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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / Grumpy Old Railroader – Retirement Job – Landscape Watercolors!

Grumpy Old Railroader – Retirement Job – Landscape Watercolors!

by WaterGirl|  January 29, 20221:30 pm| 88 Comments

This post is in: Artists In Our Midst, On The Road, Photo Blogging

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Our featured artist today is Grumpy Old Railroader!  He doesn’t seem that grumpy to me, so let’s give him a warm welcome.

If you would like your talent featured in the Artists in Our Midst series, send me an email message.  Don’t be shy!  This is one of the final Artists posts in the queue, so please get in touch if you would like to be featured.  Authors, too!

This is along the lines of “How it Started” vs the other paintings which are “How it is Going.”

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 10
So yeah I keep this first real painting – when I get frustrated I pull it out and realize I’ve come a long way.

I retired from the railroad after 44 years in 2008. I had always “doodled” and even took a couple of art classes in school. Dabbled in string sculptures, macrame wall hangings and a few crappy paintings in my hippie daze (not misspelled). I got serious in 2016 and outfitted myself with cheap tools, cheap paints, cheap everything.

Once I got to a real art class my instructor sat me down and explained that art is a craft like carpentry or anything else. Get the best tools and best everything, master all the painting techniques and learn to fly. His only caveat was that some folks pick it up a lot quicker than others but that every person, given time and practice, can learn to paint.

So I feel I have arrived somewhat. When I started I perhaps painted a “keeper” 1 out of 20 paintings. I got it down to 1 out of less than 10. Progress! (And nobody sees the flops I painted). My usual process is my beautiful young bride (married in 1973) and I wander up and down the California North Coast in our RV for 3-4 months every year (month at a time) and I hike and take pics. The good pics get printed out and used for a painting. Alternatively, like the Chickadee painting, I just google a good pic on the inner tubes.

Prints, towels, coffee cups, and even pillow covers are available at my website.

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 9
Pigeon Point LighthouseJune 1, 2017

From Daughter-in-Law photo

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 8
UnknownJanuary 1, 2016

Ha! Watched a master do this one on Youtube and tried it several times.This was my 3rd attempt

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 7
Soda Springs CAJanuary 1, 2017

From a photo circa 1960’s

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 6
Sacramento ValleyJanuary 1, 2015

Oak Tree and Afternoon Sunlight

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 5
Westport CAJanuary 1, 2016

Between Westport and Fort Bragg CA

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 4
UnknownJanuary 1, 2020

Chickadee from a photo

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 3
Half Dome YosemiteJanuary 1, 2020

From a photo

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 2
Half Dome YosemiteJanuary 1, 2019

From a photo

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors! 1
Fort Bragg CAJanuary 1, 2018

Flowering Plum Blossom

Grumpy Old Railroader - Retirement Job - Landscape Watercolors!
Fort Bragg CAJanuary 1, 2018

Pudding Creek Railroad Trestle from a photo postcard I purchased

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Reader Interactions

88Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    i’m sure there will be questions, so if you’re a grumpy old railroader, please let us know when you get here!

  2. 2.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    Grumpy’s train is at the station

  3. 3.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    No questions. I just love these paintings. They are all so diferent but all so wonderful.

  4. 4.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 29, 2022 at 1:35 pm

    Thank you for these. I’ve said before watercolors are my favorite. This time the Flowering Plum Blossom snagged me ❤️

  5. 5.

    jeffreyw

    January 29, 2022 at 1:37 pm

    Bah! Get offa my tracks!
    //

  6. 6.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 1:37 pm

    So no pears available at your site?

  7. 7.

    LivinginExile

    January 29, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    Beautiful ! There is something about them that I REALLY like, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.

  8. 8.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 29, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: Can you talk about your materials? Do you sketch first or just start with the colors.

    Thanks.

    The train’s my favorite.

  9. 9.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: My favorite too. Watercolor is different than other mediums. The “white” is actually the paper and one paints around it preserving the white

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: That flower painting is stunning.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: I notice that the original isn’t available on that one. :-(   Already sold or hanging on to it yourself?

