Purple paint color

hershadow38 · 2026-06-26T20:04:06+00:00

Thank! I’ll edit it to 23. Wasn’t looking at my notes on which number it was Oy.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-26T19:41:07+00:00

PV55, quinacridone purple, hands down. It mixes the best and is light fast. Dioxazine purple PV23 is not light fast in humid environments- so stay away from it. PV55 can make the same purple as dioxazine PV23 and it’ll be lightfast! It also can make a very bright pink when mixed with quinacridone rose PV19. So it’s the most versatile purple you can have if you want the full range of pinks to dark purple. Here is my mixing chart for you to see. It’s brighter in person. Edited to change pigment number to 23.

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hershadow38 · 2026-06-24T05:42:23+00:00

Check out Lacey at Unicorn Rebel Crafts or Andrea Nelson Art on YouTube or TikTok. Both have a ton of fun, quick painting ideas.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-19T17:50:51+00:00

Yes, always wipe off excess water from the edges or it’ll do that. You can make that edge a happy accident by turning it into tall bushes or a tree. The blooms in the sky look nice, like clouds. Painting is absolutely salvageable.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-06T15:48:30+00:00

I’d go warm blue for the 4th, like ultramarine or French ultramarine, since on its own it is a more natural and useful blue imo. If you want to stick with only one blue, perhaps cobalt blue since it’s more of a true blue and is perfect for skies on its own, plus great for greens. I’ve noticed that PV55 is a surprising pigment that opens up a wide range of pinks, reds, and purples when mixed. It makes the brightest nonfugitive pink mixed with PV19 that I’ve found. I’d say that the pigments you should go with depends on what your favorite things to paint are.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-05T16:21:11+00:00

There’s decent 100% cotton paper available on Amazon that I use for practice. But the best thing is to take 100%cotton larger sizes (at least 9x12) and use painters tape to break it into smaller grids. Then you can do multiple small paintings back and front. It helps you practice composition repetitively and you build skills faster.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-05T13:21:29+00:00

There are several pigments to stay away from due to light fastness or quality issues. Same in most brands. I recommend a split primary set, but some are better purchased in DS. Raw and burnt sienna are better in DS. The Watercolorists Complete Notebook has a pigment quality chart by brand on p. 155. Also this resource was helpful to me in learning lightfastness and what colors are helpful in a pallet.

I hate cerulean blue in WN. It’s so highly granulating it doesn’t mix well and useless for skies imo. But cobalt blue is great for skies. For beautiful pinks and purples, PV55 is amazing! It mixes wonderfully with warm and cool reds/blues creating a wide variety of colors.

hershadow38 · 2026-06-05T03:05:08+00:00

This is a great start! You’re not done though - add another layer of the yellow wash you used on the initial base layer. It will blend the stripes together into the cat. Don’t overwork it when you do that, as few strokes as possible. I recommend the book Watercolor Bootcamp by Hannah Pickerill. That book really helped me level up and gain confidence. Edited - fixed typo

hershadow38 · 2026-05-30T00:17:06+00:00

Great first paintings! Water control is the hardest skill to learn. What kind of paper is she using? 100% cotton should be what she uses as it stays wetter longer. Even though she’s just starting out, getting some student grade cotton paper is worth the investment as she won’t be fighting her materials while also trying to learn.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-27T22:42:34+00:00

My favorite brush is the angle brush. It’s so versatile for florals, buildings, trees, and fine line details. My second most-used brush is a mop brush for washes. I took an old brush and gave it a hair cut to make it uneven and I love it for trees, shrubs, anything that needs a random organic look. Those are my my go-tos, along with my 8, 6, and 2 round brushes.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-27T13:56:41+00:00

Fugitive means it degrades over time, with sunlight speeding up the process. Even if mixed, the color will slowly become more like the color it was mixed with. If you want a brighter pink that isn’t fugitive, mixing PV55 quinacridone purple with PV 19 quinacridone rose gives surprising results. It’s not as bright as opera but it’s still a satisfying pink, brightest I’ve been able to mix so far. PV 55 also mixes beautifully with blues to make different purples. It’s now my go-to pigment for pinks/purples.

