"Close Harmony"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Close harmony is always pleasing."  And it applies to so many things. Close harmony in music, in relationships, and in art is soothing to the soul.

This piece was inspired by a reference photo taken in North Carolina. We simply do not have too many of these type of brilliant yellow/green trees in Central Texas. I was drawn to it because of the close harmony and so, of course, it is an analogous color scheme (two to four colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel).

I've always loved yellow/green with a deep blue/green. And it is not as visible on your computer screen, but it is a stunning combination. My encouragement today is to make full use of your color wheel and increase in your knowledge of color. There is a lot of information packed onto that wheel which is extremely helpful in identifying the root color of any color you see, remembering that all colors originate from the twelve colors on the color wheel.

You will notice that I did not call the blue/green by its common name which would be turquoise. It is important to begin calling colors by the name that appears on the color wheel because it is a more accurate description of where to start mixing. It also gives you the basic color schemes and the tints and shades of all of the root colors.

There are slight variations in color from brand to brand so it is also useful to mix the colors from the brand you particularly like and use that as a reference for yourself. Nothing will help you more than creating a painting and mixing all of the colors you need from a limited palette. 

The first painting class I ever took, we were required to mix all of our colors from Cad. Yellow Light....Ultramarine Blue, Cad. Red. Medium....and White. There are artists who still work that way. It's a great discipline to get under your belt which is another reason you are seeing so many oil paintings on this blog. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.