The Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge for January was "3 random colors". I used watercolor, and blindly pointed at three corners of my watercolor palette, which is arranged by color/temperature. By aiming at three different areas of the palette, I knew I was getting a bit of variety. I chose vermilion, sap green, and cerulean (see picture). My first instinct was to pick again, but I wanted to maintain the integrity of the challenge and learn something. Here are a few thoughts from this challenge
- None of these colors is very cool, so I needed to adjust my temperature scale
- The most yellow I could achieve was with sap green with a little vermiliion.
- I could make beautiful neutrals, browns, grays, using these three colors.
- The darkest I could get was a charcoal-ish blue gray but if I pushed it a tiny bit beyond its neutral balance, I was into an orange or green or blue (not really neutral anymore, and not as dark as I wanted.)
- I adjusted my buildings to look a little terracotta colored, so maybe Italy or Spain, based on the colors I could achieve.
- When I used vermilion on its own, as a color option, it was much too strong and overpowered the other options. There is nothing in this composition that I wanted drawing your eye that much, so I neutralized all the vermilion I used.
- I enjoyed the challenge, and will randomly choose three colors again to see what happens
Take a look at all the Girls Just Wanna Paint interpretations of the theme by clicking the link.
I love the motion and the hubbub of the city streets; buildings against the sky creating fascinating negative space while the overlapping elements down below provide patterns and shapes.
This is a vignette I captured on Newbury Street one afternoon while this man hustled across on front of me, as many people do... phone to ear, hunched over, missing the beauty around him, in that moment. Maybe he looked up a few minutes later and sauntered down the street taking it all in. I hope so.
This is my five hundred thirty-sixth daily drawing. Thank you, as always, for your interest and your comments.
This waiter caught my eye one day as he waited for the restaurant to open, or for the crowds to arrive. This steakhouse is in Amsterdam along one of a number of picturesque streets. He waited peacefully, before, perhaps a busy night ahead.. this is my seventy-third daily drawing. I am enjoying exploring my photo collections from my travels over the years. Thank you for looking with me.
