Look what viridian can do!
I am a sucker for a limted palette. I love to try out combinations of "primary colors" to see how they relate to each other. I titled this painting "Viridian Blues" because the only blue that was used in this painting was viridian. Technically it is a green but without any other blues on the palette viridian became my all purpose blue color. The other colors used were, yellow ocher pale, lemon yellow, cadmium red and permanent rose. I began this painting on a toned canvas of permanent rose and indian yellow. I wanted to leave bits of this tone showing to give a feeling of sunshine.
I found the value range by marking the lightest light (shirt) and the darkest dark (eyes). Also found the midtone which will be the most prevalent value in this painting. Once those decisions are made all colors are assinged to one of those values.. You have to really trust your decisions on the palette because all colors will look cool compared to the warm tones of the canvas.
I painted the figure since he was the focus of the painting. Then made all the other decisions compared to his color values.
Working in puzzle fashion I placed one decision next to the other, building the painting from the figure outwards.
Ah, finally the bright undertone is mostly covered and I can start to see what the painting will look like. The viridian with permanent rose makes the most beautiful violet. It can be bluer with more viridian and red violet with more permanent rose in the mixture. The greens start to go in with mixtures of viridian and yellow ocher pale and an occasional bit of lemon yellow.
Finishing takes a long time. I softened edges and played with texture using a palette knife. Finally scumbled white into some of the shadows to give a sense of atmosphere.
Viridian Blue, 18x24 Oil
