Comment by Cecile Hines on March 15, 2012 at 10:34am

Wonderful painting, that it was a "challenge" makes it all the better!

Comment by Donald Maier on March 23, 2012 at 2:07pm

You did really well with this one. I like the high contrast that you achieved. The fact that you did not achieve a neutral gray, but rather a brown between the two complimentary colors tells us that they are not exactly the direct opposites on the color wheel.... the purple could probably go a little more toward the blue to get there. But the effect is lovely. I really like the brown tones here and would have preferred this to the combination I just discribed that would have given you a gray. So you see, the variability of this experience is one where you bend the rule slightly for a different effect. I hope I am making my point here.... not sure.

Comment by Sharon Hind-Smith on March 23, 2012 at 4:02pm

Yes you are making a very good point Donald. My palette is very limited at this point and I haven't worked much with either winsor colors in general but I was trying to keep them complimentary and translucent. Lost the translucency but created more contrast. If I mixed a cooler purple, with maybe French Ultramarine and an Alizarin Crimson... or used a cooler yellow like Lemon Yellow with the Winsor purple? I could try that approach and compare results. (I even tried a green and red combo as well.) It was a great challenge and I look forward to more. Thank you for featuring my piece and also many thanks for both websites. I agree with you though... everything in moderation. As much as I love your challenges, etc., I don't want it to take away from your painting. You are the best watercolorist I have found to date! Keep painting!!! Your websites are fascinating too and will continue to grow because artists always look for great work and inspiration.

Comment