  12. 12.

    JimV

    January 29, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    Goddamn those are good paintings!

  13. 13.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Can you talk about your materials? Do you sketch first or just start with the colors.

    Watercolor paper comes in various thickness. This was 300 lb cold press paper which can take a load of water without rippling. I normally sketch the main objects and paint right over it. You can easily erase sketch marks if done lightly.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    @sab: There are pears available on his website!

  15. 15.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 29, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: Thanks. Which brand do you use do you have a particular preference for the paper or the colors?

  16. 16.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    @WaterGirl: I notice that the original isn’t available on that one. :-(   Already sold or hanging on to it yourself?

    My nephew is a 3rd generation locomotive engineer and has called dibbs

  17. 17.

    Baud

    January 29, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    The pair painting reminds me of the Obama hope and change art from 2008.

    You are talented.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    January 29, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    These are really very impressive! Have you entered any shows yet

    ETA: I also love the plum blossom, but the oak and shafts of sunlight create a really wonderful mood.

  19. 19.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Which brand do you use do you have a particular preference for the paper or the colors?

    Any brand of 300 lb paper will work. Just a matter of preference. As for paints, it depends on what the artist prefers using. Danial Smith makes a good affordable product but I am partial to M. Graham, Schmincke and Windsor & Newton. Example: I like the color Cerulean Blue by Windsor Newton but not the same color by M. Graham. Again, just preference. As for brushes I tend to go with the natural sable although some synthetic are perfectly fine. Like any craftsman, you start cheap, then figure out why all the great craftsmen are using expensive equipment

  20. 20.

    MomSense

    January 29, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    I love these!  I wish I could paint.

  21. 21.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    @debbie: I also love the plum blossom, but the oak and shafts of sunlight create a really wonderful mood.

    It is all about learning techniques. The streaming shadows are made by laying two parallel pieces of paper to form the shadow and then using an upside down toothbrush to “spatter” the dust particles. Painting is merely learning every technique. I’m still learning

  22. 22.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yes. Nice ones. But not those four.

  23. 23.

    SpaceUnit

    January 29, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    Nice stuff!

  24. 24.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    I love watercolor when the painter goes for some dark.

  25. 25.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    @MomSense: I love these!  I wish I could paint.

    Anybody can learn to paint. It just takes getting the proper equipment and learning all the little techniques, like how to lay on the paint, composition, magic tricks and perseverance. Caveat: People with a natural talent pick it up much more quickly than my slogging through a couple of years of trial and error before taking some classes. If I can do it, anyone can

  26. 26.

    different-church-lady

    January 29, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    “Mr. Warhol, I’d like to commission you for a portrait of this pear.”

  27. 27.

    LiminalOwl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    Wow, lovely. Thank you. That oak tree…

  28. 28.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    @sab: I love watercolor when the painter goes for some dark.

    That is just another technique, Watercolor is layed on from light to dark and from background to foreground because unlike oil or acrylic, in watercolor you cannot paint a light color over a dark color. In landscape, think of distant hazy blue hills and nearer crisp dark colors

    What you are commenting about is what is called “low-key” or mostly dark. “High-key” is mostly light values (shades)

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    January 29, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    Beautiful.  Thanks for sharing.

    I remember doing some “painting” in afterschool daycare.  One has to learn early on that less is much more, and too much is much too much!

    I also remember teaching myself that drawing was often about shadows and not about hard edges of shapes (from playing around sketching from a picture of the Pietà).

    I had a boss who was convinced that he couldn’t draw until he got a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. He still needed a lot of practice after that, but everyone needs to practice! ;-)

    Thanks again.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    @sab: Those 4 pears are intended to give the rest of us hope.  A good reminder that the starting point is not the end point.

  31. 31.

    Mike in Oly

    January 29, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    Watercolor is so much fun to play with. I love your paintings. The plum blossoms especially. I started playing with them years ago with the intention of creating paintings from my iris photography, but got discouraged and have only halfheartedly worked at improving since. I really need to get back into doing it every weekend.

