Palette Update

Amongst the most popular posts since I started the blog are those on palettes. It amazes me that most reads even today are the palette ones. Much of the information is still relevant but things do move on so, as I'm not intending to repeat what has gone before, the relevant posts are as follows:

Palettes Pt.1 - August 2010
Palettes Pt.2 - August 2010
Palettes Pt.3 - March 2011
The Craig Young Experience - Mar 2011

To confirm interest in this subject - obsessional almost it seems with some artists - Wetcanvas have a thread still going strong under Watercolors (Palette Talk) called `Palette addicts' started in August 2012. As of 26th August 307 comments and 29713 reads! By today 24 July these figures are 475 and 54661 respectively! There is a lot of good stuff there if you are willing to wade through  it. My wife says I'm obsessional with my hobbies but some of the contributors leave me in the slow lane.

Just to summarize there are numerous types of palettes. At one extreme, used by some high profile artists, are dinner plates, butchers trays and various other receptacles made of either metal, china or plastic. Ron Ranson used the Stewart plastic trays sold at kitchen shops. It is really up to the ingenuity of the user and the way they paint. If you squeeze out a few colours onto the palette then the above solutions are fine. Some artists have an array of studio palettes which they lay out on a table, but if you paint outdoors then something more portable and compact is necessary. To my mind the John Pike (two versions) is hard to beat as a studio palette. The artist Mel Stabin uses his for all types of painting.

The most common palettes are plastic ones because they tend to be cheapest and are easier to manufacture. Plastic comes in two basic sorts, the more fragile vacuformed palette like the Robert Wade and Zoltan Szabo ones, and the harder, more durable John Pike and Herring palettes. No more are the days when Winsor & Newton and others produced metal palettes like the Roberson, Binning Monroe and De Wint. We do have some custom made palettes but more on that later.

Plastic palettes exist in numerous shapes and sizes. They are generally - but not always - much cheaper than metal, although there are metal palettes of moderate price. Since I wrote the original articles I have become aware of the Mijello range and very recently the extraordinary new $100 palette. Added 11/03/13: Apparently this palette is available on E-Bay for just under $70 so it has already dropped in price.

The Mijello - from Martin Universal Design - come in a range of shapes, sizes and prices. I have seen some classified under the `toy' section. Prices vary from around £10 to just over £40. I rather like the look of the second from last which has twenty four wells. In fact I was tempted to buy one when placing a Jacksons order for the AVA group last week. It is just over £16. I've seen some smaller Mijello palettes in a local art shop but didn't handle them and have no knowledge of how well they are made.  They do have a wide range and probably one to suit most needs. Plastic palettes are criticized for staining but I find the product Cif cleans them quite well. Some are less prone to staining than others. They are freely available from Amazon, several from Jacksons and if you `Google' `Mijello' watercolour (or watercolor) palettes various suppliers are listed. In the USA Dick Blick, Jerrys and others seem to carry them. It appears they are American but may be made elsewhere. What reviews I've seen are generally positive and they certainly have a range. ADDED 09/04/13. Mijello are Korean and also make Mission Gold Watercolour paints. 

The latest Ken Bromley e-mail introduces two new palettes. They appear to be vacuformed so will be less sturdy than the John Pike or Herring-designed palettes.

The `Ultimate' Palette

This palette is 14" x 10" x 2" and has 12 separate internal palettes plus a separate mixing tray. It is £18.95p.

The `Premier' Palette

Also 14" x 10" but 1.7" deep , this palette has 20 wells and a separate mixing tray. It costs £14.95p. Both studio palettes I would suggest, not suitable for outdoor work If you go to Ken Bromley's website www.artsupplies.co.uk and type in `palettes' both are listed and clicking on them will bring up a video of each one which give comprehensive views.

Another from Ken Bromley.Added 12/07/13. This is the latest palette from Bromley.

