Ok, hear me out.
In my last blog post, I said…very confidently, that I was going to complete the exercise from the color theory course. And… for a couple of reasons, I absolutely did not.
Reason one: I wanted another round with the limes before they completely dried up. I felt like there were greens/yellows I hadn’t quite figured out, and before moving forward, I wanted to see if I could mix them more accurately.
Reason two: I didn’t want to.
After work, I stopped at the grocery store and collected a few new still life objects for whatever painting adventure comes next. But I told myself the limes get one more shot before I graduate to the next fruit.
Seeing Value in a Whole New Way
The real game-changer?
I ordered a pair of red-tinted glasses to help isolate value. When I set up my still life, I slipped them on and painted the first layer using raw sienna and then burnt umber for the darkest darks. Once I was satisfied with the composition and value map, I mixed up my colors.
I don’t know if it was the glasses or the fact that I wore them for a solid twenty minutes, but once I took them off, I swear I could see the colors more clearly than before. Everything felt just a touch more intuitive. Maybe it was placebo, maybe magic…either way, I’ll take the win.
The Three Big Questions
I’m trying to be better about asking myself the core questions before diving in:
1. Is the still life light or dark?
Light.
2. Is it warm or cool?
Still tricky for me. I saw green-blues leaning cool, but then those warmer yellow-greens popped in too… so the answer is somewhere between “yes” and “haha I don’t know.”
3. What is my color scheme?
A triadic palette: green as the dominant color, with violets in the shadows and some playful yellow-greens throughout.
I used cadmium red to knock back the saturation so the greens wouldn’t look too cartoony. I could have used blue in the shadows, but honestly? I really enjoy the moodiness of a green-and-violet palette.
A Small Win That Felt Big
This time, I made a conscious effort to clean my brush after every single stroke (…ok, mostly every stroke). And I think it paid off. The painting feels more deliberate, more controlled, and definitely more successful than yesterday’s attempt.
Sometimes progress isn’t loud, it’s hidden in tiny adjustments, small decisions, and the courage to paint the same subject all over again just because you want to figure it out.
And today? I think I did pretty good. I’m really pleased with how the bottom lime turned out. I was intentional about mixing my yellow-green with a touch of cadmium red to desaturate it and make the shadow feel more convincing. The rind of the lime had these subtle red notes in it, and seeing that come through in the painting felt so satisfying — like I finally understood the color assignment.
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