After seeing the Landscapes of the Impressionists exhibit at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha last weekend, I'm really inspired to look more deeply at those things I thought I knew.
Most noticeably, I'm seeing greens differently. Where before I would use my "recipe" to make my greens, (a little blue and yellow, more yellow, more blue, a touch of orange...) I'm considering more thoughtfully just what it is that's in front of me. An elm tree is an entirely different green than a cottonwood, which is altogether different than a maple. Each catches and reflects light differently. The challenge is to know which blue and which yellow and which orange to select for each green. For every type of plant life, and there are jillions, there is a sunlit side and a shadow side, a whole new combination of hues to evaluate. Unless it's cloudy, which is a whole 'nuther set of greens. Then there's distance to account for . . .
Whew, I think I made myself dizzy.
Whew, I think I made myself dizzy.
@2010 Sovereign Patricia Scarborough 9x12
Another observation: there seems to be an abundance of lavender in tree limbs. Honestly, check it out for yourself. And a grey green as well. The other day I drove myself crazy trying to follow a tree trunk that started out quite light near the ground, and ended up quite dark as it reached into the sky. Same trunk, different context - what color?
I'm overwhelmed. In a good way. I'm excited to tackle the question of how to express just what I see. It'll be a huge challenge to stow away those automatic, muscle memory paint mixing responses and pause to consider other ways of dealing with a lavender-ish green-y sunlit kind of hue that I used to read as 'green'.
What did you see today that surprised you?