The Clover Palette - See website listed above for full details. Quite expensive  (very) for a plastic palette. Added 23/07/13. The cost of this palette is £38.75p.. However my friend John Softly has already purchased one and is full of praise for it saying ..."without doubt the best plastic palette on the market and extremely well made."... He has some slight criticism over the thumb rest which reduces the number of wells to 13 (otherwise 15). On the Bromley site are ample illustrations plus a short video. Bearing in mind I've not handled one I'm not yet convinced.

I now come to the latest sensation. A plastic palette at $100 (plus shipping). This is being advertised via a Youtube video www.youtube.com/user/SHYsart?feature=Guide  You can stand on it  as demonstrated in the video - but why would I want to be able to stand on a palette? If you want a solid plastic, smallish palette then those designed and made by the Herring Bros, including a plastic version of the Roberson, are a much cheaper option. Herring do mail order but Ken Bromley also sell them www.artsupplies.co.uk/ 

The $100 palette a sort of variation on the Roberson.

There is also a Korean company called Shinhanart selling a range of Heung IL aluminium paint boxes on Ebay. They offer 13, 20, 26, 30, 35. 39 and 65 paint divisions! They are various prices based on size but nothing like as expensive as the brass ones, but obviously aluminium won't be the same quality as brass or heavy duty metal like the Fome boxes. It looks as if this is tied up with the company who sell Shin Han watercolour paints. I don't like boxes where the paint wells are on both sides, as when they are closed  one lot are upside down and leakage might well happen with those colours that remain moist. The only one that isn't like that is the palette at bottom right. 

Prices range from around $16 to $35 with - oddly - the sterling figure quoted for all the boxes identical at £10.90p. There is also free International economy shipping If you Google `Heung il Ebay' it takes you straight to a link so it is easy to access. They claim 100% positive feedback.

I now come to the cream of palettes, those made by Craig Young in the UK. The article listed earlier gives a detailed history of Craig and his palettes and they have been bought World-Wide by famous artists and other famous people as well as lesser mortals like me. He offers several types, the most popular being the Paint Box and the Palette Box, replicas of the original Roberson and Binning Monro boxes. Craig has also made a number of `specials' to the design of some well-known artists. Craig commands a very high price and there is mostly a long waiting time so he has never seen the need to increase the number he produces, all by hand. I have often thought that a small, specialist, metal working company might have gone into production with similar products at a lower price but this hasn't happened. (so far).

Craig has had this market to himself for some years but things are changing. There has been speculation that he might retire in the not too distant future although his son Robert is helping him. This may be just an unsubstantiated rumour as I've no information one way or the other. Added 7/03. I'm told by John of Little Brass Box that Craig doesn't have a son called Robert (he has a Basset Hound) and is not planning retirement for a while yet! John says  he also makes a small hand palette and a copy of the Fletcher Watson but has not been able - due to pressure of work - to update his website. John is completely inundated with orders for his Roberson type.

The first contender is a company called The Little Brass Box Company  also in the UK www.littlebrassbox.com/product.html  They are making a copy of the Roberson with three different models and several colour options.

Prices are up around the £200 mark and the approach appears to mirror Craig Young in that it is a small (one man?) operation hand making the boxes. This is a fairly recent development and I have no feedback on how good they are but it appears he already has a healthy order book. Added 25/07/13 See comment below from Jane Blundell who has two Little Brass Box palettes.

At least two other contenders have also sprung up, one in the UK, one American. 

The  Classic

The Artisan

The Petite

The above illustrates the boxes made by  Classic Paint Boxes www.classicpaintboxes.com   They are designed and made by David Cooper, an artist himself, in the UK. Both the little Brass Box and Classic Paintbox appear to be one man bands, which means they are expensive and waiting times will be a factor. This Classic design doesn't appeal to me and the artist producer justifies the 15 wells by saying you shouldn't use too many colours in a painting. Although a large number will agree it remains a matter of opinion. Added 03/07/13: David Cooper has contacted me to say he has added two new designs to his range, both can be viewed on his website. One the `Artisan' is a multi-fold palette, the other the `Petite'  quote:

"is incredibly small yet still a fully functioning palette".  Illustrations above. Full details and more photographs on the website. Added 25/07/13 See comment by Jane Blundell. David Cooper is apparently open to making customized boxes to individual requirements.

