Robin Lee Carlson

Playing with earth pigments, this page of western toads emerged. The paints were from a couple of artist paintmakers. I love to draw with watercolor as if it were flowing from a calligraphy pen, and this page demonstrated to me that american hematite is just phenomenal for using in this manner. The way that the pigment flows from the brush is so fluid, first dark and highly concentrated and then gradually more diluted but still sharp and precise.

Limonite, on the toad below, is a gorgeous color, but much more difficult to handle when using it to draw.

The whiptails below are all drawn with paints I made with my son, reworking pigments from a previous, less successful attempt.