Learning to See
I completed a three day workshop in June with the gifted painter Phil Starke. His focus was creating landscapes and/or figures using color schemes. Since soft pastels have been my primary focus for the past two to three years, I decided to get out of my box and do this study in oils. Many years ago I worked in oil paints but while pregnant I had a hard time with all the chemical smells so worked mostly with watercolors and sketching off and on after that. Now, 30 years later, the solvents used are odorless and it is much more pleasurable!
Anyway, Phil is adept at color mixing on the palette and I learned a bit about his approach and techniques. One of the things that stood out to me the most was how establishing the three or four major abstract shapes in a painting first, making sure that they are in balance and harmony with each other truly help the composition acquire a pleasing image right off the get-go. Choosing the color palette and keeping the colors to a minimum other than mixing with white and with each other creates unified color harmony throughout. He showed us how to use the classic "color wheel" with primaries, their secondaries, and tertiary colors. I found using complementary colors with the addition of two on each side of one of the complements most effective. There are great color scheme combos that can be chosen according to the painting one is doing. I had used the color wheel before but never really studied as a strong guide to my paintings. I find it really works well and teaches me how to select the subtle colors needed in a large mass - the trees, water, a hillside.
Here's an oil painting I created at the workshop:
