Crimson, Magenta, & Alizarin

I have been working on a line of vintage and antique map covered cahier notebooks for the www.winstonpook.etsy.com shop, my new launch of a vintage and upcycled wares shop on etsy. I decided to keep the art shop (www.bluekoistudio.etsy.com) and the vintage and upcycled craft one separate, as a lot of other etsy sellers also do. I have used winstonpook as a handle for buying and selling on ebay for a fair few years now, named after two of our beloved cats, Winston and Pook (Maggie helps too >^..^<). Check it out, or follow the link below on the right in the etsy mini box called winstonpook to see what I am selling there.

Today I had a few color themes going. In addition to the maps, I found a vintage Campari advert and it almost was the perfect size for covering an 8 x 5 inch moleskin cahier. With a stripe of vintage map trim, it worked great (and I found an antique map border with "Rome" on it, perfect !) So here is the color theme for today, a brilliant crimson ground shown on this advert.

Cut over to painting. And it is more work on flowers and the color theme continues. Apologies for the golden cast in the pic, due to flash as it was too late in the day to get a good daylit photo. I have a color chart there with some of my favorite reds and brilliant pinks used in oils, but I am painting in acrylics (and I have most of these in that medium too). Today I used magenta and alizarin to work on the flowers. More to do tomorrow, with more and better light. I really must start working on the painting earlier...but I do so enjoy ending my day with the painting, I wind down and have a happy evening when I do this :)

To close: Here is Winston, whose picture I am using as a winstonpook etsy shop avatar. Just as shown here, he chomps on a perfect yellow rose bud (he and Maggie are Rose Grazers).