Category Archives: Color studies

From Grisaille to Color: Painting a Colored Block Landscape in Oils

Posted on September 22, 2012 by

I wanted to learn how to get from a grisaille underpainting to a full color painting after I did the Frankie Flathead monochrome study. So I decided to set up some colored blocks as if they were a landscape, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Color studies, Lighting, Oil Painting, Still Life, Studio | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Color Temperature of Light: Lighting Still Lifes

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

When painting outdoors, lighting is controlled by the sun, clouds, atmosphere, and time of day. But in the studio you get to choose your lighting source from window light to bulbs of all kinds. In an article about color in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art supplies, Art theory, Color studies, Oil Painting, Painting | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Limited Palettes 2-Color Studies

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

Following in the footsteps of Kathryn Law’s 36 (!) color studies inspired by the Peggi Kroll-Roberts Limited Palettes video, I returned to doing more of my own. As Kathryn explains on her post, it’s all about learning what your colors … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Oil Painting, Painting, Still Life | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Painting Value Studies with Peggi Kroll-Roberts DVDs

Posted on January 6, 2011 by

After viewing and savoring my Peggi Kroll-Roberts DVDs, I’m doing the exercises she teaches in them, starting with value studies. To keep it simple and focus on values I used colored blocks for my subject. Above is the last study of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Oil Painting, Painting | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Watercolor Class: Remnants & August Class Registration

Posted on July 13, 2010 by

My Sunday morning watercolor class focused on glazing this week. Glazing is applying a transparent layer of paint over painted or unpainted areas. Like a piece of colored glass, a glaze won’t hide what’s below it but will change the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Birds, Color studies, Painting, Sketchbook Pages, Watercolor, Watercolor Class | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Magnified Teensy Flowers

Posted on December 14, 2009 by

The teensy bouquet was still holding up and the complicated shapes in these flowers intrigued me. So I stuck them under my magnifying lamp and drew them again in sketchbook opposite the bouquet side. The California poppy had opened up … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Drawing, Flower Art, Painting, Pencil drawing, Photography, Plants, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Refusing to Fail or Quit: It was either me or the orchid…

Posted on November 28, 2009 by

    On Wednesday night I completed the last page in a sketchbook with some writing about the frustrating process I’d been through with the orchid painting. And then, as I did one last sketch of the orchid in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art supplies, Art theory, Cats, Color studies, Flower Art, Published work, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life, Studio, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Painting for the book: “Must Paint Watercolor Flowers” – Part I

Posted on November 17, 2009 by

I was given permission to post some of my work on the upcoming book, “Must Paint Watercolor Flowers” (Quarto Publishers, London) for which I’ve been commissioned to paint three floral watercolors.  The painting is the easy part; taking the photos, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art supplies, Art theory, Color studies, Drawing, Flower Art, Painting, Pencil drawing, Published work, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Still Learning to See Color: Block Study (after Hensche)

Posted on January 30, 2009 by

This study was done to practice seeing, mixing and and painting the relationships of color and light on different planes. Theoretically these colored block studies should be done outdoors with natural light, but it was a cold windy day and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Oil Painting, Other Art Blogs I Read, Painting | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Confessions of a Dangerous Driver

Posted on September 23, 2008 by

I ran a red light right in front of a police car on my way to painting class on Monday. If that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t even realize I’d done it. I even thought to myself as I drove … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Landscape, Life in general, Oil Painting, Painting, Plein Air | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Painting in the Dark for More Colorful Paintings

Posted on September 7, 2008 by

OK, it wasn’t really in the dark, but I was in deep shade and could barely tell what colors I was mixing. Yesterday I went to a non-painting event in 105 degree heat and blinding sun and came home with … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Landscape, Oil Painting, Outdoors/Landscape, Painting, Plein Air | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Back to Basics – Color Vocabulary

Posted on April 6, 2008 by

Painting blocks to use in light and color-study still-life as explained in this previous post. (Newly gessoed panels drying in little rack behind the blocks). After jumping head first (or was it feet first?) into oil painting, and then flailing … Continue reading →

Posted in Art theory, Color studies, Oil Painting, Painting, Studio | Tagged , , | 7 Comments