5th January 2023

I wanted to have something to measure how easy or not hand made paints were to work with. I have a photo of the treeline in my horses field that is the backdrop of my world. I see it every day, watch the sunsets and seasons come and go.

My decision was to paint the scene in the following mediums:

• Watercolour
• Acrylics
• Waterbased oil paints

My waterbased oils were new and if anything renewed my resolve that I was on the right path, it was the copies amount of plastic packaging this set of paints were wrapped in.

It had been quite an experience working out the mix of powder, gum extract and water to make the paste. It’s very much by feel and each pigment seems to have its own way it wishes to be created.

I’ve found the whole process quite therapeutic. I didn’t get to finish the scene in waterbased oils. I think because I am still feeling all the outside pressures, I was procrastinating a little. Something had to give and the off the shelf waterbased oils painting was it.

I still have three sketches on the same paper in three different mediums. Acrylics, watercolours and my own waterbased paint from pigment powders. I loved making my paints and placing them down on the paper, I found it easy to mix and blend. I also put two different powders together and mixed on my glass palette to achieve the colour or tone I wanted.

Looking at these three images, they represent my journey in this project and that finally in the last one I am starting to feel my inner creative again. I’ve stopped trying to control the process.