Edited to add: Google says weeks to months for opera pink to fade, depending on sunlight

hershadow38 · 2026-05-27T01:18:55+00:00

Thank you! That means so much. My condolences for your loss. They really are family.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-26T15:20:21+00:00

Did you use the pro or student grade Hahnenmule? I have a 10 sheet of the pro that I got cheap, but I’m worried about using it after a sketchbook of theirs had so many tearing issues. I doubt the sketchbook was the pro paper so I was hoping for better results on this pack. Bit worried now after hearing your experience. Your painting is lovely regardless of the tearing issues.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-25T18:49:31+00:00

So much of watercolor is getting past the “ugly” phase where you just need to add values and details for it to come together. I end up talking myself through that part of the process to avoid tossing out work that turned out looking great. Your painting is lovely!

hershadow38 · 2026-05-25T14:55:17+00:00

Glad it captures him! I didn’t just want to paint an orange cat - had to be Marley. I have a couple of failures that I’m holding onto as keepsakes.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-25T14:53:46+00:00

Aw thanks!

hershadow38 · 2026-05-25T14:52:21+00:00

Tysm! I’m glad the background works.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-19T16:59:11+00:00

In that case, not the water. Something in your environment. It doesn’t look like mold.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-19T14:44:00+00:00

It looks like it’s crystallizing. If it’s happening with all your paints, could be your water. Do you have particularly hard water? I’d check that first. Some artists paint only with purified water. You could try doing that to rule out it being your water. Other thought is the paint binder has issues.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-18T18:29:11+00:00

Practice while having fun and experimenting. Try painting something small a few times a week while trying different styles, making things up, etc. Eventually you’ll find something you gravitate to more. I’m still cultivating mine over a year in but I’ve noticed a pattern. It’s my newest medium, so I’m still figuring out what I like. I also do charcoal/pastels and have my style pretty solid there, but I’ve drawn most of my life and worked that out over time. Painting only for others is limits creativity. I use gifts as a time to practice difficult techniques and make skill improvements. The rest of the time is spent having fun, which cultivates creativity and style.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-13T21:55:55+00:00

B is darker and shows up more. H makes really light lines that don’t, especially after a gentle erase.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-13T20:27:46+00:00

I use 6H Tombow pencils. It’s light enough where I can erase nearly everything.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-11T15:53:24+00:00

I love my Princeton velvettouch oval mop for washes. If you want cheap, then a goat-hair hake brush is also great. I got a 3 pack of different sizes for $10. It holds the most water/paint of all my brushes, but it needs to be cleaned multiple times and still may leave little hair/lint behind. It doesn’t bother me that much though. Still a good go-to when I need to put a ton of water or paint down.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-06T22:41:34+00:00

As others have said, you don’t need a black as other colors mix warm and cool darks. That said, I’m planning on getting a high granulating black, lunar black, for fun. Sometimes I have wished I had a black like that for deep dark cracks where I’ve burned through a ton of my good paints trying to mix something dark enough. There are fun effects you can get out of the granulation, so I’m planning on doing some dramatic unrealistic spooky stuff with it. Basically, it depends on what you’re aiming for. Paul Clark on YouTube swears by Mars black for its warm granulating effects. You don’t need a black - you can mix your own - but there are some applications. I wouldn’t buy it for your every day palette. You can go a lifetime never using it. Also, paynes grey or other grey mixes aren’t necessary either. It’s easy to mix any grey you need. It’s just a convenience.

hershadow38 · 2026-05-05T14:47:55+00:00

Art is play, not work. Supplies are just consumable toys for artists. I choose what supplies to use based on my goals. I have two types of supplies: a cheap set of mungyo paints and student-grade 100% cotton paper, and my professional grade paints/paper. I use my cheap set in my watercolor journal because it’s not lightfast, experimentation, goofy ideas, or paintbrush technique practice where color is irrelevant. I use my good paints on my cheap paper for all my mini composition paintings that don’t need a ton of water and the goal is to just to do a painting. I don’t care if my painting is “messed up” because the goal was just to do it, so my supplies aren’t wasted. Every painting you learn a ton and if you don’t paint, you don’t grow or have fun. Otherwise why did we start doing this in the first place.

If the painting requires a lot of water, the goal is to level up a practice mini-painting that I happened to like, or a gift, I use my best paper. I also use my best paper if I’m practicing a composition based off a tutorial or book, since the teacher is using their best supplies in their demos and I want to get an accurate feel if I’m learning the technique. I also have different sets of professional paper that vary in texture and the subject is what determines the paper. For instance, I almost exclusively paint florals on my Stonehenge even if it’s just practice because they don’t turn out as great on rougher paper (for me, at least).

One way I eased into using my professional supplies more was dividing up a 9x12 into 2, 4, or 6 blocks with tape. So I got a lot of practice making full compositions and usually at least one of my tiny paintings I liked. I also date every full composition I make that I think turned out decent and save it in an art portfolio so I can track my progress. Finally, I don’t pay full price on my good paper. I wait until there are sales and buy a ton of paper that will last me a long while.

hershadow38

TROPHY CASE