  32. 32.

    Tenar Arha

    January 29, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: I like the locomotive & the trestle for the lines & colors, love the softness of the blossom & the  Sacramento Valley. Thanks for sharing.

  33. 33.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: But the dark is such a commitment.

  34. 34.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: But the starting point was so good.

  35. 35.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    @Another Scott:  he couldn’t draw until he got a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

    A fantastic book and highly recommended for anyone. It really teaches you to “see” what you are looking at. Instead of a tree, one sees shapes and values

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    @sab: 100x better than I could do!

    I am convinced that artists see the world differently than the rest of us.

  37. 37.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    @Mike in Oly:  I started playing with them years ago with the intention of creating paintings from my iris photography, but got discouraged and have only halfheartedly worked at improving since.

    This. Been there. I started a painting, got discouraged and moved onto other paintings. One year later I was reorganizing and came across that unfinished piece and it dawned on me right there how to fix it. One of my best projects and my sweet young bride has it hanging in our home

  38. 38.

    Scout211

    January 29, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    Oh my.  I love watercolor paintings. They are so delicate and so expressive with each brush stoke. Your paintings are gorgeous. My favorite is the Sac Valley oak tree. That could easily be one of the oak trees on my property.  I love it.

  39. 39.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    @Scout211:  My favorite is the Sac Valley oak tree

    Confession: That was one of my early successes done in an art class. The instructor taught “step by step” classes. “Okay watch me do this. Now class, you do it. Next watch me do this.” Etc until step by step the entire class had painted the oak tree

  40. 40.

    Scout211

    January 29, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    Is the oak tree print for sale on your site? I couldn’t find it on my first pass through your prints.

    ETA:  found it.

  41. 41.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    @Scout211: You must have skipped over it.

    https://bruce-holder.pixels.com/featured/sunbeams-bruce-holder.html

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:24 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: Did you happen to see my question about the flower painting?

  43. 43.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 29, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    I particularly like the seascape, the bird, and the plum blossom.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The first and the plum blossom were my favorites!  (in reverse order)

    The trains are also cool.

  45. 45.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: My sister has the original. I tend to give my stuff away

  46. 46.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    I have a former brother in law who is a professional painter. He does oil and guache, not watercolor.

    He says the thing about oils is that if he likes a painting he can paint it again. So sell the one and repaint it for his own collection.

    Not so with guache (or watercolor.) The medium is as much in charge as the painter. So every painting is unique.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: If your sister’s house is broken into and the only thing that is missing, um, it’s not me.  Really.

  48. 48.

    raven

    January 29, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    Willie Nelson – Railroad Lady

  49. 49.

    sab

    January 29, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @WaterGirl: That gets me off the hook. Thank you WaterGirl.

  50. 50.

    Betsy

    January 29, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    I love your style, especially the trains!

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    January 29, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    Wow!

  52. 52.

    J.

    January 29, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    These are beautiful! You are a very talented old railroader. Thanks for sharing your art with us.

  53. 53.

    Sure Lurkalot

    January 29, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    These are lovely to view, there’s an inviting, look further quality to all of them.

    I like the pears because it reminds me of an art project long ago where we picked a subject and created small pieces in different media to be mounted on a board—water color, tempera, woodcut, oil, ink, etc. Mine was an apple and it came out ok (I are not an artist). The instructor for that class was a favorite.

  54. 54.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: the 4 pears were actually a beginner class project on for basic watercolor techniques. Glazing, linear, wet on wet and wet on dry

  55. 55.

    JPL

    January 29, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    These are lovely, and the plum blossom is spectacular.

  56. 56.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    January 29, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: Me too!

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @raven: I think of that as a Jimmy Buffett song.  Looks like both Jimmy and Willie were singing a Jerry Jeff Walker song.  I had no idea.

    Always loved the song.

  58. 58.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    January 29, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): I also really like the Westport painting.  Thanks for posting these!

