Golden Lake

In response to a conversation I had with Peter Ward (http:watercolourfanatic.blogspot.com), about the possible disappearance of Quinachridone Gold, I had a look at replacing one of my favourite colours, Maimeri Golden Lake with a more readily available alternative. I love the Graham paints so looked at the possibilities within their range. As a consequence of reading Peter's latest blog, I thought I might share my findings with you.
I compared the two basic colours, Maimeri Golden lake and Graham Nickel Azo Yellow, and as I use the Golden Lake primarily to mix greens, I mixed the Azo Yellow from Graham with all the blues in my palette to see if there was a good range to satisfy my needs. The results are shown below. At the same time I also bought Azo Orange from the same range, and thought you might like to see those results as well when mixed with the blues. I found the Graham Azo Orange much brighter and less opaque than the Cadmium Orange I had previously used and am delighted with the lovely greys to be achieved.

The Bockingford Paper has no significance, jut a free pack picked up somewhere! It is quite difficult to mix absolutely equal strengths of paint in each test, but I think enough shows to make my point.I am happy to use the Azo Yellow until I discover something better, and the Graham paints are lovely to use.

Just to keep the floral interest alive, the background to the Orchid picture below was done completely with mixtures of Golden Lake and Indigo, both by Maimeri