pink isn't a colour I tend to work with, nor drawn to, though I don't dislike it...
in recent days I have had a couple of encounters with it that have been pretty special
sunset on Friday night, around 11:15
the days are already getting noticeable shorter, and the night sky has some darkness to it in the wee small hours
the sky started with a soft pink and over the next few minutes it the colours of the sky deepened
and deepened, gaining intensity
the blues becoming more violet-tinged, especially at the horizon
and then it began to fade...
and lighter still
the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen
and definitely the pinkest!
a few days before that I found a "paintbrush" plant whilst walking along the river
clusters of what seem to be red berries of a sort though you really can't see any individual berries
they're in soft clusters that as soon as they're touched the colour is released, staining whatever they come into contact with
I gathered several stalks and pulled the colour clusters off, placing them in a jar in the fridge
a few days later I took one out and rubbed it on a page in my watercolour book
no idea how permanent it might be but not too worried about that - I'll draw into this once I go back and get a closer look at the plants
(my photographs didn't turn out at all)
afterwards I added a bit of water to the jar and cooked it in a pot of steaming water for about 30 minutes, adding a few drops of vinegar and a dash of salt
once the mixture had cooked down a bit I removed it from the heat, let it cool, then strained it into a small jar to use as ink
there was some left over so I used that to paint a few papers
this first one is on watercolour paper
and this next one is on khadi paper
very pleased with both of these and next is to try the ink with my dip pen
made from plants found by the river... local colour
love that I found it and got such great results
the stockpile of working materials to take home to the studio is growing and growing
my heart is full
4 comments:
I was never a pink person either until I encountered the sun rise at Brantwood where pink filtered through silvery mist everso gently until it set the hillsides on fire with red. The sunsets at Brantwood were more orange but where you are you witnessed pink and I have seen that once on a late afternoon in the winter here in Hayfield where the sun set reflected off the snow and for a while the whole world was pink. Isn't it wonderful how nature can change our minds. I will now always love pink and grey together. I love how nature's berries helped you take a little colour from that sky and stain your pages with it. Such a beautiful connection.
That gives a whole new immediacy to the term "local colour", doesn't it!
Beautiful shades of pink. The colors in God's lovely sunrises and sunsets are always amazing and wonderful! They speak to my heart. You made some lovely ink to work with. ~ Have a great week dear Jillayne. ~ Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady
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