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    January 29, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @LivinginExile: The colors are great.

  60. 60.

    raven

    January 29, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @WaterGirl:  The Texas Troubadour from Buffalo New York! I remember when Buffet would play Ruby Gulch solo!

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    @raven: Really?  I must have missed Jimmy Buffett at Ruby Gulch.  Great bar and music venue.

  62. 62.

    raven

    January 29, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    How Jerry Jeff Walker Helped Put Jimmy Buffett on the Road to ‘Margaritaville’
     

    Long before Jimmy Buffett became one of the most successful musicians in the world (his net worth was recently estimated at north of half a billion dollars), he was a struggling Nashville songwriter trying to figure out his path in the music business. Then he met Jerry Jeff Walker, who already had a hit and a handful of albums to his name. The meeting changed Buffett’s life. Last week he spoke to Texas Monthly about his old friend, who passed away on October 23. Here’s what he had to say.

  63. 63.

    raven

    January 29, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @WaterGirl: I helped built it.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    @raven: Really?!!?!!!

  65. 65.

    MazeDancer

    January 29, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    Lovely work.

    The train is especially well done.

  66. 66.

    SkyBluePink

    January 29, 2022 at 3:48 pm

    The colors are so wonderfully vibrant!

    Exquisite and lovely paintings.

  67. 67.

    raven

    January 29, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    @WaterGirl: Oh yea, you know the sign was done by Frank Gallo

  68. 68.

    trollhattan

    January 29, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    [Waves at Grumpy] Like your work very much. Sacramento Valley oak tree captures our now-typical smoky fall weather quite well. And I had to laugh when I googled SP 6356 and this is the first image that pops up. IDK if I’ve seen it here in Sac, possible at one of the rail fairs, but its cousin SP 6151 is a local staple. Handsome big boy.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    Reminder:

    If you would like your talent featured in the Artists in Our Midst series, send me an email message.  Don’t be shy!  There is one more Artist posts in the queue, and one more Author post, i believe, so please get in touch if you would like to be featured.

  70. 70.

    StringOnAStick

    January 29, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    Grumpy, you have such a range of topics and the skill shown on all of them is impressive!  Thanks so much for sharing them and your experiences and hints; you’ve inspired me to get back at it again.  I’m lucky to have a local community college to take classes at now.

    I started playing with watercolors 6 years ago and then stopped when I was depressed over the loss of my soul kitty.  Before I stopped I upgraded to decent brushes and heavier weight paper because all that taping and stretching to prepare a page was a pain and water washes are such a part of the medium and the thinner papers warp badly. I switched to the Dr. Ph Martin’s liquid watercolors because they are nontoxic and there’s no issues with little flecks of uncrushed pigments, and because cats like to drink out of my water glass; the colors are vibrant.

  71. 71.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 29, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    @raven: Well, that took me right back to a dive bar in Sheridan, Illinois in the ’70’s.

  72. 72.

    SFBayAreaGal

    January 29, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: I love your painting of Pigeon Point Lighthouse. I’m about 45 minutes to an hour from it, depending on time of day and day of week.

    My favorite lighthouse. A great place to stop and visit on the way to Santa Cruz.

    I’ve stayed at the hostel at the lighthouse a few times.

    FYI, Pigeon Point Lighthouse received all the money it needed to make the repairs.

  73. 73.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    @StringOnAStick: I’ll have to give those a try. Honestly some of the paint ingredients scare me especially the cadmiums so nontoxic sounds very appealing

  74. 74.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    @trollhattan: SP 6356 and this is the first image that pops up. IDK if I’ve seen it here in Sac, possible at one of the rail fairs, but its cousin SP 6151 is a local staple

    Last I knew SP6356 had been sold to Arizona Central. Don’t know if it still lives or has been scrapped. The SP6151 was a little different equipped with steam generators for passenger service. BTW I live in Sun City in Lincoln and spent the majority of my RR career in Roseville and Sacramento

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    January 29, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader:

    Excellent! Guessing you were working for the railroad when the ammo train blew up in Roseville? That seemed funinteresting.

