It’s been a very busy few months with lots of good things going on but not much painting. Now that things have settled down a bit I’ve used these last few weeks to refamiliarise myself with my art materials and explore the gorgeousness that is Euphorbia. We have this plant growing in great abundance in our side garden – it glows in the late afternoon sun and I can’t resist bringing a little to decorate my desk. It has the most fantastic shapes and details as well as a wonderful limey green that I’m completely in love with.

 

Wax crayons have long been a favorite of mine. These beeswax crayons from Stockmar, used widely by Steiner schools, have a lovely smooth consistency and rich, saturated colour. They aren’t cheap but I think they represent great value – they are fabulously sturdy and great for wax resist projects. These little tree doodles were done with the square crayons on scraps of paper – the thin strips of paper seemed to lend themselves to rows of trees!

The leaves and trunks are painted with Koh-I-Noor water colours from the Czech Republic in the Brilliant Set – these are intense, dye based paints that behave a little differently to regular watercolours but are great fun to paint with if you love really deep, inky colours. You can get them in a traditional paintbox format or in a handy circular stack. I like the white/cream plastic surround on the paintbox or stack – some come with a black surround that makes identifying the deep colours hard to do! If you’re wanting to buy these make sure you choose the “Brilliant” set. Enjoy!