Flooded Fields

I was given a tube of Aureolin watercolour made for the SAA (Society for All Artists) the other day, and it cleared up a longstanding mystery.  I have wondered quite why demonstrators of watercolour techniques on the Painting and Drawing Channel (www.thepaintinganddrawingchannel.co.uk) use paints that (like Aureolin, Rose Madder, Alizarin Crimson and several others) are "fugitive", ie not lightfast.

The reason would seem to be that while these SAA paints carry the old names, they aren't the same pigments at all.  Makes you wonder why some manufacturers stick to these old labels when anyone who knows the first thing about paint durability wouldn't trust them not to fade or darken over a few months.  It must surely confuse painters - there's a website called Handprint.com which is full of information about paint characteristics if it's of interest.

Anyway - responding to a challenge to produce a painting in 30 minutes, I did this one - the actual painting took a bit less than 30 minutes, but you can add another 30 to that to allow for the drying time.  It has its points; I'd have preferred to take a bit longer, and iron some of the odder shapes out.  Used Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Winsor Red, Cobalt Blue - and a touch of that Aureolin.