Sonya Rowan
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sonyarowan.bsky.social
Sonya Rowan
@sonyarowan.bsky.social
🩷 Artist and author motivated by care and curiosity.
🩵 Helping fellow artists and teachers understand colour.
💛 New book in the works!

Check out sonyarowan.com for more colour musings. ❤️💚💙
Even though red, yellow and blue are not a true set of primary colours, they can still make some nice browns.
#colour #colormixing #colourdial
August 6, 2025 at 12:08 AM
What are your favourite ways to mix black and brown with paint?

#black #brown #colormixing #painting #watercolorpainting #primarycolors
August 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I can’t stop playing with this colour dial fidget toy. #toys #ilovecolor #colours #cmy #rgb
August 4, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The fact that ink for printers is transparent doesn't mean there is a difference when using artist paints. Watercolour, oil or acrylic will all follow the physics of how our eyes and brains usually interpret light.
#colortheory #painting #design
August 3, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Love seeing colour theory shifting in pop culture. Thank you Ok Go and it would be awesome if they work with Sesame Street to make an updated and correct colour video for kids so they don’t have to grow up confused about colour.
#colour #colortheory #goodchange
July 31, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Colours might not be things that live outside of us but they feel like they are at times.
Giving them names can help us understand how to interact with them and make good decisions when creating.
#colour #painting #blue #cyan
July 29, 2025 at 7:04 PM
You need to add cyan to your palette to find the gorgeous greens of summer, or add green paint because blue and yellow just won't cut it.
#painting #colours
July 28, 2025 at 6:00 PM
It’s so easy to love colour this time of year!
July 26, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Do you feel like some colours are more friendly than others?
July 25, 2025 at 1:45 AM
This is my favourite time of year but I need to appreciate the cute baby plants and be less impatient for flowers. The feeling of waiting for flowers is similar to waiting for a book release. The process can feel long but it’s better to find the cute little moments along the way. #writingcommunity
June 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I recently had a literary agent confirm that it is very rare for nonfiction books to be accepted by agents and publishers unless the author has built up an audience and successful business before seeking an agent and publisher. I wish this would be more widely communicated. #writingcommunity
May 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
While enjoying the May flowers I have been toiling away at the more boring part of book creation…back matter. Do you often read things like the appendix, index and bibliography in a nonfiction book?
#writing #authorlife #newbook
May 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Even after years of working to understand mixing coloured materials, my mind still wants to recall the old lessons. Those old stories are very sticky. It takes work to remember to remind ourselves of the newer information.
May 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Sonya Rowan
Magenta and orange sing red
May 3, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by Sonya Rowan
Be kind to yourself, my love

#7syllablesentence #poetry
April 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The illustrations for the book are finally done. Now for more editing. I’m exploring releasing the book as a PDF. Do you prefer to read on a screen or on paper?
#writing #watercolor #painting
April 24, 2025 at 7:40 PM
It is always a pleasure to work with opera pink. 🩷
#watercolors #paintings
April 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Taking time to practice noticing and paying attention can help us improve our problem solving and decision making skills.

youtube.com/@seekit-kids...

#skillbuilding #writing #music
April 11, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Many cyan and magenta paints don’t mix a good ultramarine because pigments aren’t geometrically consistent.

Even though a limited palette of CMY makes it difficult to create a vivid ultramarine, we should still conceptually use a CMY spectrum for reference and theory.

#paintings #colourmixing
April 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
If you want to find fresh spring greens with paint, reach for cyan. Blue is too close to magenta and will muddy the green.

#watercolor #watercolorpainting #watercolour #painting #cyan #colourmixing
April 4, 2025 at 2:25 PM
One of the little side projects I have been working on for kids is about encouraging them to pay attention to their surroundings and senses. The channel on YouTube is @seekit-kids
#lovehearts #enjoysenses #video #shortfilm
March 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
A new blog post is up on my website about Emily Noyes Vanderpoel.
If you would like colourful insights and discoveries to land in your inbox, please sign up on my website. I don’t send emails too frequently.
Sonyarowan.com
March 28, 2025 at 6:53 PM
I decided to choose this photo for the about me page on my website because it’s how I’m responding in my head when people say red, yellow and blue are primary colours for mixing paint.
March 25, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Sonya Rowan
Even
After
All this time
The sun never says
To the Earth
"You owe me."
Look
What happens
With a love like that.
It lights the
Whole
Sky.

-Hafiz

#yoga #poetry #universe #mentalhealth #love
March 23, 2025 at 1:13 AM
When I tell people they can mix the widest gamut of colours with CMY paints, I don’t mean every other kind of pigment can be replicated. The stunningly bright orange and ultramarine seem to be out of reach for some of my cyan and magenta watercolours.

#illustrations #watercolour #illustration
March 21, 2025 at 11:07 PM