These boxes are made by IBA-CO PALETTES www.iba-copalettes.com/ The website says that `IBA-CO brushes are `coming soon' so is this a larger operation?

Also posted on Wetcanvas was the following by someone called `Effers', all said to be in brass. It seems this is the individual behind IBA-Co.

Who makes these palettes? This appears on the IBA-Co site and all the products above are listed with names for each one. They actually look different and although the poster on WC was asked who makes them has not so far replied. There appears to be some differences between some of these and those in the first photograph. Look at the shape of the wells for example. Added 8/3: If you look down to the comment section you will see that the owner of IBA-Co palettes has posted various explanations and much useful information in response  to my piece. This is most helpful.

It is never a bad thing to have competition. It is interesting that these new sources of hand made palettes have sprung up and time will tell how good they are, and whether they make a success of it. Obviously being so new there is yet  little feedback from purchasers. The prices are lower than Craig Young and my guess is that, providing user feedback is positive, they will eat into his sales in America.

I asked my friend John Softly his views on the new entrants into the hand-made palette market. John has tried numerous palettes and has strong views on the subject. They are entirely his and I print them without  (much) comment.

"..From what I see Craig has little to worry about although the newcomers are considerably cheaper (my italics)... there will be obviously others coming..... in the not too distant future but design is everything"....  the one thing Craig has above all others is that he is a watercolourist and knows about art history and traditional design"

John feels, from studying the photographs of these new palettes, that there are  deficiencies in design due to lack of understanding of what is required. John's opinion is that the best are any of Craig's plus the Holbein if you are right handed. He has experienced rust problems with heavy duty Winsor & Newton boxes (made by Fome) and does not like the aluminium type at all as in his experience they flex and the joints give. A small 20 year old Holbein has lost some enamel but shows no sign of rust. John doesn't like plastic but thinks the Herring the best of the bunch.

There you have it  - strong opinions from someone who has considerable experience with different types of palettes. I probably take a more relaxed view of things. In my opinion price has to be considered and good plastic palettes are perfectly acceptable for many artists. As I've said earlier some fantastic artists use all sorts of odd receptacles. In the end you pay your money and take your chances. I own three Craig Young palettes, various plastic ones including a John Pike, and some of the small metal palettes you can buy empty and fill with half or full pans, which can also be bought empty. My most used palette is the Paintbox (Roberson design), and a small cheap supplementary metal one filled with a dozen or so empty half pans, which I fill with paint. I have adapted the Paintbox by sticking some half pans into a few wells so I have 24 colours compared to the standard 16. Craig produces a `large' paintbox with additional mixing wells and 20 smaller wells for paint. I have a pristine Binning Monro, in British Racing Green  from Craig, yet to be christened even though I have had it quite a while.  It's No.165. When will this happen? I just enjoy handling it! As for outdoors I have a small Sketchers paintbox made by Craig. I've rather gone off it to be blunt even though I got Craig to make me a  four pan clip on extension. I think it too small but Charles Reid uses it without difficulty, and Judi Whitton has a slightly larger custom-made version with twenty wells. Against these fine artists who am I to argue! Having just received the details for the Charles Reid workshop at Stow on the Wold in May I think I'll have to resurrect the Sketchers box for the outdoor sessions, assuming the weather allows us to paint outdoors. Added 14/04/2013. See the piece in `This and That' April 2013. Another Craig Young `lookalike', although a somewhat curious one(s)

And still they come! Added 11/08/2013. My friend John Softly recently attended a workshop by the artist Malcolm Carver www.carverstudio.com/ This artist, as well as having a distinctly original (and controversial ?) way of painting  also markets several products of his own design. One is this very strange looking palette which John, and most of the other participants, purchased at the workshop. John regards it as a sketching palette.

