Priscilla DeConti

Wonderful journey and art, Rebecca! Thank you for sharing with us!!

Sometimes it’s hard to move on from old friends. You feel like you are betraying them. Or you simply get stuck in a rut and don’t think about change.

I started with a set of 24 Pelikan watercolors my Grandfather bought me when I was 12. I still have them. I used them off and on until I was 62. After I retired I got them out and started going to an emeritus watercolor class put on by the local community college. The instructor used Winsor & Newton tube paints. But I was adamant I liked using the pans. I bought a starter set of Winsor & Newton professional pan watercolors. Half pans. Then I started reading artist’s blogs. It was Jane Blundell that started me using Daniel Smith because at the time they were the only ones with Buff Titanium and I wanted to try it. Then I learned I could buy pans and fill them. Eventually I bought pans and palettes and more Daniel Smith colors. I started by recreating my Pelikan set, then experimented with Jane’s different palettes. Now I have a little of a lot. Some Holbein, some Schmincke, some Winsor & Newton, Daler Rowney, an odd Golden or M. Graham. I’ve even acquired some boutique hand made paints from Etsy and a lot of Greenleaf and Blueberry. I find I switch around depending on what it is I’m doing. If I’m out doing field sketching, I tend to take the Greenleaf and Blueberry. At home I use the Daniel Smith. Also when I go to classes. For journaling I tend to use the Daler Rowney small professional artist palette of 18 quarter pans. The Daniel Smith and Daler Rowney tend to be for bright, vibrant subjects. The Greenleaf & Blueberry for plein air when I want something a bit more natural.

But I shall always keep my Pelikan set and remember how my Grandpa got me started. He used to do pen and ink sketches, nothing with color that I know of. But he bought me professional watercolors and a good sable brush at the little art store around the corner from their apartment. It’s been 55 years but I’d like to go back there one day and see if the little art shop is still there. Perhaps pick up another #6 sable brush.

I like this Charlie, has a Peter Max feel to it.

Thank you for sharing your journey and your Wonderful works as well