From Pink to May Green

 

5/2/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood (Bonus: A 
Kwanzan cherry stood behind this cluster of 
May green trees!)

The pink trees in my neighborhood may be fading (I haven’t put away my pink pencils yet, though), but now I have an opportunity to use another color in my spring palette. When fresh, tiny leaves start appearing, they give trees a transparent haze of luminous yellow-green. I especially enjoy sketching them when they stand in front of a contrasting background, like the ones against the red building (below). (A local friend who reads this blog might recognize that building. 😉)

It’s also fun seeing the names that manufacturers use for a range of yellow-greens. In these sketches, I used a Derwent Inktense called Fern (1560) (and if you looked only at its misinformed end cap, you’d think it was dark Army green or some such). In its dry state, it’s darker and more olive, but it turns yellow-green when activated. Faber-Castell unimaginatively calls the color Light Green (171), but it also has a May Green (170) that looks more olive than the green I have in mind. Caran d’Ache calls it Spring Green (470) in English, but the French on the barrel is Vert de Mai – May Green. I like “May Green” best as the name for the hue I see and welcome this time of year.

5/1/23 Green Lake neighborhood

5/1/23 Green Lake neighborhood