Studio chores: Filling watercolour into halfpans

There comes a tide in the affairs of man. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life. Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

There comes as well a tide in the affairs of a working studio, and such a tide has come. A flood of small chores which beckon to the artist to be done. I have been doing a few of these this morning and have met with fortune and put away the miseries of thinking I was out of one of my most used pigments. Let me explain.

I am both experimental and minimal in my use of watercolours. Whenever I travel I buy interesting or unique art supplies of all kinds to bring back and experiment with. I enjoy these forays into luxrious abundance. But tend to work both in the field and in the studio with 'my favorites', A limited, seasonal, mixable palette. On this palette about five colours are really essential. two of these are prussian blue and raw sienna. And raw sienna is currently out. A true challenge for me as it is probably my most used color.

Today, I decided to tackle a few chores before doing any artwork. One of these was to fill half pans with watercolour from tubes I had either picked up on travels or been given as samples. And lo and behold one of them was raw sienna! I had completely forgotten about it. I now have enough for two half pans which is indeed a delight. My chores have paid off.

I thought I would share a few pictures today to perhaps motivate you to do one of those tiny, nagging jobs that really isn't difficult but has been on your list for ages. Who knows, maybe you too will find your 'raw sienna'.

I am also out of permanent fine liners, which I believe has more to do with people borrowing and forgetting to return them to their place than with their actually being used up, so I just put a piece of tape over the descriptions to keep them legible while in use.