Also added 11/08/2013. And would you believe another `hand-made palette has emerged, although in this case as John says `resembling an upmarket Holbein'. Added 17/01/2016: The House of Hoffman now offer several types of these magnificent hand made palettes in various sizes. They are very expensive, starting at something like $400 but could be described as the Rolls Royce of palettes.

You really need to look at the website if interested, which stated `only one available' but goes on to say palettes can be made to order.  Delivery is from Saginaw in America only within America. The price, shown in sterling, exceeded £300. www.etsy.com/listing/126094124/handmade-brass-watercolor-palette?ref=shop_home_active  Alternatively search for `House of Hoffman` .

Also added 11/08/2013. The next outfit was originally listed in a post I made called this and that. However as that might be missed I've added it here. This is a strange one calling itself `The Watercolor Prototipes (!) Company. 

As you can see they show two Craig Young `lookalikes' and also feature the `Piera' and Holbein palettes. This site appears to be Chinese (?) but has had very few visitors and  I personally would keep well clear of it without a good deal more information about who they are - we have been making palettes for 25 years etc etc - and whether these illustrations  represent  actual product. www.watercolorpaintbox.wordpress.com/

Added 03/09/13. Kevin Franklin has supplied the following photograph. It shows the John Hurtely (Little Brass Box) and Craig Young small travel palettes. Craig's is the larger one. See their websites for full details.

I know I'm open to criticism by those who say you should limit your palette to many fewer colours. Each to his own as I  paint several different subjects and don't normally use more than a dozen colours in a single  painting, often less. With the fabulous range of colours available it seems silly to restrict oneself to 10 or fewer in total. As an amateur artist I don't have any pressures on me to conform (or make a living from painting). I like to experiment.

From the Wetcanvas experience it is obvious palettes cause much excitement and interest from users. Many other artists will wonder what all the fuss is about.  You may be enlightened or even more confused by  the above, and information in the previous posts. Remember when push comes to shove the important thing is getting paint on to paper.

Update on the `Spanish Palette' (see Palettes Pt.3). A good friend , who purchased one, has this to say: 

`The Spanish Palette is the worst buy I have ever made, looked good initially but rust got to the wells when a year old. It is what it is. A cheap (13 Euros) Chinese-made metal palette which, basically puts it at the bottom of the metal palette types....'

Added 03/05/2014: John Softly has sent me details of the latest palette from the artist Malcolm Carver:]

Apparently this is credit card size(!) and is sold with Daniel |Smith paints installed but the amounts are small. If you are interested the link is: http://www.carverstudio.com/online-store/ Sorry about the blurred image but that's how it came out.

This is a better photograph but again `credit card' size!

Personally I find the Craig Young Sketchers box on the small size and it is much bigger than this. A link to an American site selling this palette is http://expeditionaryart.com/shop/product/pocket-palette/

Added 07/07/2014: My friend John Softly has recently managed to find an original De Wint palette and purchase it. Expensive but nothing like as much as some of the current hand-made palettes.  Wesson used a De Wint until  production ceased then switched to a Binning Munro. When that also ceased production  he moved to a Holbein 1000.

Note the price - roughly £2.00 in todays money but obviously converting this to today's equivalent would be a lot more. The condition of John's example is generally good with only a slight amount of rust in one of the paint wells which can be easily dealt with.

All information and photographs courtesy John Softly.

Added 23/11/2014; The following shows the palette recently made by David Cooper of Classic Paint boxes for the fine Dutch artist, and charming man Gerard Hendriks.It certainly looks an excellent example of David Coopers workmanship

I recently received an e -mail from a company calling itself Rigger Art. They offered to send me for review a palette they are selling on Amazon. This palette is 'lightweight' yet sturdy plastic with 28 wells and 5 mixing areas. They say it is larger than similar palettes. I declined as I tend to remain completely independent and the palette appears generally similar to some other palettes on the market. I don't use plastic palettes as a rule and couldn't see the point but here is an illustration for those who might be interested. 

This is a photo of my friend John Softly's palettes. It gives an interesting size comparison. The very bottom is a Craig Young and I think the Spanish palette is at the top.

