Color, color, color

"In spite of its complexity, color can be understood rationally and used effectively.  Three things are necessary to do this.  First, identify the color you are seeing; second, mix it correctly (so it matches what you have seen); and third, put it in the right place on your painting."  Richard Schmid

It all sounds so easy, right?!

Happy New Year!! Starting off the year with a revisit to Richard Schmid....

well, actually his writing at least.  I read "Alla Prima" years ago when I began oil painting.  Now I've discovered "Alla Prima II."  It's a completely different experience for me.  It's quite wonderful and offers insight in technique as well as in bits of art history, topped with humor and wit.

It's been great to read as I work on this:

These are progress shots of my latest painting in my "Non-human animals and the people residing with them."  These particular individuals are quite dear to me: my best canine companion Archie and my son Karlo.  I began with my focal point which is Archie's gaze.  I sketched out the drawing in paint some months ago and now I'm getting back to it.  As per Richard Schmid's advice, I eliminated drawing mistakes immediately instead of pondering how I can get them to work.  Thank you Richard.  

When I started Karlo's face, I tried to keep the values in shadow but since there's a lot of reflected light, make them nice and rich in color.