I owned enough paints to make choosing a color into a separate activity. The collection looked wonderfully promising until I sat down to use it. Then the possibilities became a reason to postpone the first mark.
For one rainy street sketch I chose three paints I already had: a blue, an ochre and a rose. I was not trying to establish the correct three colors for everyone. I wanted a limited set I could get to know during one small picture.
I made a few mixtures on a scrap. Warm gray, cool gray, an uncertain green, something pleasantly muddy. The limitations became visible, which was helpful. Instead of asking the box to contain a perfect ready-made answer, I began seeing what the chosen paints did together.
The street outside supplied broad shapes and wet reflections. I let some areas remain paper and resisted explaining every window. The small palette made the picture feel related to itself even when the drawing wandered.
Afterward I noted the mixtures I wanted to repeat and the one that became duller than I expected. A note about an actual result felt more useful than adding another hopeful tube to a future shopping list.
The larger collection still exists. There are subjects for which I will choose different colors. I simply do not require the whole collection to attend every sketch.
Three familiar paints, one scrap of testing paper and an ordinary view gave me a complete afternoon's work. The unanswered shopping question could remain unanswered for another day.
A thought worth keeping?
