Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Donut Jar



It's lunchtime at the diner. I get out the gouache. My eye is on the donut jar.


I squeeze out Prussian blue, burnt sienna, and white. I paint the thing without the highlights. They go on last, like the hat before you're out the door.

This 10 second video takes you from the donut jar to the sketchbook page. (Link to Youtube) 

"Gouache in the Wild"
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8 comments:

  1. ChrisJanuary 5, 2016 at 10:32 AM

    I too share your apparent love for diners. Have you ever thought of putting together a "Dinertopia" book?

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  2. gyrusdentusJanuary 5, 2016 at 11:02 AM

    Only recently have Dunkin`Donuts opened franchises in Germany. Donuts are a great American invention. I love them a lot

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  3. UnknownJanuary 5, 2016 at 4:31 PM

    James do you spray your gouache and casein paintings with fixative when you're done so that they are then waterproof?

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  4. James GurneyJanuary 5, 2016 at 5:13 PM

    Bob, no, with sketches in a sketchbook, I don't worry about fixing them, just leave them the natural gouache.

    Gyrus, these donuts are really good, handmade. They call them "diner dunkers....one dunk, you're sunk."

    Chris, Love the idea of Dinertopia. Might make a good sitcom or reality show, too.

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  5. Chris BeavenJanuary 5, 2016 at 8:06 PM

    Love your work!

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  6. MarioJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:58 AM

    Lovely painting, and nice addition to the Dinertopia collection :)
    I have a question about Prussian blue. I am kind of addicted to this color, I love its hue and I think it's the best mixer for greens. In watercolor it dries to a very fine granulation, which I like very much. But I know it's a bit controversial, the Handprint guide to pigments describes it as "one of the most dynamic pigments available" and, as you write in "Color and Light", it has been "largely replaced by superior phthalo blue". It is known to shift somewhat in light and recover in dark, but how long does it take? Hours, days, ... years?
    So I'd like to ask blog readers if they use this pigment and consider it safe (stable and reliable).

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  7. James GurneyJanuary 6, 2016 at 2:54 AM

    Mario, Gee, those are good questions. I'm not sure of the answers. I'm just in love the color for the fine granulation as you say and the wonderful greenish-bluish color, which isn't as saturated as Phthalo. What do you mean by "shift somewhat in light and recover in dark?" As far as lightfastness, here's a discussion on Wetcanvas: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-929260.html
    It seems to be OK by all accounts.

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  8. MarioJanuary 6, 2016 at 5:32 AM

    Thank you for your answer, James.
    Regarding the shift, I probably had a bad recollection. The pigment actually tends to fade (not shift) a bit when exposed to light, but goes back to the original intensity when kept in a dark place. If you download Winsor&Newton color chart for watercolors (PDF), Prussian blue is described as "fluctuating colour, fades in light, recovers in dark".
    In the discussion on WetCanvas, some people mention another problem: the pigment is supposed to fade faster when mixed with white, not only for the (obvious) reason that the pigment is more diluted, but possibly for some kind of chemical reaction.
    So it's probably safer to use it in watercolor than in opaque techniques, I guess.

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