Color!
Color studies, quiet focus, and a palette that goes further than expected
This week is all about color—and I’m not feeling any resistance to that. Limited palette exercises, which I love. I’ve been paying close attention to value by converting works in progress to black and white and making adjustments as needed.
Right now I’m using Quinacridone Red, Yellow Ochre, Payne’s Gray, and White. It’s a surprisingly broad palette—some really delicious purples and beautiful gray-greens are coming out of it.
To stay connected to the tranquility and joy theme, I’ve been working with subjects that make me happy. The golden retriever image came from Museum by Sktchy, but it looks so much like my golden, Garth (who passed years ago). I spent a lot of time thinking about how great he was and what a good friend he was while painting this.
The other image is of my Great Pyrenees, Big. He was a handful—and super handsome and serious. I have such good memories of him. I think this one still needs a bit more work. I’d like to simplify some areas of the painting.
Next up, I’m going to switch out the Quinacridone Red and try something else. That feels exciting.
I’m really enjoying this week of color. Everything seems to be lining up nicely with the class—it feels like it’s building in a good way.
