I had a great time sketching this past weekend. I’m excited to build my Methow Valley palette and plan this spring to develop a series of watercolors that will be exhibited at the local (and delicious) Cinnamon Twisp Bakery.

I sat outside on my porch a few days ago with my watercolors and painted amid gusts of wind. The sky was rapidly changing and I played with painting clouds and discovering the early spring colors. The following are a promising limited palette: Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Pyrrol Red, Indathrone Blue, and Pthalo Blue (red shade).

Together they create lovely golden browns and deep greens. I find it useful to work with limited color palettes to bring harmony throughout my painting and I find it pushes me to mix colors  instead of relying on what fun tubes of paint I may have on hand. (There’s always such temptation to buy new colors!)

What are your favorite colors and mixes?