 | ||
| 24 x 24, watercolor and pastel on Wallis Museum |
Before I painted today, I gave myself an assignment: choose one or two paintings with similar palettes that are unlike what you normally paint. Discover the colors first with watercolor mixes, then by utilizing a limited pastel selection.
In Sarah Cash's book Sargent and the Sea, I looked at a James McNeil Whistler painting called "Crepuscule in Opal."
In David A. Cleveland's book A History of American Tonalism: 1880-1920, I studied William Morris Hunt's painting "Gloucester Harbor."
Both paintings are high key and have a beautifully soft range of color. Pale pinks and yellows, neutral grayed violets and cerulean blue.
Using these colors as a guide, I painted this familiar beach path scene which I have painted several times before. Click here and here to see some recent efforts.
Results: I felt stretched by the high key palette and enjoyed discovering how these light values worked together to still describe a subject that is packed with personal meaning.
No comments:
Post a Comment