Many of you know I love hot pink. It is one of my favorite colors to wear; this comes from growing up in the 80's & seeing all of those fabulous neon colors everywhere. So I have been trying to find a neon pink to paint with. It is a departure from all of the Payne's Grey I use, but pairs with it so nicely. First I tried an Opera gouache. It smelled so bad I left the studio & contacted the manufacturer, who replied with some colors have aromas & that is one of them. On the flip side it is the best hot pink paint I have found. Since I am working with primarily watercolors these days I decided I would try Opera Rose. It doesn't have much range & when used monochromatically does not pop, but I have seen glimpses of the color I am looking for & will keep you apprised of this search. Happy Monday Y'all! 

After such exciting results with the comb brush I wanted to try other comb brushes, but did not have success finding one at the art supply store. So necessity being the mother of invention I made one. I used a very inexpensive brush from a multipack for the first experiment & the original comb brush as my model. As you can see the comb is not as even, but the resulting paint effect (pictured above) is fine with me. I have some material that could be used as bristles so now I need to figure out how to make a ferrule & I can customized my pattern brushes to my hearts content. The prospect is very exciting. Hope y'all have a lovely weekend!