Orange Bowl with Green Apples, oils on canvas panel, 12" x 9." Contact the artist for priceToday in class we talked about truth in painting: what we are after as painters is to find and paint the true color of objects. If we could simply put down the true color of all the objects in exactly the right place throughout the painting surface, their shapes will be conveyed to the viewer and the illusion made perfect (and we'd be geniuses!).
Since the objects in nature and our still life studies rarely have easy colors, today was a day to stay away from formulas. I struggled to try to find subtler, truer shades. In the shadows, where reflected light is most obvious, I think I managed to find some truth here and there, but the faded terracotta color of the backdrop still defeated me. I was able to see how much lighter in value it was compared to the shadow side of the pitcher, but still have a ways to go towards finding its true color.
Last weekend I recycled some of my old paintings by sanding the panels and gessoing them over. Looking at the work from last year, I was happy to see how much more color I am able to put into my paintings today than a year ago. One learns the language of color little by little, experimenting every time one paints.
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