Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Involuntarily Moving On

Setting Sun, 2007, Oil on Panel, 8x10

Note to self: Don't panic when you run out of your favorite color. It can be a really good thing.

I tend to work somewhat obsessively with colors. For example, nearly all the skies I have painted in recent months have been a combination of a blue and greenish yellow color. Before that I used Old Holland violet grey for all my skies and before that it was a cobalt blue mixed with a lighter blue. I usually use the same colors until I can't bear to look at them for a second longer, then I move on.

Sometimes however, running out of a tube of paint and neglecting to order a new one in a timely manner will force me to move on too. I recently ran out of Gamblin Radiant Blue and so yesterday, I reluctantly mixed a new version of blue green for my skies, with good results. And as often happens, which I tend to forget, I am feeling a bit energized by having to change things up.

This morning I ordered a few tubes of the Radiant Blue anyway, but I suspect that the mood has passed and by the time I get it, I won't be interested in using it. At least not in the sky.

So keep an eye out for some light blue barns. That blue is going to show up somewhere!

6 comments:

Lindsay said...

Whatever your obsession for the moment, I love your color choices. I'm thinking of moving into oils and would love to hear what your process is like. Are you glazing? Sorry if you have already explained this in an earlier post.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Lindsay.

I have written here and there about my process. Basically I do a monochromatic underpainting, let that dry and then I add the color, using glazes. Hmm, guess those posts could have been so much shorter, as I just explained the whole thing in one sentence:)

Lindsay said...

Thanks Tracy! ;-)
Do you subscribe to Tina Mammosser? She is an acrylic painter but uses this dry brush concept. That's interesting too and I"m sure can be adapted to oils.

Steven LaRose said...

aaaaa.

Gettin' better with words are yah?

darn blogs. . .

Steven LaRose said...

Hey!
I just "ah-hahed" that this is how Max Parish painted. It is all about glazing a first mark.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Lindsay, I don't know that artist, does she have a website or a blog? Thanks for the tip.

Yes, Steven, I guess I am describing my work here, dang, I can't believe I am talking about it:) And Maxfield Parish was my god in college, by the way.