My favourite colours
Week 6 is Sap Green, Deep Teal, Pinks & Sea Green
Today is my birthday and I am indulging myself by sharing tints of my four favourite colours in this week’s prompt. I love colours and often wonder about picking the most liked one. It’s a hard choice but I think it has to be green - sap green in fact, the colour of moss.
Yesterday we went walking in a rural area called Swyncombe not too far from us where snowdrops are starting to flower. Seeing thousands of these harbingers of spring is rather wonderful. The trees are bare, their beautiful structures visible against the foggy grey sky. What always strikes me on walks in the UK is how much moss can be seen growing on literally everything!
I read about a Japanese trend where attention is paid to these wonderful plants in forests. Moss Girls spend time in nature, looking at these tiny plants through magnifying glasses, Don’t you just love this idea? I am including a little snapshot of our muddy route below.
Moss grows where nothing else can grow. It grows on bricks. It grows on tree bark and roofing slate. It grows in the Arctic Circle and in the balmiest tropics; it also grows on the fur of sloths, on the backs of snails, on decaying human bones. ... It is a resurrection engine. A single clump of mosses can lie dormant and dry for forty years at a stretch, and then vault back again into life with a mere soaking of water.
— Elizabeth Gilbert
Here’s some more quick facts about moss:
They’re ancient, among the oldest land plants dating back over 400 million years.
Moss absorbs water and nutrients directly through their foliage since they don’t have any roots.
Moss doesn’t produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce via spores, similar to ferns.
Moss can be found on every continent on earth, including Antartica.
They’re natural air filters, purifying air by absorbing pollutants and carbon dioxide.
In forests, moss retains moisture, preventing soil erosion and creates habitats for tiny creatures.
Book cover, multiple makers featured including one of my floral paintings
Colour Combination
This week’s colours are picked from the cover of a book titled Teaching Creative Workshops. Ten years ago I started teaching online art courses, and so much has changed in this time. This book by Patricia van den Akker is a wonderful guide and resource for those who’d like to share their creative knowledge and I’m grateful to be featured in the book as a case study. Teaching Creative Workshops can be preordered here before it’s launched on 27 February.
The colours I’ve chosen are Sap Green, Deep Teal, Pinks & Sea Green. Use them together with neutral lights and darks to create an artwork in any medium or style.
As always, I love seeing what you’ve created. If you’re posting on Instagram, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod and join us in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts
Other News
Let’s paint trees! If you are in need of a bit of inspiration have a look at my Four Seasons mini-course. This five day course is packed with information and techniques in watercolour and gouache.
Use HAPPYDAY10 for a 10% discount. Contributing #coloricombo subscribers always get a 20% discount off full priced courses, see below for your discount code.