Were you able to mix and match colours accurately?
I believe I did mix and match colours accurately. Well, at least I did before they got dried, I remarked a big difference between gouache colours wet and dry. And I had some perfect matches between fabric samples and wet paint that became quite different when the paint dried. Mixing colours was easier with gouache and matching/reproducing colours was easier with watercolour, I felt this with the lemon colour reproducing and not matching fabric colour perfectly.
Were you able to use colour expressively?
Yes, I think so. Or not really. I was not very much inspired and I have to confess that I am not a painting fan. Mixing colours is a fun experience as the colours change but I feel less skilled than with other things.
Can you now see colour rather than accepting what you think you see?
Yes, I can see colour differently now, I see colours more accurately and it is so much easier and faster to achieve a certain colour by mixing other colours, I have seen an improvement from one exercise to another.
Did you prefer working with watercolours or gouache paints? What was the difference?
To mix colours I prefer gouache paints. To work with on paper I prefer watercolours, I prefer the effect, the transparency and the texture. But my favourite of all was the felt tip marker that I was no even supposed to use, it is so clean and precise.
How successful were the colour exercises in Stage 5? How did they compare to the painting exercises?
In my opinion, the colour exercises in Stage 5 were not as successful as they could be. I can see a difference two colours, that everything changes if they are mixed or close to each other or separated. I used black and dark grey as backgrounds and, as in the first exercises with the paper squares, the same colour is perceived differently changing the background. I should have done it by hand and I used the machine. Once again, I felt a lack of inspiration and motivation.
Is there anything you would like to change or develop?
I would like to develop colour mixing with thread and fabric, as I already did in Stage 6. For me it is easier to match and to reproduce colours with thread and fabric and the sewing machine. I am aware that this is my comfort zone and that I should leave it for some moments and try other means of expression but I feel so much "at home" even while discovering totally new things such as the soluble fabric. And it is comfortable.
I would like to change some exercises, some colour ones and the exercises in Stage 5. I will develop the exercises in Stage 5 because I am sure I can achieve a better result.
But what really amazes me is that no matter which exercise I do, inspired or not, I always discover something new.