My Color Swatch Project

Every month, I take my own advice and do some of my own assignments, especially the ones I need most. I’m happy to report that the little swatch bowl I showed in September’s video lecture is no more! And it feels great.

I took it upon myself to create a new color display in my studio - one that hangs on the wall, so I can see all my swatches better. The idea of having larger swatches to work with was my main inspiration behind this project. Also, I needed a way of protecting my swatches since they were constantly getting water and dirt on them by sitting on my desk. My old swatches were pretty beat up.

My first thought was to tack up swatches directly on the wall. However, our home has plaster, which is awful to repair. Luckily, I already had a pinboard in my studio for displaying work. Pottery Barn Teen has some great options, by the way. That’s where I got mine, although they don’t have my version anymore. While I love displaying my work in my studio, I wasn’t rotating out the art as much as I thought. I decided better use of the pinboard was to put my color swatches on the left side and leave a little room on the right to hang up new work.

I decided to go with 3x3 in. for my new swatches. It felt like the perfect size. Then, I got to work recreating all the swatches in my bowl. I eliminated some and added ones I thought were missing. I wrote the paint color on the front of the swatch - whether it was a color straight out of the tube (I marked those with little stars), or whether they were my own creations (I put the color formulas on the back of those). Then, I put each swatch in these 3x3 plastic pouches I got on Amazon. I don’t know how I feel about the shine on the pouches, but for now it works. I might eventually add a varnish to my swatches instead. I just wasn’t feeling up for that right now.

Lastly, I tacked up the colors on my pinboard by shade. I had to buy more of these little gold clips I have. I love how the swatches look attached to the clips. So far, my system is working. I’ve already used many of the swatches since finishing up this project two weeks ago.

… & New Shades of Gouache

So I have a confession to make - I cheated on Winsor & Newton with Holbein this month. It was all in the name of research - in an attempt to add new swatches to my pinboard :)

Earlier this year, I tested these two brands against one another. I determined that my old friend Winsor & Newton provides a better application. However, Holbein does have one unique offering. They have all the shades Winsor & Newton has and then some. Since I’ve thoroughly explored the Winsor & Newton shades, I decided to purchase six new Holbein shades from Dick Blick to try out:

• Brilliant Pink

• Smalt Blue

• Ash Green

• Dark Green

• Ash Blue

• Cobalt Green Pale

By the way, I much prefer Holbein’s regular gouache to their acrylic gouache, although I know many artists disagree.

My favorite shade in this bunch was Brilliant Pink. It felt like the perfect vintage pink. It reminds me of pink Cadillacs, poodle skirts, and 1950’s diners. Although I tried to accurately represent Brilliant Pink in the picture above, it doesn’t do it justice. In person, the shade is truly amazing. I also really loved Smalt Blue and Ash Green - two shortcut shades to alternatives I make by mixing several Winsor & Newton colors together.

Honestly, none of these colors disappointed me, and they brought a spark to my work. Nothing makes me happier than trying out new colors, even though I don’t do it very often. This year, I’ve made a point of experimenting more and its fueled a lot of new and interesting work.

So, did any of you tackle color displays this month or try new shades? Let me know in the comments below!