When I lived in Boston I fastened my painting supplies on the rack of my bike and peddled near and far, stopping when something struck me as exciting to paint.
Carp Pond in the Bird Sanctuary outside of Boston, 1975, oil painting en plein air
I find it difficult to add a color scheme label to many of my paintings. Until recently I never thought about the color scheme, I simply painted in response to the scene in front of me or as a response to the colors I was laying down on the canvas. In my attempt to improve my color sense I find that I can’t depend on the weather conditions to provide me with exciting color. Nor can I paint fast enough to capture the quickly changing morning and evening sky that illuminates the landscape with colors I want to see on my canvas. For that reason I am looking to understand color schemes more clearly. I want to be able to re-create the lighting conditions that excite me whether or not they are true to the reality of the scene.
I recall painting this little painting. I was in a playful mood, not caring whether or not I was depicting reality. I even laughed aloud when I made a mark that simply felt good. No one was around to pass judgment, only the birds.
Since I am attempting to find color scheme labels I will have to mark this one as expanded analogous colors with the primary color as green extending three spaces on either side which then include the complements orange and blue.
yeah, i like playing with color. i like finding relationships that feel good to me when i’m painting (even when it is digital painting). i may take my initial ideas from the world around me, but eventually i like it best when my painting becomes about the paint (and color) itself (along with other painting things of course – texture, brush stroke, spacial relationships, line etc.). i admire your effort in going back to define your own color schemes in previous work. …i’m not sure i’m ready to face that in my own work yet. especially as it looks to me like you’re doing such a great job of it on yours!
I have to laugh. It was your work, Rick, that nudged me to re-evaluate the (unintentional) color schemes of my own work. Your work appears to be so clearly defined in color schemes and my emotional response is so immediate. I realized that if I had more control over my own color schemes, actually making color scheme choices prior to applying paint, I might be able to create more emotional impact. I imagine that you did not know the part you played in my exploration.
hahaha. yeah, a lot there is i can say about that, Chris. . . you do know that you influence me as well, yes? bwahahahaha. yeah. it’s true.
and yeah, i also agree, Knowing what a split complimentary color scheme is and so on is a good thing to know. understand. and even think about. ultimately tho, i think it’s important to let go of that (for me) and get back to what you were doing – simply responding to what you feel. i like that.
i really like that you made a stroke for the pure fun of making the stroke in your painting – that is way fun. and imo – that is pure you.
simply (which may not be so simple to do) simply responding to what i feel unlimits me from knowledge – so that potentially, hopefully i may go beyond what has already been done (at least in some way) – go beyond what is known… i think that is important too.
also… if i depend on what i know to create my color scheme, i’ll get good at using that knowledge and i’ll have to work out of that when i work. that’s good up to a point (imo).
if i depend on what i feel, then i’ll get good at that and i’ll be able to work out of that. that becomes “trusting myself”. if i trust myself, i’ll become good at being trustworthy (i believe).
i think it is important to do exactly what you are doing. get to know it. understand it. think about it. but then let go of it. …may be of course that is your plan already and i’m just blabbering…
i think in letting go of the knowledge others have stacked up, that is when we are most likely to become our self in what we do.
…which is what i’d like to happen (it’s clear to me that i am not always able to do that yet of course), because it’s the one area that i can be reasonably sure i will be like no one else. becoming the best me that i can be… that’s important.
that is what makes our life special – imo, us being our self. because we are each like no other. …at least that’s the way it seems to me.
in case i’ve been confusing here… i think what you are doing is great. and important. and cool on exactly the kind of investigating and exploring you are doing.
that emotional response that you find so immediate in you – that is a very good thing – imo. so gain knowledge – but keep that intimacy of emotional response that you have already. i believe that is what will make work special. even more so than a split complementary formula.
starting out with the formula in mind is fine – but at some point listen to your own feeling and go after that – respond to what you feel the painting needs. i think that is how you develop your emotional strength side – which in you is already there. so elevate it into the unique you that you are. …which i think you have been doing all along.
i hope this is making sense. and i’m not being too redundant…
above most all else, have fun, yes. that’s a great place to paint in, imo.
You make me laugh.
I often feel that I am living my life backwards. There is no danger of getting stuck in the knowledge I am currently acquiring. Regardless of how hard I try to focus on any one thing, my curiosity and passion to try something new always wins out.
Three years ago I found myself facing a wall built of the limitations of my knowledge. I spent far too many hours washing off paint and thrashing about trying to break through the wall, refusing to allow any help from the left side of my brain. My ultimate goal is to expand my knowledge so that I have it to tap into when I run into the situation where I know a painting can be better, have more energy and motion and excitement, but haven’t the slightest idea where the bottleneck is. I am now learning how to define the bottleneck and take action to move forward.
In thirty years, when I am close to ninety, I still want to be exploring new ways of expressing energy on a surface. When I find myself facing another wall, I will either break my way through it again, or (due to my age) I might find a tall ladder to climb over it.
I enjoy your input!