Wednesday, December 29, 2010

White Christmas



We actually had a white Christmas here in middle Tennessee, the first in years and from what I have seen on the news lately we weren't the only ones. It looks like most of the country is buried in snow right now. Unfortunately here in Tennessee it came and went quickly. And due to the schedule of the holidays I didn't get out in it enough. The two I have posted here were done days after Christmas, at the last of the snow, one on a gravel bar in the Harpeth River and the other in Leiper's Fork.
Also, if you get the chance, there is an interesting blog I follow by a guy named Stapleton Kearns. His blog is full of artistic info and his December 14 and 15 entries are about innominate color. He explains as well as anyone, including me, how I use color and the palette I use.
When I use the three color palette I use, especially painting landscapes, I see almost everything as innominate color. They are all mixtures of the three "leaning" toward red, or green or whatever. I don't even see it as a color. I see it as an innominate mix and I compare it to what I see and ask, " is it cooler or warmer or darker or lighter?" then tweak my puddle in that direction. I compare it to tuning a guitar string. You turn it up and down and listen to it until you hit the note then stop. Then do the next one in relation to that one. And then the next one and then the next one, etc..
And I got a new camera from Santa Clause and the images seem to be a bit green/blue. I need a camera that shoots innominate color with a "cooler/warmer, lighter/darker" button.

2 comments:

Billy Guffey said...

Hi Kevin. I just took a workshop with Stape in Charleston, and he explained innominate color well. It was very helpful as he pointed out things in the scene I was painting that were innominate. Really got the point across.

Anonymous said...

very interesting blog. thanks for sharing! I love the work.. as always! Happy New Year!