Decarli Restaurant and Catalyst Wedge

These are 3 out of 5 paintings that will be on display 

at Decarli Restaurant from July 8 - September 8, 2015. 

 Ominous

48" x 36" x 1.5
oil on canvas
$1200
Click here to purchase

Grasslands
48" x 36" x 1.5
oil on canvas
$1200
Click here to purchase

Coastline

48" x 36" x 1.5

oil on canvas

$1200

Click here to purchase

Here is my husband, Lad, hanging them!

Process: right now I am using a Catalyst Wedge in my work. 

I took a close up of this photo of Coastline so that you might see it closer.

Catalyst Wedge  

I like the wedge because it allows me to move color 

and drag it around and extend a simple movement or direction. 

Does this make sense?

I have tried an old credit card, palette knives, matte board, 

card board, etc., but I like the Catalyst Wedge best.

I am anxious to try the squeeguee like artist Charlie Hunter.

Do you have anything that you prefer or that 

I might have missed? :)

 Listening to while I paint:

Audiobook:  

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Podcasts: 

Beyond the To-Do List, hosted by Erik Fischer

The Nerdist, John Cusack, hosted by Chris Hardwick

Artists Helping Artists, hosted by Leslie Saeta

The Chalene Show, hosted by Chalene Johnson
Social Media Examiner, hosted by Michael Stelzner
"Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!", hosted by Peter Sagal
Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
American's Test Kitchen, hosted by Christopher Kimball

Truth For Life, hosted by Alistair Begg

Music: 
My iPod

Really helpful!:
I am continually checking a dictionary, thesaurus, spell check, but one thing that has been particularly helpful is the grammar check. Please excuse any errors that I make and tell me! :)

Color Checking

Sample of color checking papers

I am working on a triptych of canvases that are 18"x 36". When I get excited about a painting I just want to start! But I made myself slow down and spend some extra time planning before I started painting. With this size canvas, making a mistake on the color I'm using could cost a lot of time and money. I am painting a scene from the Farmers' Market with a booth of geraniums in bright sunlight, so I want to keep the reds and greens clean and intense. I spent about an hour looking at my reference photo and going through my colors and deciding on a palette. I painted samples on the edge of paper so I can hold it up to the reference or the painting. I also made notes as I mixed the colors and I can now file the papers away for future use. Dave the Painting Guy showed a different kind of color checker that he saw on The Carder Method website. (There's a very short video clip that shows how to use it)

So far this has been working great for me. I find that I am feeling much more confident as I paint and since the decision for the color has been basically made, my mind is free to focus on other things.
Do you have any methods for picking a palette or checking your color?