Over the sea from Skye - Mark 3

An interesting experiment; on the whole, I liked the painting you executed in your normal palette best, Mark 2 next, and Mark 3 third or even least.... Not sure that proves anything! The middle range of hills jumps forward slightly too much in this version, for me. And it's also slightly...... prettier? Eg, a little too much so; possibly the influence of the Scarlet Lake..... there's more variety, contrast and atmosphere in your first version, I think.... Which suggests to me that you're experienced with your regular palette, had more confidence in it, and produced something that was closer to your personal vision. Given you'll have spent years developing that personal palette, and are at ease in using it, this isn't perhaps a surprise. I'd be inclined to stick with that and introduce changes supplementarily, if that's a word; ie, gradually, as need arises, and carefully.

Hi Robert- many thanks for taking the time to make a detailed analysis of the three studies. One problem is that I cannot produce three equally good paintings using a single palette so that tends to muddy the waters - always a bad thing in a watercolour............ Interestingly, I put these three versions up on WetCanvas and the folks there liked Mark 3 best. Personally I am torn between Marks 1 and 3 although Mark 2 probably has the best brushwork just to confuse things. My concern was that my paintings lacked transparency and I think that the Mark 3 colours have helped there although I can't get the hang of Winsor Blue - a little Winsor Blue goes a very long way! Happy painting Walter