I love tinkering with my palette and switching it up for the seasons. I put together this fall/winter version in my Art Toolkit Folio so that I could play with lots of reds, oranges and yellows plus have some moody darks and easy ways to mix snow. I also tried Read more…
I just finished up my Laws Sketchbook for Nature Journaling and thought I’d post a review. (Find it HERE in Jack’s shop.) For those who haven’t heard of him, John Muir “Jack” Laws is one of my heroes — I think of him as the father of the nature journaling Read more…
Do you ever dream about watercolors? I do! And I had a dream about a new Art Toolkit Folio palette configuration and had to try it! :) Say hello to my new setup for World Watercolor Month — on the left! I had been using this as a mixing palette, Read more…
A few weeks ago I received an exciting package from Maria at Art Toolkit: the new Explore Palette! The palette contains 6 Van Gogh® by Royal Talens watercolors: Transparent Yellow Medium, Permanent Red Light, Phthalo Blue, Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Rose, and Payne’s Grey, 2 large mixing pans, plus 6 extra Read more…
I spotted this Tumuarta sketchbook on Amazon and noticed that it was 25% cotton and just had to give it a try! Here’s my review now that I’ve finished filling it up. The Pros: That 25% cotton really does make a difference! I got great granulation in my washes, brighter Read more…
I’ve been on a quest the last few weeks to find my ultimate ultramarine blue and I wanted to share the results with you — but first, the backstory! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lisa Spangler (@sideoats) The Backstory I’ve been using ultramarine blue from Daniel Read more…
I’m going to be teaching an in-person workshop near Houston and put together this palette for the students and had to share. It’s designed for ease of mixing out in the field and the colors of the Texas Gulf Coast Prairies, but I bet it would make a great everyday Read more…
Here are four ways to easily add cactus spines while working en plein air: White gouache – this is probably my favorite way to add cactus spines. I squeeze out some gouache into a little container with a snap-on lid and keep it in my pack. I prefer Winsor & Read more…
I’ve had Cobalt Teal Blue on my palette for years — it’s one of my favorites. I’ve found that not many people know about this glorious color and all the magic mixes you can make with it, so I decided to write this Ode to Cobalt Teal Blue. This is Read more…
Tomorrow is the first day of spring here in the northern hemisphere so I gave my palettes a good cleaning and I added 2 colors for spring: phthalo blue (green shade) and quinacridone coral! Just look at all these glorious colors that you can mix with those two: Check out Read more…