color choices

pastel study, 9x14

On Saturday I was working with a group of students and we were talking about color choices. They wanted to know...'why did I choose that? what color is underneath?" I could answer the questions and I did, but more importantly one must always realize that color is a very personal thing. We don't all "see" it the same way. Also, the color you choose is about making a painting- a vision. Duplicating what you see is not the goal. Creating a special reality that has mystery, that's my goal.

seeing color, Matisse, and planning color in a painting

Color. Think of it like this: Everyone looks; painters see. When painters see it's not just about rods and cones. It's about the process of noticing values, temperatures, and shapes, all which influence how that color will be seen.
Gertrude Stein once asked Henri Matisse if he looked at the tomato he was eating in a special, artistic way. Replied Matisse, "No, when I eat a tomato I look at it the way anyone else would. But when I paint a tomato, then I see it differently."
So many factors determine the daily changes of color in the landscape. With so many variables, when planning a painting, there are important ideas to keep in mind.
1. Start with a plan. Do not go into your painting willy-nilly. When on location and before painting, talk to yourself. "I see......, the chroma is most intense here... the color of the light is...."
2.Once you know that -limit your palette. You can try a split- complementary or you can use other tried and true combinations: triad, complementary, analogous, analogous plus compliment....plus others. Once you choose it stick to it.
3. Use color to make space. Atmospheric perspective says the landscape gets cooler as it recedes, except for blue which gets warmer/greyer. To accentuate space you can also use warmer colors in front. These aren't rules and yes you can have a cool shadow in the front.
4.Remember the diva. The diva is the place you want everyone's eyes to go to. Use your colors contrasts, sharpest lines right where she sits. You can also use one special color in your diva, and then not repeat it anywhere else unless you grey or tint/shade it.
5. You can use broken color to add vibration...but only use it in limited places. In the top painting I used different colors of the same value, broken, in the sky. Similar colors were used in the water, but that was smoothed to say water.
6. Be brave, have fun and embrace mistakes...they could be your door to somewhere new.

decide what you love

To create that magic you need to decide what you love about your subject and the color that says the mood..
This scene obsessed me. I saw it when I was driving and had it in my head for a couple of days. Finally, after hearing the weather report I new the conditions were going to be right. The next early morning  I zipped out to the location. I was delighted that it still held the magic I once saw. Mystery, soft and wonderful mystery. The mystery and wonder that only Spring holds. Not syrupy sweet, soft and expectant.
Next, pick a color that says the mood.  Remember that color is fully your choice.... it's what you think is important. Then you choose the other colors that are related to that color family. Color dominance can be like cooking. For instance when I cook Italian food (which is often) I will always have garlic, onions and basil on hand. Yes, sometimes fennel, anise and oregano come in as well, but I never accompany that same meal with dishes made with cumin, garam marsala or cilantro. Pick from the family that influences your creation favorably.
In this painting the fog had a green spring glow, deep fog and a hint of light.  And while the landscape is predominately warm, fog cools it. Using an analogous palette of green to blues I tried to set a feel. A warm orange underpainting made the necessary warmth.
Painting what you love and knowing why you love it seems simple and it is. Most importantly it requires that you set an intention.

color choices or are you painting the colors that you see?

8x10 pastel and watercolor on marble dust board
"Those aren't the real colors you are painting, are they?"These are words from a helpful passerby as I was industriously working on my painting. I thought and considered. "Yes, they are, but as I paint I make decisions in order to create better color harmony."  "Oh I thought they weren't ."
Isn't that what we do all the time..even if we paint what we see? I wanted a feeling of hot sun so I was constantly balancing how many cool choices I made and whether I could lean that cool color warmer. For instance many of the violets and purples in reality leaned more towards blue..but did I want that? I did leave warm and cool greens for color tension.
As Richard McKinley has always said...it's all a lie. You take a 2d surface with a handful of color and make the bounty before you. (paraphrased by me) Now consider the power in you.
You can choose how you want to make that vision, that beautiful lie.