Color

Color Study

6" X 8" Oil on Panel
I had some ideas about color that I wanted to try out so this is the result of last nights color study. I like trying things out on small panels like this to see what works and what needs work. I've been using Utrecht oil paints lately and am pushing some of the color mixes with it to see how it handles. Utrechts Cadmium Yellow Light has turned out to be a really great yellow to work with. The Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson have worked out perfect too.

$130.00

Painting The Evening Light

"Evening Approach"

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

SOLD
I wanted to push the evening colors in a scene and work more with distant mountain colors at sunset. This scene was created just for this purpose. I like the warmth of evening light and felt like experimenting with them in this painting. This was really an enjoyable study and I'll work more on this in the future. I like the slight color shifts in the distant mountains and feel I can work more with those too. Moving from cool colors on the right hand side of the mountains to the warmer pinkish tones on the left side was a kick. I've done this on the past but not with so much deliberate color work. I love that diffused look of the highlights there.

The new Utrecht paints are working out great and I'm having fun exploring with some color mixes that I began with the Winsor Newton paints. I bought just the basic colors that I use, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Pale (Light), Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre and Titanium White. I also bought a tube of Paynes Grey but I could have just kept using mud for that. These colors really do most of the work for me. I do switch off and on with Cerulean Blue for skies and some foliage. The less color you use the better color harmony you end up with. Try using the same colors for your color mixes and you won't end up with some really stark color that stands out above all the others....unless you are trying for that.
Fun little painting.

The one paint in this one that I don't normally use was orange. I mix my own but on this one I grabbed an old tube of Shiva Cadmium Orange. That tube has been with me since college back in the early 80's....let's see...I bought that tube when "Cheers" was still in prime time, when Duran Duran was still in the top 40, when there was no Back To The Future 2 or 3...that's how long ago that Shiva paint was bought by me and it is still in great shape. I like Shiva paint. I think now they mainly create Gouache. As you can see the orange was used to promote the evening light on the trees and it worked very well.

Oak Sketch

"Oak Sketch"

6" X 6" Oil on Panel
I painted this one this morning just to put something up on this blog. I've been busy working on a larger piece and it's been a while since I've worked very large at all. It takes a little while for me to paint large the way I paint small, hahaha. I was using the new Utrecht paints I had recently bought on the large painting but wanted to try them out on one of my daily small paintings to see how they handled. I was already more than happy...almost giddy, with the great greens these Utrecht paints make. I'm using Cad Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson to make my greens and these honestly work as good as Winsor Newton paints....mainly, the WN Cad Yellow Pale. Using the Utrecht colors I was able to easily mix my favorite greens and they were rich colors....I'm very happy with the Utrecht paints so I'm really glad I gave them a try. Another nice thing is they are pretty affordable paints.