M.E. BAILEY ART: A Small Amount of Guilt

No, I am not talking about gold applied to something. I am speaking of the feeling one get's in the pit of the stomach when a promise is not kept. Yup. That's what's going on here. Regular old, pedestrian variety guilt. I didn't post yesterday as I was prepping for my upcoming workshop gig. And I kept worrying about not posting. (I can't believe how this public exposure has kept me accountable!)

So, today's painting is another little still life . . . .more or less inspired by Elio Camacho and his comments about temperature. With intense light on the big geranium blossom, the shadows and highlights stuck out and played a big role. But value isn't the game in this one. If it was, I would have toned down the color and reached for darks and lights. Instead, using no white on the blossom, I attempted to shift around the color wheel to obtain the illusion of brilliant color. Using yellow with Cad Red Light killed the brilliance, so I had to be extra careful. Alizirin Crimson, while cooler, also posed a problem of too great a shift in value, so I had to spare it somewhat. Working with Quinacridone Rose was the perfect temperature shift I needed against Cad Red Light, since the values of the two colors are very close. By not having big value contrasts in colors, we can see the temperature shifts much more easily. There is a bit of 'vibration' of the two colors. It presents a lot of interesting challenges.

I added a bit of zinc white to my red late in the game. It doesn't make the red become chalky in appearance, but it does dull the brilliance somewhat. Thanks Elio. You are pushing me toward unknown territory. I need to explore this to a much greater degree.

As I lead the workshop over the weekend and Monday, I am afraid I will be falling farther behind. We'll see. Anyone interested in seeing what I will be covering there? The title is "Composition for Impact" and is aimed to a watercolor painting audience, although other painters in other mediums attend, too.