I find myself frequently concentrating on elements of the landscape that exist beneath the sky. Consequently the horizon ends up quite high in my paintings. I think that approach to composition adds a sense of intimacy and a feeling of “being there.”
“Western Skyline” on the other hand is all about the glorious Colorado sky! Join me Thursday, January 2, from 5-8pm at Slate Gray Gallery in Telluride to take a look at the actual painting. I’d be happy to see you!
Marshall
April 2, 2019
If you, like me, are fascinated by color, I have the book for you. Author Victoria Finlay’s “Color, A Natural History of the Palette” is a richly detailed, elegantly written, illuminating story of (to quote the chapter names) ochre, black and brown, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The book is part art history, part travelogue, part science lesson, and thoroughly entertaining. This is no dry treatise on the source of pigments. Rather it is a delightfully engaging rainbow of stories about our old pal color!
If you’ve ever wondered where the carmine red in Cherry Coke and lipstick comes from, read on. You’ll never look at a box of Crayolas the same way again.
Oh by the way, the color in carmine red comes from the blood of insects!
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall
March 26, 2019
A few weeks ago I mentioned I was heading into the studio to experiment with a more limited color palette. I thought I’d show you the results of that experimentation.
The painting “Shadows on the Taylor Fork” uses five colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, and blue-violet. OK, truth be told, a little bit of blue’s complementary color found it’s way into the painting. How did that orange sneak in there? But for the most part the painting succeeds on the strength of analogous color harmony.
When using a limited color scheme it’s the modulation of value, lightness and darkness, of each color that keeps the composition engaging. My eye keeps moving throughout the painting and slams to a stop when it hits the orange. That’s what creates the visual tension I want in my work.
Always trying to keep things a little off balance guys. Let’s not get TOO comfortable!
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall
