Thursday, August 19, 2010

Color Studies

I don't do a lot of color studies. To me it's like painting a piece three or four times. In a case where I really don't know what I want to do with my subject matter I do a quick sketch, (in this case) make three copies, mount them on illo board, coat them with matte medium and paint different versions of the painting.

In this case all three are the same color harmonies. Red and it's complimentary on the color wheel, green. The first has most of the reds in the face while the background is green. The second is predominantly reds with green hints. The third is the classic dark background that the dutch masters made famous. They all work. The center is the one I chose to paint. Probably today I'd chose the dark background or some other kind of background altogether.Maybe a cracked adobe wall or something contemporary.

Navajo Elder

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