Feeling Blue. No I’m not sad. Nor does this story have a sad ending. I’ve just been thinking about the color blue. It’s strange because I rarely wear blue. I don’t even wear jeans. My house has no blue in it at all. Maybe it’s the genes… my parents were devoted to earth tones. However I do like the blues, which I am hearing as I write.
I put out phthalo, cerulean, cobalt, and ultramarine on my paint palette. They go on the cool side of the palette opposite the reds, oranges, and yellows. I love those warm colors. So when I looked at my two of my recent portraits, I became aware of two things. First I was pleased with them. And, second, they were largely blue. I looked up at my studio wall and noticed that one of my older framed portraits, The Freshman, is also very blue.
Shady Lady The Freshman
I decided, that since blue is largely absent from my personal palette, I should think about this. In two of the paintings, the majority of the blue is in the background. I could blame it on the blue cloth that was hung behind each of the models. However, artistic license allowed me to redecorate, had I wished. But I didn’t. Blue dominates the third painting, where the huge hat is a turquoise. Again, I could have given the model a red hat. But, to recap, I didn’t. There were several reasons for retaining the dominant blue in each painting.
First, blue is one of the darkest colors on the palette. Ultramarine and burnt umber make a great black. Dark colors are important for creating value in a painting. I like my paintings to have a wide range of dark to light. I want the contrast. Value adds value…interest, depth, readability.
Second, blue compliments many skin tones…perhaps all. Blue is literally across the wheel from orange, which is an element in most skin tones. And that complimentary relationship is enhanced if the model is sitting under a warm light. Since these models sat under a warm light, I headed to the warm side of my palette to paint the skin and I painted the shadows with cool colors. I wanted the contrast. This approach makes the face pop. Furthermore, cool shadow colors on the face echo the blue in the background, providing harmony and adding interest.
I am happy to feel blue.