George Armstrong Custer

One of the most controversial figures in the History of the American West is George Armstrong Custer. Often referred to as `General' Custer, his brevet rank during the Civil War, he was actually a Lieutenant Colonel when commanding the 7th Cavalry at the famous battle of the Little Bighorn on  25 June 1876. Custer's total force amounted to 667 soldiers, scouts and civilians. Underestimating the Indians -  it is now believed there were about 1500 warriors, mainly Sioux, some Cheyenne and a few Arapahoes, although some estimates give much higher figures - he made the fatal error of splitting his force into three non supporting groups, his of 200 plus being completely wiped out. Total losses were approximately  253 soldiers and civilians killed plus 53 wounded. These are minuscule figures compared to what has happened in other conflicts but created a sensation at the time and has led to a huge literature, many films and continuing controversy to this day.  The 7th cavalry gained their revenge over the Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek on the 29 December 1890 killing 128 Lakota Sioux, including women and children, with 33 more Wounded. It was not the one-sided battle often portrayed as 25 soldiers were killed and 35 wounded, the 7th Cavalry's biggest loss other than at the Little Big Horn.

 George Armstrong Custer

George Armstrong Custer. A2 Waterford Rough 140lb (300gsm).

I first made a pencil drawing using a Pentel 205 mechanical 05 2B pencil. I then painted the features using various combinations of Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre and Cerulean Blue. I avoided hard edges other than on the right facing side of the face.  The hat is a mixture of Indigo (Daniel Smith) in various dilutions with some Cerulean and the hair a mixture of Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Gold Ochre and a little blue. His coat is Cerulean and Cobalt Blue with the bow and buttons a mix of Raw Umber and Gold Ochre (W & N). Possibly I've missed out some Quinacridone Gold (DS).

 Custer was played by Errol Flynn in the historically very inaccurate movie `They Died with Their Boots On'  - a typical Hollywood distortion - and I keep thinking my painting looks rather like Flynn!

Usual brushes currently the Isabey Kolinsky sables including retractables sizes 4 to 8 and the Da Vinci Artissimo 44 No 2 mop - roughly equivalent to between a 12 and 14 round.

Action!

This was the subject at the latest Avon Valley Artists session when once again I failed to take my camera, not deliberate I hasten to add. I was annoyed with myself at this latest lapse. 

There were fifteen members present and the subject lent itself  to a wide variety of interpretations. I can only show you mine but I'm sure you will see Yvonnes on her website. www.floralwatercolours.blogspot.com/   Her painting, very accomplished as usual, is of dandelion heads with the seeds floating away as they do.

This is the painting below in monochrome. After getting a mild slap on the wrist over the lack of darks (value) in my original Iris painting  I thought it might be of interest to publish monochrome versions of the paintings. The biggest problem in assessing value in colour is that what you might think is dark isn't necessarily so, or probably better described as applying values to colours. I hope this will prove of interest.

`Gotcha'! 16" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140lb (300 gsm) Not

I'm unable to show the original photograph for copyright reasons but will describe it. Essentially it was similar in composition to the finished painting but with a solid black background and a large number of water splashes at the bottom part, which show up well against the dark colour. I decided to ignore this and go for a colourful approach heavily influenced by the Dutch master Gerard Hendriks, who I am pleased to call a friend. 

I first made a  pencil drawing, paying particular attention to the head but with only a basic outline for the rest. The intention was to make an impressionistic and colourful image of the bird, having caught a small fish, rising from the river. There is an element of abstraction and could be described as my take on the `Realistic Abstract' theme of Keest van Aalst. 

