Saturday, October 9, 2010

accessorizing the sky

8x8 pastel on wallis
When you get dressed to go out you normally choose one piece of clothing and everything else is picked to match/work with that piece. When painting a landscape that piece is the sky. The sky sets the tone and the color harmony.
Intentionally I chose the exact same spot from which to paint. Constantly I kept thinking.. "the sky." Often an oil painter will put a little bit of the "mother color" in each color to keep harmony. Glazing is another way to create a mother color.  Pastels are different. The mother color is visually  understood, but isn't physically added.
Another note, painting plein air really invigorates  me! ..But you knew that.

5 comments:

Donna T said...

Nice painting and very helpful thoughts about the sky, Loriann. Thank you!

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Nice sky shapes, too. You keep your color harmonies solid in both oil and pastel. What are you reading these days?

loriann signori said...

Hi Donna! Thank you and anytime!

Hi Kvan!
Thank you..I really try but I don't usually feel successful. As for what am I reading...I just purchased Frederic Remington's The Color of Night...looks great, more about it later since I've just cracked the cover! What are you reading?

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Richard Schmid's Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting. It's so dense with information and ideas, I can only read a page or two at a time and then I need to digest! Urp.

loriann signori said...

Hi Kvan...now talk about great books, that is one! You are so right, it's a very SLOW read, for all the right reads!