What I’m Working On: Spring 2024

I’ve been in “study” mode for the past several months, working on color and light. During this process, I’ve painted so many white objects on white backgrounds that I’ve lost count. Still, I’ve developed a much better eye for color through this tedious process, and for understanding the truth behind the old adage amongst painters that “white is not white”. (Ever. Truly. Trust me on this.)

I’ve been working with a very limited palette (a warm and a cool version of each of the three primaries) and I’ve been surprised by the vibrance than can be achieved without a bunch of unnecessary tubes of paint cluttering up my workspace. I’ve also been experimenting with a new process of laying down only 2 color averages in the first layers of the paintings. Later, towards the end of the process, I tone down the colors.

It has been an interesting exercise and if you want to try it, I highly recommend the book “Relative Color” by Kami Mandlik! Here are some practice pieces in progress using the two color average approach described in Kami’s book.

I am gearing up for my annual sojourn to Brittany, France in June, and I’m excited to get outside and put some of this color study work to use in the landscape! I will keep you posted!