Getting to know the Kuretake watercolors

Last fall I gave my daughter a set of Kuretake watercolors, which I have been wanting to try out ever since. After spending a few happy days with them recently, I offered to make a trade of sorts—I would keep the box of Kuretakes and treat her to a trip to the belle arti store, where she could assemble her own custom set of watercolors. That was her original intention, but I had ordered her the Kuretakes as a surprise before realizing this. Even though she was gracious about the gift, I can relate to the excitement of composing a personal palette, and figured my proposal would be a happy solution.

So I have been "getting to know" my inherited watercolors, which come in a delightful green box (shown further down the post). Since many of them appear so much darker in their pans I have been creating a reference guide, with the corresponding numbers...

 

I love the packaging: a beautiful green box, with metallic Japanese characters...

 

Last fall I began working on an invitation suite designed around a leaf theme, but had to hit pause when I got caught up with the launching of Studio Milledisegni. In the meanwhile, I have grown so fond of the repetitive action of painting leaves that it's become somewhat of a meditation. Below are some of my leaf-covered sheets... Stay tuned for the card designs, which are quite different from these all-over patterns!

 

I hope those of you currently in winter are surviving what can often be the hardest weeks. Seeing the paperwhite bulb shoots growing taller by the day (above) is certainly making the days more enjoyable in my studio! And if you are still in the middle of summer, may it linger a while longer...