Florida is home to many types of palm trees, but none quite so impressive as the Royal palm. The trunk seems solid as a concrete pole, and the long, majestic fronds have a thick and sturdy midrib surrounded by fluttering green blades. It was a very breezy day, so it was a challenge to squint upwards into the sunny sky and try to draw the constantly changing crown.
I drew the palm on site and added the watercolor washes afterwards, trying out a new mini-palette of high value primary colors. I was inspired to create a smaller watercolor set by Laure Ferlita's post on stealth sketch kits on her blog, Painted Thoughts. Thank you, Laure, for a creative way to keep the art supplies minimal!
I used an eye shadow container (cleaned thoroughly and degreased with rubbing alcohol), and one thing I especially like is the top lid with the clear plastic bubbles – they make great mixing spots. I also like the compact size: 1 ½ by 4 inches; I can take it just about anywhere. I’m still waiting to see just how watertight it is…until then it’s going to stay in a zippered plastic bag. It worked quite well with my Niji waterbrushes
, the portable brush that carries water right in the handle.
You can see the swatch of Daniel Smith colors I chose for the primary set in the lower left corner of the top photo:
Red = Quinacridone Pink
Yellow = Quinacridone Gold
Blue = Prussian Blue
I read about this combination of colors somewhere and it sounded intriguing. I’ve used a similar triad in the past: Hansa Yellow, Quinacridone Pink, and Manganese Blue, but I had trouble making deep darks. This new set of primaries make some great dark colors!
You can click on the top image above to view larger on my Flickr photostream.
