Too Much?

 

10/29/24 Green Lake neighborhood

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I’m relatively reserved with color. Sure, I love color as much as anyone does, but I prefer working with primary or secondary triads – three base colors should be plenty. Even when I use color, I have been accused of being downright minimalist.

Maybe because I’ve been so tonal and minimal with my comics approach nearly all year, I needed a change. When I prepped my palette at the beginning of the fall season, I went full-on rainbow. And the danger of carrying a full rainbow is that I might be tempted to use it – all at once.

As I was finishing up this sketch made near Green Lake, I realized I had used every color in my bag. Too much? On an unexpectedly gorgeous afternoon that was supposed to bring rain (and another deluge expected the following day), I think not.

Back to my bulky but reliable favorite again.

Paper note: After filling the handbound sketchbook made with Hahnemühle’s 100 percent cotton block paper, I switched back to my tried-and-true store-bought Hahnemühle A6-size sketchbook. I really wanted the block paper to work because handbinding small booklets served my needs so well. But the two extremely different sides of the paper became a deal breaker. If it was just a matter of flipping every other sheet when I stitched the signatures so that spreads would have the same paper on both sides, I could make it work. But I just don’t like one side. The paper is obviously made to be used on one side only (as most watercolor block paper would be).

I’m relieved to be back to my reliable favorite. Look at how both sides of the spread above show identical textures, and even where the gutter interrupts the red Japanese maple, the continuation looks the same.

I’ll just have to deal with the bulkier book as I always used to.