Very pretty morning sky the other day. Very subtle and pale, a cool end-of-winter morning. I did this one with my regular watercolours. I am not as happy with the photo though–the painting looks better in real life. For this one I also painted right to the edge of the paper, which I don’t usually do with watercolours. I don’t know why I usually leave so much blank space, but I’ve become more conscious of it lately and feel like I need to “finish” them.

I also did a quick second study with the watercolour pens to try it out, but they weren’t quite right for capturing the pale colours. I will have to try using the pens when there is a super vibrant sunset. The pens are much faster to work with so that might actually be perfect. Here is the super quick watercolour pen one (which isn’t true to what the real sky colours were).

I’ve been experimenting with using the watercolour pens with other subject matter, but so far they have worked best with the flowers. The pens are so vibrant. Maybe I will try using both the pens and my regular watercolours in a painting. Last week I tried to do a painting of the big tree across the back alley using the pens, but it was very strange. I still can’t bring myself to post that one. It really was like learning to paint all over again.