With the glorious colours of the Kingfisher  my colourist tendencies were given full reign. I painted the head first of all and did this with the small Isabey retractables. The colours are as described later except the eye was Ivory Black (Maimeri). The orange is principally Transparent Orange (Schminke PO71), a glorious colour, and although it isn't obvious there are also touches of Transparent Brown (Schminke PBr41) in the darker areas. The blue is mostly Turquoise (Lukas PB16) with some Cerulean. This Lukas colour is another star. The background colours allowed to mix on the paper, include Transparent Orange, Transparent Brown, Cerulean, Cobalt Teal Blue (DS PG50), purples mixed from Quinacridone Rose (Graham PV19) and Ultramarine Blue, Hansa Yellow Medium (DS PY97). I think that's it! I also splashed the same colours directionally to give the impression of the bird rising from the water. Finally, although not very evident. I splashed Vallejo Acrylic Gouache, slightly diluted, over the bottom area near the bird. This is useful stuff but beware - very messy!

My brushes were restricted to the Escoda and Isabey  Kolinsky retractables sizes 4,6, 8 and 12.

Bei-An CAO

This is another of the artists I first became aware of in Kees van Aalst's popular book `Realistic Abstracts` (Search Press 2010). Apart from his portraits, which are more impressionistic, most of his other work is of an abstract nature with small areas of realism - which is why Kees van Aalst featured him in the book. Although watercolour seems to be his major medium he also uses pastels and acrylics. Many of the details that follow are from the literature that accompanied his 2013 workshop at the Moulin de Perrot Academy of Fine Arts at Gilhac-et Bruzac France. This is where Viktoria Prischedko also holds workshops.

Bei-An Cao was born in Shanghai in 1957. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai and subsequently held a number of  academic posts in several art institutions.  He moved to Brussels, Belgium to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from where he graduated in 1998. He also attended other faculties and currently teaches at the Watercolour School at Namur.

Many of his works are in collections of professional painting in numerous countries including China, the U.S., Japan and various European countries. He has won many awards in both Europe and China.

For the course at MD Perrot his recommended materials included Arches 300gm (140lb) paper. He uses a variety of round and flat brushes and sells them on his courses. This probably means many are of Chinese origin as he admires Chinese calligraphers  and major Asian painters. He is a friend and disciple of the artist Zao Wou ki.. 

His choice of colours is interesting as he recommends either tubes or a Winsor & Newton box with some additional tubes. The colours given are Lemon Yellow, Gamboge, Orange Yellow, Vermillion Red, Cadmium Red, Permanent Rose, Red Ochre, Alazarin Crimson, Perylene Violet, Dark Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Phalo Blue, Cobalt Blue, Light Green, Dark Green, Burnt Umber, Dark Brown, Ivory Black and white gouache. I don't know if these are all Winsor & Newton as the descriptions- Dark Green, Dark Violet etc - don't exactly match current W & N paints. nevertheless you get the idea -  20 paints in all. It strikes me that the `limited' palette is not in vogue with an increasing number of artists, principally - but not always - those who paint a range of subjects.

Following are a number of examples of his work. He does portraits which are impressionistic rather than abstract. His other work epitomises the `realistic abstract ' type of painting described and  well illustrated in the van Aalst book. This isn't to everyone's taste but I like it very much.

I think him a terrific artist and he has a large following. His website is www.caobeian.com/  where you will find a much larger selection of his paintings. Google his name and  more comes up. There is one video of his paintings on Youtube, more a catalogue of paintings rather than a demo.

PO48 & PO49 Quinacridones

PO48 and PO49 are two of the more interesting pigments, transparent and staining,  currently offered by a few -  very few - paint manufacturers. They are both synthetic pigments classified by Handprint in the `Earth' colours section and rated as `Top Forty' pigments. In the case of PO49 Quinacridone Gold the only source of the actual pigment is Daniel Smith and how long that will continue is a large question mark, as according to Handprint, pigment production ceased years ago, due to lack of demand from the automotive industry. As has been said the paint manufacturers are at the back of the queue, a long way behind the automotive and chemical industries so have to take the scraps!. One or two instances have come to light recently of manufacturers changing the formulation of their paints, yet the packaging and literature have remained unchanged. In other words what you see is not what you get! I wonder how this would play with trading standards? It would be foolish to expect the manufacturers to alter everything for the odd pigment substitution, but is to be hoped this isn't something that becomes widespread. When I have asked questions to at least two manufacturers  I received no response.

