Billy Idyll – Watercolor Dirtbag

Monthly Retrospective: April 2024

May 1, 2024 by Billy Idyll

April was a busy month for me as I gear up for my move! Plein Airpril I attempted a plein air theme month but didn’t do it as much as I had planned. My first three weeks of plein air sketches can be found in my weekly reports (week 1, week 2, week 3). After … Read more

My Most & Least Used Brushes for Watercolor & Gouache

April 26, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Now that I’ve put a number of miles on each of my brushes, I can tell by their level of wear which ones are the most used… and which still have their caps on! My Most & Least Used Brushes by Category Wash Brush Purpose: Watercolor loose skies, backgrounds, wetting an area for wet-on-wet Most … Read more

Loved & Learned from Kolbie Blume’s Light Challenge

April 24, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Kolbie Blume’s fourth challenge occurred way back in September, but I never posted a retro! Luckily, I did take notes on most of the paintings at the time. So here’s a better-late-than-never loved & learned.

Artist Palette Profiles: Poppy Balser

April 25, 2024April 22, 2024 by Billy Idyll

I recently started a series of classes with Poppy Balser, a celebrated Canadian artist based on the Nova Scotia coast who works in oil and watercolor. Balser uses a very limited palette!

Plein Airpril Week 3 Report

April 25, 2024April 22, 2024 by Billy Idyll

While I certainly have not made an effort to paint outside every day, I’ve still painted a few more times.

What’s in my palette? (April 2024)

April 24, 2024April 19, 2024 by Billy Idyll

I’ve already shared different palettes in January and February of this year, but this time I’m serious! (I think.) I’m reducing my tube collection, not just what’s dry on my palette, because I am moving cross-continent next month and trying to get down to a “suitcases” level of stuff! That’s right, you heard it here first folks: after spending the last year touring various Canadian cities to find my favourite, I am officially moving to Vancouver.

So which paints are making the cut to come with me?

Spring Triad Variations

April 17, 2024 by Billy Idyll

In Seasonal Triads, I landed on a triad of Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), Imidazolone Lemon (PY175), and Cobalt Turquoise (PG50) for my spring triad. But this isn’t the only one I tried. Here are my spring triad outtakes. Because I changed the colors one-at-a-time, they provide an object lesson in how subtly one color change can change the triad.

Plein Airpril Week 2 Report

April 26, 2024April 15, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Week 2 did not go so well as I only did three sketches.

Seasonal Triads

April 24, 2024April 12, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Awhile back, I proposed green mixes for all four seasons, based on my observations of foliage in the Northeast US. Recently I thought, hey, I’m two-thirds of the way to a triad there, why not just fit a red to each of those? So I did. Here are my seasonal triads!

Pinks Revisited

April 11, 2024April 10, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Last year, I made a post exploring different pink colors I could make with my paints. My palette has changed a lot since then and it’s cherry blossom season again, so I decided to give it another shot.