"Unexpected"

($50.00......6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Unexpected places and events yield gold." Gold seems to have the highest rank in precious metals. And so it is with places and events that happen and often without much fanfare. The value is often realized after the place or event has come and gone.

This photo reference for this piece was taken in Santa Fe as I turned the corner to visit Sage Gallery. It was very unexpected and a soothing and pleasing setting. That must be why adobe and sage looking plants pair up so well together. I feel like talking about color once again since I am often asked how to go about mixing colors. And again, the best way I know to learn color is to work with a limited palette (a warm and a cool of each primary and white) If you have those colors in place, you will be able to mix any other color you see.

The other important thing is to know the three attributes of color which are hue, value, and intensity. So the very first thing is to identify the root color. It will be one of the (12) colors on the color wheel. After identifying the root color and mixing that color...determine its intensity. If it less intense than what you mixed, then knock down the intensity by adding a bit of the complementary color. After that, determine the value and add white to lighten or more of the root color with a lot more of the complementary to darken the color depending on the value. 

The only thing left to do is to paint and practice identifying the root color and then mixing it and adjusting the value and intensity. Mixing up endless color charts can be laborious and may help initially, but eventually, it is best to just paint and practice. In this piece the root color of the adobe wall is orange, but not an intense orange. I knocked down the intensity with ultramarine blue (the complement of orange) and then added a lot of white. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.