While reading Shari Blaukopf’s book Working with Colour, I came across this little introduction to her work, where she goes through the materials and tools she takes with her when sketching outdoors. It was really interesting and I discovered quite a few new materials and little tools that I hadn’t come across before. I particularly enjoy seeing how different artists organise their sketching kits and adapt their materials to working on location. At the same time, I have to admit I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the fact that every artist seems to use a different selection of colours! Every time I discover a new palette, I feel like I’m missing exactly those colours and that I’ll never quite have the right ones. Maybe the lesson is simply to stop looking for the perfect palette and start using the one I already have!
“In my travel palette, I have about twenty-two colours. These are the ones I use all the time. Even in my studio palette, I have these same colours. What I do is keep them in the same order in all my palettes so that I can find them easily. So if I’m in conditions that are difficult, and I have to paint quickly, I always know that the Cerulean Blue is in between the Turquoise and the Cobalt Blue.”