Caterpillar

Another painting from the book Watercolor With Me in the Forest, again on Strathmore 400 140 lb. cold press.

The instructions called for using black, but it doesn’t seem like black watercolor ever dries dark enough. So instead I used black ink from a Pentel brush pen. The pen was the first thing I put on the paper, and I was worried it looked way too dark. But I think that made me apply the other colors heavily too, so it balanced out.

Colors used:

• DS Sap Green, occasionally mixed with Phthalo Blue to darken it
• WN Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Orange, and Sepia

I’m also rediscovering the joys of cheap brushes. A few years ago I picked up a set of a set of 12 Loew-Cornell nylon brushes (9 round brushes, 3 flat brushes) for $10 and I find myself using them all the time. When I need to scrub some hard dried paint up out of the palette, I reach for one of these. And although the varnish has flaked off one of them, they hold up well and keep a good point. It’s nice to have some brushes that don’t need to be babied.