Brown....

Julie   conte crayon and pastel on toned paper   17.5 x 10

has always been my least favorite color.  This time of year, even though summer still reigns, we are seeing bits of the yellow and orange that precede the brown.  I think that I have been over-browned.  Our old farmhouse had exposed beams of brown.  All woodwork in the living area was painted brown, including wainscoting. It took us over 20 years to work up the courage to paint over all of the brown.  The lightness that exudes from the Scandinavian palette we selected has definitely put us all in better moods.

However.....there is one exception that keeps brown in my vocabulary.  Portraits that result from the use of the great variety of earthtones are among my favorites.  The warmth of these tones softens a face and warms the soul.  (Those same works rendering in black charcoal lack that warmth but make up for it, in my opinion, by their great power) Ochre.  Umber.  Sienna.  Yes.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Daffodils Redux   watercolor   8 x 13.5

I am a painter. Painting is always a struggle, a search for self. Painting is freedom, where there are millions of choices and millions of right answers. Not so much pure black or pure white. Today I am working on a watercolor painting of daffodils that I started as a class demonstration. My goal was to alter the usual "happy color" daffodil palette that has been successful in my previous daffodil paintings...i.e. yellow, yellow green and turquoise. My journey started into violets, then was soon heading back to the comfortable blue-greens......whoa............shake it up with brown. I am learning to love the earthiness and honesty of brown. Has it been successful? I won't know for a few days until I see the painting with fresh eyes. Can't wait.