quandary over color

I realize (from all my plein air painting) that the landscape is made up of more neutrals than pure color. Beautiful grays. Still when let to my own devises I use more pure color than I must "see." Balance is the key, even in color, and I can't always seem to find it.
This one is done on a piece of 320 Uart- a bit too scratchy for my tastes. It holds lots of pastel, but will take off your skin after just a little finger rubbing. Yipes. I tried 600 and 800 and while they are smoother and easier to blend, they buckle with water media (problems for underpainting).  I know I can mount them...but since my small paintings are studies that seems like a lot of work. Back to 400, the magic number...for me.

On another note: Upcoming posts-
*new method for notans
*interview with Katherine Tyrrell ( of the wonderful blog Making a Mark)
*interview with Christie Scheele

In the meantime, if you have a moment, check out my new website. I am still working on it..... but it's up. There's a button for "sign up for my newsletter." My goal is to do a small newsletter- maybe 4 times a year. If you want to receive it sign up there.