One more coat of varnish and the first large painting (100x100cm) I’ve done in my new studio will be on its way to Skyeworks Gallery in Portree. It’s certainly a joy being able to leave a freshly varnished painting flat on the studio floor and close the door without concerns about pawprints or donations of fur happening overnight.
This is also the first large painting since I was on a Colour and the Figure workshop, where I spent four days mixing “interesting greys” and using complementaries to desaturate colour (with varying degrees of success). It has strong blue/orange complementaries, fulfilling my desire for some strong colour, but in the tree trunks and shadows I found myself thinking far more deliberately about what was going into mixes, trying to venture into “interesting greys” and “colour-filled shadows” and “building a bridge between orange and blue”.
For once the dominant blue isn’t my favourite Prussian, but ultramarine. Colours used: lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange hue, permanent rose, perelyne green, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine and titanium white.
100x100cm
Could be Australia !
My Mum and I have been talking about whether growing up in South Africa influenced my love of strong colour. But then there are the Scottish Colourists…
Love that you share your experiments with color in detail. In my recent work I have been experimenting with different grays, though they are not as obvious.
I do think that growing up in San Antonio, Texas gave me a deep appreciation for strong color from my association with traditional Mexican influences.
Your trees are beautiful!
Thanks Anne! Skye has surprisingly strong colours …besides green! The intense yellow of gorse for instance. But what is often “missing” is cast shadow, so the overall contrast is softer. I’m enjoying exploring it, and as with so many things the more you look the more you discover.
I love how the detail shot shows the mix of colours in the tree trunks. In the whole painting, the tree trunk colours visually mix to interesting greys. Very nice! I like to use lots of strong colours in my paintings, but over the last year have really focused on learning to work in some greys, usually by mixing complementary colours. I am very impressed with the approach you have taken here.
Thank you! I’m enjoying the mixing and layering of “interesting greys”, and how when you step back the small bits of colour merge and you see the painting differently.