When Quinacridone Gold was originally introduced Winsor & Newton, Sennelier and Daniel Smith all listed it. They still do but, with the exception of Daniel Smith, the current paints are multi-pigment mixes that should correctly be called `hues'. In the case of Maimeri they changed to PY42 without telling anyone and the tubes still say `Quinacridone PV49'. Note PV49 which is and was incorrect and has never been altered. I found the Maimeri version, called Golden Lake, less than satisfactory. The Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold was called, by the doyen of Australian watercolour artists Robert Wade, as the `best thing for years'. It was a very nice paint and I still have two original full pans but is now a three pigment mix. I don't have it and while the shade may be similar the results of mixing it with other paints must surely be different.

From left to right we have Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Rust, Quinacridone Burnt Orange and Gold Ochre. Click on the photo to enlarge it. For more details go to www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterfs.html and then to the `Earth' section. I am not entirely happy with these swatches. The first attempt at photographing them turned out too light and using the colour adjustment feature has improved that, but there appears to be more difference between the two PO48 swatches than in actuality. My impression is that the Daniel Smith paint is equally rich if slightly redder. Gold Ochre is a lovely shade but very opaque.

The second paint featured is PO48 Quinacridone Orange. Handprint originally said production of this pigment had also been discontinued, but it appears this was untrue and it is currently available from at least three pigment suppliers. It is a lovely colour but the only sources, as far as I am aware, are Daniel Smith, Graham and Da Vinci. Graham call it Quinacridone Rust while the others Quinacridone Burnt Orange.  I have both the Daniel Smith and Graham paints and they are one of my favourites.

In the UK Daniel Smith paints are available from Jacksons www.jacksonsart.co.uk , Ken Bromley www.artsupplies.co.uk and a few others. Graham and Da Vinci only from Lawrence of Hove www.lawrence.co.uk . In the USA all  are freely available. I believe you can get Daniel Smith in Australia but (at a price). Whether any of the European art suppliers stock any of these makes is unknown, although Great Art certainly don't.  

Snow Leopard

This is my latest animal portrait and is of a snow leopard. These secretive and solitary animals live high in the mountains of Central Asia and are in danger of extinction as there are less than 10000, some say even fewer, and they are hunted for their fur. There are several hundred in zoos around the World but do we want so many of these endangered species just existing in zoos?

16 " x 12" Gerstaeker No.3 200gsm 

Initially I made a `careful, drawing, avoiding `super' realistic detail, with a mechanical Pentel 05 2B pencil. I concentrated  on the face and reduced the detail outside of this to just a hint. The paper is a cheap own label Great Art product. It is basic but seems to work quite well on subjects like this. I wouldn't recommend it for large washes or where much over painting is done.

With the snow leopard being portrayed in Winter this is inevitably a  very `cool' painting although I have tried to introduce a little warmer colour for balance. Colours used were mainly Cerulean and Moonglow (Daniel Smith) with Raw Umber and (very) diluted Quinacridone Gold (Daniel Smith PO49). There is a little Ivory Black (Maimeri) about the eyes, nose and lip areas. The eyes have some Gold Green (Rowney PY129) in the lower parts. There may be slight touches with one or two other shades. Since I photographed it I have added a little red to the eyes.

I have done several of these animal paintings recently and will now be turning to other subjects, although I like painting animals and birds and will continue to do so. Judging from the lack of comments - apart from spam increasing exponentially - the Rhino painting, which I was very pleased with, seems to have  created little interest, although well received on Facebook, including a nice comment from Trevor Lingard. I am a little disappointed although that's life! I know animal subjects aren't everyone's cup of tea (or coffee). As the February challenge is of Irises I shall be working on some simpler compositions of this flower and if good enough may post the results, prior to the actual challenge subject, which is a much more complicated group of irises. 

Coming up soon are posts on Quinacridones PO48/ PO49 and I will also be featuring the artist Cao Bei-An.