The Outside Shore
Demonstration - Around The Bend
Building My Palette
The next step was to begin building my working palette by adding colors
closer to those I wanted to see in the finished painting. Note I did not say I
add colors closer to what I actually see in the scene. I almost always paint
colors that differ from reality. In most cases, I use colors that are more
intense versions of what is there. Also, I try to keep my palette as simple as
possible, and if I can make a color I used in one place work in another place,
even if it is not exactly the correct color for the other place, I will usually
choose to use it in both places. I can always layer or otherwise combine colors
so it reads as two different colors in the finished painting, but the colors
will be related in a way they would not be if I simply used two different
colors.
My improvisatory approach comes into play here as well - even if a color I
select for my palette is not ideal, I find value in trying to make the painting
work with it anyhow. If I do my job well, I will still capture something of the
original feel, and there will be a unique color harmony to the painting that
goes beyond what a photograph would show.
 One of the colors I
added here was black. I know a lot of artists avoid black, or only use it in
special situations, but I find I like using it to establish my darkest darks and
am not afraid to have some show in the finished painting. I feel similarly about
white.
Some of the colors I was most concerned about at this point are the grass
color in shadow and in sunlight, and the background foliage. I rarely settle on
a single color for things like this, but instead like to build up each of these
sections as a tapestry of different colors. Again, where it makes sense, I try
to include some of the same colors in different areas of the painting. For
example, the foreground grass in sunlight is made of the same three colors as
the sunlit tree in the left middle ground, although the tree is slightly darker
in value as it contains more of the darker of the three colors. Similarly, the
foreground grass in shadow is made of many of the same colors as the darker
areas of the background foliage on the left side of the painting, although I
made the foliage a somewhat duller mix so it would read as background.
The water on the right side of the painting contains most of the same colors
used on the land, since the colors of a body of water are often the colors of
the objects it reflects. This river is shallow enough that the brown river
bottom comes through as well, though. I added some of this same brown to the
background tree trunks. Colors reflected in water are not identical to the
colors of the objects themselves, but they are close enough that I try to use
the same palette and simply adjust the mix.
Some of the colors that I introduced I cannot explain at all based on the
scene. For example, I did not see any violets in the scene itself. Looking at
the painting itself, though, I decided it needed some. Many of my color choices
end up being made this way - another nod to my improvising soul.
After another ten minutes or so of painting, I had about ten or so colors in
my working palette. I keep these colors separate from my main collection, and I
become increasingly reluctant to add more colors to this working palette. Only
if I absolutely cannot achieve the effect I want with the colors I am already
using do I turn to a new color. Because I am not interested in reproducing the
colors I see exactly, but instead finding colors that work in the context of the
painting, I find that more often than not, I can represent a shape with a
combination of colors from my working palette more effectively, if less
accurately, than if I used a new color.
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