Bully On The Playground And Other Thoughts About Color

Where did the last 1 1/2 weeks go?  It doesn't seem as though that much time has past since my last post.  Last weekend was devoted to the MONDO juggling & unicycle festival.  I've also been taking some time to watch the Olympics in the evening, but still the last 1 1/2 weeks flew by.

Since my last post, I finished up the deer painting.  This is the second painting from the same picture.  The last time was almost a year ago.

#184 - Deer In Woods - 5" x 7" - paper - alternative palette

I also fussed with a painting a pansy in a pot.  I am a bit sentimental about this picture, since I grew the flower from seed. I've painted from this picture before.  The most recent time was three months ago.  The time before that was more than a year ago. 

#185 - Pansy In Pot - 6" x 6" hardboard - std palette

Fussed is the accurate word for this one, especially with the flower.  I struggle whenever I want a "purer" yellow or orange that is saturated. So I paint and I paint over and I paint over and I don't like the end result. When I'm doing the tawny oranges of the orange cats, I've got blue mixed in to help give the color strength.

This time, I sat back and realized I used my standard palette.  My standard palette consists of primary yellow, titanium white, quinacridone magenta, pthalo blue green shade, and pthalo blue red shade.  My alternative palette replaces the yellow with hansa yellow opaque and the red shade of blue with ultramarine blue.  While I've been painting with both palettes and noticing the differences, I haven't really thought about it in a focused way.

Meet my two different yellow colors.

The difference in strength is apparent.  The top row is "pure" color not toned down with white at all.  The hansa yellow opaque was a little dry on my palette, so it went on heavier than usual.  I compensated by doing two layers of paint for the primary yellow and the primary yellow still could not keep up.  While I am willing to concede that part of my problem is skill and experience, I am a little tired of fighting with my yellow paint.  On the back of the paint tubes, the difference in these two yellows is in the opacity and tinting strength and hansa yellow opaque is stronger in both categories.  

I also decided to compare my blue paint.  

I have enjoyed using the ultramarine blue.  It's easier for me to use and I figured out why.  Pthalo blue red shade is the playground bully on my palette.  It's the middle color. In the top row, it's pretty darn close to being the same value as the black gesso.  While the other two blues are dark, they aren't quite as dark and enveloping as pthalo blue red shade.

Since I've only recently figured out that I need to use a lot more white paint with all of my paint colors, it's no wonder that I let pthalo blue red shade dominate. This should be an easy bully to tame.  

In comparing the blue paint side by side, I noticed something else.  I like how the two pthalos related to each other.  They compliment each other in a pleasing way.  I don't find that when I look at ultramarine blue and pthalo blue green shade.  I'm not sure it makes that much difference in color harmony when using a limited color palette, but for now it's a reason to stick with pthalo blue red shade. 

Once I'm done with the primary yellow on my main palette, the refill is going to be with hansa yellow opaque.  I think I'll keep my alternative palette going and it will have primary yellow and ultramarine blue. 

This morning, I started a new pansy painting with my alternative palette, so I could see if the flower colors improved.  I think they did, although I still needed more than one layer of color. I'm still a long way from painting a flower with lyrical paint strokes, but trying is easier with the stronger yellow.