A New Colour

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on a new painting and here it is, the new finished piece. :)
It was inspired by my recent trip to Cornwall where I saw a baby grinning at me while being carried by its mother. I've called it 'The Journey' and it's now listed it in the shop if you'd like to pop over and see.

I've had this tube of violet oxide for a really long time but I've never used it because for some reason I though it was an ugly colour and I didn't see the point in it. Why did I buy it? Well it was so long ago now, I can't remember! Maybe it was because it had 'violet' in the title and you know me, I love all shades of purple. :)
But purple it ain't and because I don't like to waste paint, I'd often feel guilty that this one would stay at the bottom of the box, never used.

crop of 'Looking Back'

 So what happened? Well to mu surprise I found I enjoyed working with it for the first time a few days ago during the painting of 'Looking Back.' The dark background is the violet oxide straight from the tube and for the hair, I just mixed it with white. I'm not sure if you can see from this picture above but in real life the hair is a subtle shade of mauve. I have found a new colour that I like! Who knew?!

So this is how 'The Journey' painting began, a violet oxide and magenta sky. The dark really brings the magenta to life and the magenta brings out the warmth of the dark colour don't you think? I've used it in the rest of the painting too, on the mother's dress and mixed with white for the background.
It's definitely going to get a lot more use now that I've grown to love it!

Is there a colour you can't bring yourself to use? I'd love to hear about it. :)

Thanks for visiting today! xx