Pastel Pet Hates!

Having received a stunning box of 72 Unison pastels for Christmas, one of my pet hates has resurfaced! Doing this !!!!!!!!

If you are an artist, how do you keep track of your materials? It gets on my nerves that in boxed sets there is no colour chart, so I am making my own. I have always started to make these on arrival of a set, but I get so bored and fed up with washing my hands between blocks that I am doing this one as I use the pastels. Actually, I have a good eye for colour and when buying in an art supply shop, didn't need the numbers or a scribble of the colour, online ordering has changed all that. The colour charts online are often so off that when the colour arrives it has nothing to do with what you are looking for and the printed charts from the companies themselves are often way off too, (most companies offer handmade charts too, but the prices are ouch!). So, it's DIY! One thought is to take photos of the rows, but then again how true are the colours in the photos? At least this way I get to see how the colours react to fixative, but I haven't got my act together enough to organise my squiggles into hues and this appears to be just over 40 of the 72 colours. If anybody has got ideas about how to make is easier/ less yawwwwwwn, I would really apreciate it.

In the meantime, I've started a new pastel painting, it's the Hunte our local river and one that draws me again and again. The light, the waves (or not) and the fauna are fascinating and what I really like here is that the people here love and "use" it all year round. Come rain (usually) or shine, there are people rowing, paddleboarding, playing waterpolo, it really is a feature of everyday life here.
My palette is very muted, low-key, as it was an icy, misty, leaden morning. The last dregs of the melting snow were to be seen and it reflects my pre-post birthday January/ now February blues. Why blues? Blues are vibrant - it should be called the greys! However, on this morning I did get to see some gorgeous blues; halcyon blue. For the first time in my life I saw a kingfisher (too slow with the camera!), fascinated by symbolism, I checked out what the kingfisher symbolises; new warmth, sunshine, prosperity and love about to unfold. It will bring new life to us and those close to us, that sounds perfect (could do with that just now!!) If it has to be the blues, then I'll take halcyon blue!