Third class in my beginner watercolour classes and I had a very interesting comment. MY adult student couldn't find Phthalo blue "green shade" at the store.  I had been writing this colour on all my documents, but hadn't referred to the manufacturer. Somehow, I was so used to my intermediate students knowing my favorite colours, that I had taken it for granted.

'it's a great comment, because I had to go back to my paints and recheck each name from each manufacturer.  So here's five brands that are the equivalent to the phthalo blue "green shade" I like to use.

phthalo blue "green shade" - Daniel Smith

winsor blue "green shade" - Winsor Newton professional artist series

intense blue - Cottman series (by Winso Newton) - student grade

phthalo blue - Van Gogh

phthalo blue - Opus Art Supplies

Oooo - I had so much fun yesterday! I ordered some material from Opus Art Supplies

https://opusartsupplies.com/

on Granville Island and had amazing assistance from Peter.  He arranged to have the materials ready and had items set aside for me that were suggestions since some of my requests were sold out or not available.  

I needed some new small tipped watercolour brushes as well as some larger Da Vinci brushes that I was waiting for as gifts from family.  The gift cards were there, I was waiting for a dry day and an essential shopping day to get out for the curbside pick up.

I got a call back in a matter a a half hour that everything was ready for me.  

First, I dropped off my painting at the Federation Gallery for the Works on paper show and had a warm greeting from Tarin Mead who was at the front desk.  she encouraged me to do a "safe" walk through of the current show. The paintings looked amazing!  Helen Duckworth and Tarin Mead and staff really did a great job of setting up the exhibition.  I was drawn to a watercolour on the right side near the entrance and Tarin told me it was James Koll's.  He had written about the piece on his website and Facebook page and it displayed so beautifully in the gallery! James is one of the Mid Main artists that I participate with in the annual show.

After a quick goodbye, I headed over to Opus and parked the car to find out that the parking fees have been removed from Granville Island because of the pandemic. I waited in the outside line and was greeted by opus staff who went through the Covid protocols and took names and requests of what we were there for.  I was asked if I preferred staying outside receiving the material or if I felt comfortable coming in doors.  I decided I felt comfortable going in. Hanging outside while waiting, I noticed large announcements on the old Emily Carr buildings about the plan renewal for Granville Island. It's worth taking a look at!

once approved to make my way into the store, I was asked to hand sanitize and then taken to my material with a list of everything waiting for me.  Peter came by and told me about the Hahne Muehle paper that he had chosen for me to try and some alternative suggestions for brushes.  It took maybe 15 minutes to go through the process of being rung up at the counter, but I felt like I had been on a "holiday" and felt euphoric with my new supplies!

Peter really gave me some great suggestions on the alternatives for the small brushes I was looking for and I will be writing about them in my blog as soon as I get them out of the bag and into my studio space.  Thanks Peter! thanks Opus staff! You brightened my day!

Opus Art supplies coincidentally just posted about a brush article they put on their site - I've copied it here if you are interested!

https://opusartsupplies.com/a-guide-to-princeton-brushes/

2021 has really moved forward! The nice quiet New Years Eve with nary a firecracker or banging pot outside certainly isn't staying quiet. Between the wind storms and daily rain, the days have just flown by.  That is good in many ways, not great when I haven't even put my calendar of new projects up.  

Opus Art Supplies had 100 people watching my "Let's Face it" demonstration in watercolour.  Lots of terrific questions which Anna Altwein fielded so well! Thank you to everyone who signed up and joined in.  I recognized a few faces, but after the demo started, I was so focused, I forgot to flip through screens to see more of the attendees.  The video of my skin tones in watercolour is now public on YouTube, so anyone can view at their leisure.  It includes two other skin types as well.  More videos will be coming, but my first priority is getting all the materials ready for my online classes.  

https://youtu.be/KzcRWe5tE-0

My new beginner's online class, along with my intermediate watercolour class are filling up and  one begins this Friday.  A suggestion was to have the beginner's as a household, so that parents and kids could both join in if they wished.  I'm looking forward to this aspect of the class as well.

Tomorrow, I will drop off my painting to the Federation Gallery at Granville Island for the upcoming "works on paper" show.

I need to get some supplies at Opus, so I will check out the shop for a few minutes if the parking and line up isn't too busy. I just might call ahead and see if I can just do a curbside pickup.  I really want a larger DaVinci quill brush.

lots of great things in the works including trying my hand at some abstracts - so much more difficult than I thought they would be.  However, it's all about getting out of the comfort zone and learning something new to see what creativity can come of it!

Happy Painting!