Verdant Sunrise - No. 263

Verdant Sunrise is what happens when yellow grows up and gets a real job.

It looks like sunlight, but not the loud Instagram kind. More like the kind that hits a stone wall in the morning and makes you notice the texture for the first time. It has that warm, earthy yellow tone that sits somewhere between pollen, old paper, and sun baked limestone, and it feels calm on the page even when it’s clearly glowing.

What I love about it is that it doesn’t behave like a flat yellow. It granulates softly and breaks up in the wash, so it immediately gives you surface. Even a quick swatch looks like it has history, like it’s been lived in. And that makes it insanely useful. Because this is not a “highlight yellow”. This is a “build the whole painting around it” yellow.

In a light wash it becomes airy and delicate, like warm morning haze. If you push it, it turns into a richer golden earth tone, and it starts to look like dried grasses, old walls, late summer fields, wheat, sand, and the kind of warm background that makes every other color look smarter.

It’s perfect for landscapes, botanicals, skin tones, architecture, vintage palettes, and especially for those moments where you want warmth without turning everything into mustard.

This color does not scream. It just shows up, does the work, and somehow makes the entire painting look more intentional. (And yes, I know we are not using that word anymore. But you know what I mean.)

Lightfastness 6/6