  76. 76.

    CarolPW

    January 29, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: We lived in Sacramento for years, and were there when the Rail Museum opened. Lovely still nights before the opening, and we could leave all the bedroom windows open (second floor) and listen to the whistles of the steam trains as they came into town. It was magical.

  77. 77.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    @trollhattan: I was actually working in Sacramento at that time but lived close enough to Antelope and I80 that the front window broke from concussion. I have a ton of pics from that day if you are interested. LBHolder99 at Gmail and I can send you a link

  78. 78.

    RSA

    January 29, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.

    So yeah I keep this first real painting – when I get frustrated I pull it out and realize I’ve come a long way.

    That first piece is also remarkable, I think. If someone had said, “This is from famous painter so-and-so’s Fauvist period,” I would not have blinked.

  79. 79.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    @CarolPW: One of my favorite jobs was working the Isleton Branch Line that begins where CSRM is in Old Sac (around 1973)

  80. 80.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Thank you everyone for the comments. Very cathartic. This train is departing the depot now

  81. 81.

    CarolPW

    January 29, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    @Grumpy Old Railroader: Ha! I even know where that runs (grew up in the Delta). My favorite passenger ride was through the Feather River Canyon.

    My great grandfather worked on building the railroad lines and my grandparents grew up in Auburn. The families were miners in Cornwall and came to California probably because they were useful doing the tunnels and road cuts over the Sierras. Some ended up working in the silver mines.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    January 29, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @WaterGirl: 

    Looks like both Jimmy and Willie were singing a Jerry Jeff Walker song.

    When Wife and I lived in Key West in the early ’70s Jerry Jeff and Jimmy were playing parties and bars for drinks and tips. Nice guys.

    My favorite is the plum blossoms, but the waterfront waves are really well done too. Mom took up watercolor after she retired, we have lots of her work still.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    January 29, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    Grumpy Old Railroader, big thanks for sharing your art with us!

  84. 84.

    Heidi Mom

    January 29, 2022 at 6:34 pm

    Lovely!  And your first real painting isn’t bad either.

  85. 85.

    Laura Too

    January 29, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    Beautiful, thanks for sharing!

  86. 86.

    Kattails

    January 29, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    Coming in very late, maybe you’ll check back later… I think you have a real propensity for detail as seen in the locomotive.  Obviously a subject you’re familiar with but you also understand the curves and how the  light plays off the surfaces.  And the perspective, which in this case could be a stinker to do. How you compressed the lettering on the side, and enough detail suggested in the mechanical bits. And very good distance and reflections in the beach on the second one down (Unknown).  Lovely work and so fun to see your own efforts and progress.   Thanks for sharing with us!

    Yellows:  I only use cadmiums for oils, and then only Gamblin because theirs claim to be inert. I find them too opaque for watercolor. For some lovely yellows in watercolor I use, after years of experimentation, Benzimidazolone yellow (Schmincke Aureolin modern or M. Graham, PY 151) which is a lemon yellow,  and Sennelier Yellow Lake (PY 150 nickel azo yellow which leans toward the gold, super useful color).  If you haven’t found Jane Blundell’s color charts or Handprint online discussing watercolor pigments in detail you really must look them up, I only ran across the a couple of years ago. Game changer.  Blundell has done watercolor swatches of virtually every color out there by many manufacturers and shares this data here.

  87. 87.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    January 29, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    @Kattails: Great advice. Yes Schminke Aurolin yellow and M. Graham Lemon yellow are on my palette. I use a basic palette with a few blues, reds and yellows. I’ll have to try the Sennelier paints. Thanks for the tip.

    My goto book a color charts is Stephen Quiller’s “Color Choices.” But you piqued my interest and I’ll take a look at Blundell’s book. And thanks for the link. That will be my next rabbit hole adventure!

    Thank you for the complements and advice

  88. 88.

    Miss Bianca

    January 30, 2022 at 10:30 am

    @MagdaInBlack: I love the Flowering Plum too!

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