Looking for inspiration

Inspiration can come from the most diverse places.

From a book, a movie, a situation or a walk... I live near the Mediterranean Sea and the colors are abundant… Not just clean or “simple” colors as I like to name them. Also the colors that I like to call “complex”. Subtle. Specials.

Forms and colors ina fishermen net, Costa Brava, Spain. ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021

We can easely say that the sea is blue, but lets be honest…how many blues are there in the sea? In a single glance, how many blues would we be able to visualize? The most "banal" things are the most surprising. A simple fishing net hides so many colors and subtleties that it is difficult to capture them at a glance.

Fishermen net, Costa Brava, Spain ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021

Some color samples of the fisherman net, ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021

At first it looks like a gray mixed with a sad red. A reddish color degraded by the sun…. But more closely you can appreciate the details, textures and colors. Many of them!

Testing Mamut Pastels, Reds. ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021

I nurish myself from those little things I found around me. I discover possibilities for different palettes and hues. Creating a color or a series of colors is a magical thing. I think that it also has to do with your spirit. Having the sun and the sea nearby has a positive influence on the mood. Walking though the forest in the winter will suggest different colors that the beach and the summer... Flow it the key to get things rolling.

Colors. ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021

Buiding a palette is more than choosing some colors and reject others. It is a slow process that can take you one way or another one completely different, only by adding or substracting few grams here and there… 

Testing and choosing greys ©photo by Alain Bañon, Mamut Pastels 2021