How blue is the sky?
Make your own skymeter + upcoming Nature and Neutrals workshop
Cyanometer as inspiration
What's a Cyanometer? It’s a tool for measuring the blueness of the sky. Originally created as a scientific measuring tool by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and Alexander von Humboldt to understand if the quantity of moisture in the air affected the blueness of the sky. One could go down a rabbit hole reading about the scientific layers that make the sky blue.
The original cyanometer is made of round paper dyed with different shades of Prussian Blue. A hole is cut in the middle so one can hold it up to the sky and visually gauge; how blue the sky?
It’s fascinating that the paint pigment Prussian Blue became a tool for scientific discovery. To me it seemed the perfect tool for taking into the field as a quick way to assess what blue to use as a starting point when painting the sky, water, or anything blue.
The cyanometer sparked the inspiration for my next workshop exploring the colors that show up in nature.
In-person Nature and Neutrals workshop
November 10th, 2024 I’ll be teaching a workshop using the cyanometer concept at Arch Supplies. We’ll create beginner friendly tools while learning about color mixing.
Learn how to work with a limited color palette by getting familiar with a range of blues. We’ll use those same blues to create grays (and even black) without using any black pigment. Then the blues will join a range of yellows to complete the nature and neutrals triad for mixing and evaluating greens. Walk away with a system to continue mixing the infinite world of greens while gaining insights to make more informed paint purchases.
All activities use a beginner friendly approach, utilizing tools to visualize color relationships.
Make a watercolor skymeter of your own
I’ve been calling these skymeters because they can be useful for more than just blue. The skymeter is the starting point in my workshop for more color mixing but on its own is a fun exercise for assessing all the blue watercolors you might already own. And you don’t need circular paper.
Start with a square of watercolor paper
Divide your square into as many segments as you have blues
Paint a light and dark wash of each blue
Cut a square hole in the middle
Point your new tool to the sky!
Recently I also found this blog post explainer on making a Cyanometer.
Creativity on the horizon
As October approached, I felt energized to participate in the 31 day #Inktober and #Colortober challenges that are organized on Instagram. I made my own rules for the project. I’m doing quick drawings and blind contours and then painting them with a randomly chosen color. I’ll share the results here next month.
New Instagram account
I got a new business account! Find it @playethic.studio. I wanted an IG space where it was easy to see what my current offerings are. Nothing changes with my personal account, I’ll still be sharing progress on my creative explorations there.