Boerenbont is an old Dutch style for sets of cups and plates. I still have a couple of cups and plates (I got them from my parents when I went to live on my own) and today I painted one of them from life. I put it on a white tray so there is no background to muddle the picture. These cups are white with green, yellow, blue, and red flowers. Should be easy, right?
Only not. I see all kinds of colours in all of them. The cup is not white, it’s bluish with some orange/brown and some grey-mint and more. The shadows are blue and grey and orange and brown and the flowers are not really green, red, and blue either. Once I start looking, I see so many colours that keeping the overall values intact is starting to get harder and harder.
I really messed up the shadows. There is no horizontal shadow line on the left or right, but my brain wants there to be one. I added too much paint and it muddled and then I had to paint the background more. It looks a bit wonky. Also, I’m using a new postcard type. I used to paint on basic Hahnemühle cards, but now I have some that are meant especially for watercolor (Fabriano). They are not smooth like the old ones, so I have to get used to them. The cup is supposed to be smooth ceramic, but because of the way the pigment is not the same everywhere, it looks a bit rough. Perhaps I will try to fix/change some things tomorrow when there’s daylight again.
