Authentically Human! Not Written by AI!
All Content Copyright © Michael Chesley Johnson AIS PSA MPAC

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Getting the Relationships Right

"Glenn's Shed" 5x7, oil

Next door, there's a little garden shed. It's painted a cool yellow, but it's that kind of subtle yellow that seems to change constantly with the time of day. The quality of light hitting it, whether full sun, late evening sun or overcast, can make it seem like any number of yellows. Sometime's I'd even swear it was green!

Today I went out with the sole purpose of trying to get the color relationships right of all the different yellows I saw in it. Some parts of the shed were in deep shade without bounced light, and thus were a dusky greenish-yellow; some parts had a lot of bounced light, which changed the yellow to orange or green; other parts were in full sun and were a pure, lemon yellow; and even a few shadowed cracks were distinctly blue. I worked entirely on the shed first, getting these relationships right, before moving on to the surrounding areas.

It was a fun exercise. And now I've cleaned off the palette and washed the brushes. Tomorrow we pack the car, and then we head out Saturday. I'll post again from the road, most likely when I get to the Sarasota workshop. Have a great Thanksgiving!