarine Violet (not shown), French Ultramarine, Ultramarine Deep, Cobalt Blue (Ultramarine) (not shown), Cobalt blue.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Cerulean Blue, Cerulean Blue (Phthalo) (not shown), Phthalo Blue Red, Phthalo Blue Green, Prussian Blue.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Indanthrene Blue, Indigo (not shown), Turquoise Blue, Bluish Green (not shown), Permanent Yellow Green (not shown).

Rembrandt Watercolour - Permanent Green, Emerald Green, Cobalt Green (I think this is actually made from PG19 but my sample was mis-labelled), Viridian, Phthalo Green.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Hooker Green Deep, Hooker Green Light (not shown), Sap Green, Olive Green (not shown), Green Earth (not shown).

Rembrandt Watercolour - Chromium Oxide Green, Yellow Ochre, Gold Ochre (not shown), Transparent Oxide Yellow, Raw Sienna.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Burnt Sienna, Transparent Red Oxide, Permanent Madder Brown, Light Oxide Red, Venetian Red.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Indian Red, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Transparent Oxide Brown, Sepia.

Rembrandt Watercolour - Vandyck Brown, Payne's Grey, Neutral Tine, Ivory Black, Lamp Black (not shown).

If you happen to have some of the missing Rembrandt colours and would like to send me a sample, please get in touch :-)

Use the search button to find other ranges of professional watercolour.