Color Vision

Cariquinez Bridge - 8 x 10" oil on linen - plein air painting by Linda Schweitzer

For years, I have known that, in theory, the larger the pupils of your eyes, the more color you can see. Because of this, I sometimes wear a visor, even when painting in the studio. But I say "sometimes" because I've never really noticed if it made any difference.
Well, this is the painting from my last post. It was done plein air, meaning outdoors, from life. As I was walking towards the water, I saw that it was a lifeless blue-gray color, and I was a little disappointed. But I set up the easel, and the umbrella. By the time I was ready to paint, the water appeared a beautiful aqua! I thought, "Good, the light has changed!" And I proceeded to paint, but could hardly believe the color, and kept checking my mixtures against what I saw.
When I finished, I packed up my stuff and started back up the hill. Looking back at the water, it was that blue-gray again!
Now, if you look at the photo on my last post, you can see I was in a pretty deep shade under that umbrella. It is a Best-Brella, which is silver on the outside and black on the inside. And I was wearing a broad brimmed hat. With all that shade, my pupils were probably quite wide even though the sun was full blast. I know some artists say a white umbrella is enough, because it gives a filtered light which is more gentle, and your colors will be more accurate. What do you think?

Patterns in Red and Black

Patterns in Red and Black - 6 x 6" - oil on panel

Some pictures just ask to be painted! I was in Huntington, WV, with my artist buddies, Linda and Judy. We came upon a sidewalk cafe, and the colors and shadows were great! I said that it was too bad no one was sitting at the cafe... Well, Linda and Judy didn't miss a beat. They ran over and sat down! I whipped out my camera, and just then, a couple came down the street, both dressed in black! Was this not too perfect?

I painted this using the "Zorn Palette" of yellow ochre, red, black, and white. This makes some colors impossible to mix, but gives the work an internal color harmony. I also connected the darks to make for a better composition. If you look at it with half-closed eyes, you just see it as a pattern.

I welcome comments on this painting! Would you have used the Zorn palette? Or do you have other favorite colors?

If you like this, please share it with your friends! (Notice the Share links to the right or below) (hint, hint) or...   To buy, click here.

Blue Ridge Mountains - SOLD

...Blue Ridge Mountains...
oil on canvas - 6" x 8"

I can't believe how hard this was to paint. I had to wipe it off and start over three times! And I'm still not totally happy with it. I just keep telling myself, "It's only a daily painting, it's only a daily painting, it's only... "

Maybe I'm being too perfectionistic, but the very slight changes in the value and temperature of the colors, plus all the soft blending made a huge difference in the aerial perspective. The so-called "rules" of aerial perspective, (that colors get lighter and bluer and less intense as seen from a greater distance), seem to have been written on a sunny day with a blue sky. Here, at dusk, there was so much red in the light, there was a lot of purple in the distance. Actually, the color of those background mountains, which appears blue-violet here, had so much red it, it looked pink on the palette.

The sun seemed to be floating on a layer of purple mist. I put a little thalo turquoise in the sun, so it would vibrate against the reds.

CLICK HERE TO BUY $75

"Crow"

6" x 8" - oil on canvas

I love skies, especially at dawn and dusk. The crow was an excuse to do a sky painting, which I suppose is an insult to crows everywhere. The light changes so much at dusk that the part of the sky which appears to be blue is actually a yellow-gray. It just appears blue because it is cooler than the warm clouds.

CLICK HERE TO BUY $75