Monday, April 7, 2014

j'aime la couleur!

With the start of the current book project, I thought I'd invest in a new set of watercolors. In the past, I've used a combination of gouache in tubes, and Dr. Martin's dyes. The tubes have always been messy and do dry out if I'm not attentive with lids, so I wanted to give cake type paints a try. Friend Jennifer Black Reinhardt, esteemed watercolorist/children's book author/illustrator among other titles, recommended the French made Sennelier brand, so I bought some.

To open the lovely black metal box is akin to the thrill of opening a box of chocolates. They present so beautifully, I can't help but make inspired art! Upon loading my brush with water, I got spooked momentarily by the pristine little blocks of color.  I started by making a simple color chart (even though a clear acetate one is included with the set) and this helped "break the ice". I did my first colored pieces for the book over the weekend, and love the creamy texture of these paints.

Viva la l'illustration traditional!

(hope I translated that right!)










3 comments:

Jennifer Black Reinhardt said...

Thank you, Claudia, for all the fancy titles! I'm not worthy... But I am glad you like your paints so much! Mine are not nearly as pristine, but they, too, are very loved. Can't wait to see the amazingly rich and beautiful pieces in your new book! xo

Claudia said...

Merci! They are like butta! (as well as chocolate...)

Julie Clay Illustration said...

Oh those paints look like little jewels, little sweets and extremely delicious! I love the illustration, is that a print of your scraper board? I can't work it out, I know you can colour the board, but it looks too textured to be the board, anyway it's fab, the owl is gorgeous indeed. I have a photo of a 'Fat Rascal' coming up for you, the said item is no more though, it disappeared quite quickly :)

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