Morning Fog, three different color schemes

The fog refused to lift….. I just kept painting.  The first oil sketch leans toward a complementary color scheme, the second toward an analogous color scheme. The last two are more monochromatic.

Complementary Color Scheme

I used the same limited palette for all four paintings:  Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Lemon, Cobalt Blue and Titanium White.

Analogous Color Scheme

Monochromatic Color Scheme

I suppose one might call this analogous, too.  I need to stretch the definition of monochromatic or I would never use that color scheme.  It can be extremely moody and evocative, so I bend the rules.

Monochromatic Color Scheme

There’s a lot to be gained by doing several thirty minute oil sketches.  I begin to truly simplify, dropping details that get in the way of strong shapes and compositions.  This is my favorite of the four.

Oil sketches, 5″ x 5″, on prepared birch panels.  Painted yesterday morning, January 23, 2012