Calibrating....

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Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on January 21, 2013 at 7:41

Jon, I found this hard to swallow when Tim told me that about 3 years ago, but there are cool yellows (cad yellow light, cad yellow lemon, and hansa yellow light) and there are warm yellows (cad yellow med, cad yellow warm, hansa yellow medium, hansa yellow dark and cad yellow dark) and really intensely warm yellows (Indian yellow).  Although it seems strange, it is all relative to the other colors that you are putting on your painting.  I actually do use yellow ochre pale from WN instead because it is grayed down enough to work better in nature.  If I want to pump up the warm light, I add one of the others to my titanium white.  Your trees with the reflected light are great and need no more detail at all; you just want to suggest some textures in the bark and splash some reflected light off the ground up into them; leave it mysterious to interest the viewer.  I think you did a terrific job on the fixes.   Stu

Comment by Jon Main on January 21, 2013 at 7:25

Stu - thanks for the lengthy write up! That's kind of ya.Yeah, right ones are the "fixes"

Tim Horn's stuff looks very nice - I'll check it out further.

The idea of my sunlit areas being too cool is pushing my limit - I'd need to see it demonstrated or something - but it's true that cad yellow light seems cool and I do want to get rid of it (use yellow ochre light?). Actually, I hate detail and the finishing stage!!!!! It's all pretty rough/suggested - that's good new if it works!! I've done another version - I'll put it up now (and try and resist the temptation to do yet another - maybe I should put up the photo in case anyone else wants to try - those backlit tree trunks seem rich in possibilities (which is annoying me that I'm not sure of the best way to handle 'em). Thanks again for the dialog!

Comment by Jon Main on January 21, 2013 at 7:20

Hi, Aurelia - thanks for the comment. No, I'm aware of color harmony but I handle it more intuitively - I just base it on what I see - (mainly using complements) - so it's not planned beyond from a scheme - just by  "tweaking" reality. But I hope to get round to studying it more!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on January 21, 2013 at 5:12

Jon, you didn't say so, but it looks like the paintings on the right are your fixes to the prior paintings.  If this is the case, congratulations because you have hit the jackpot!  On the top right besides taking out the fence, your warmer yellows, lighter sky and reflected light on the trees has made an incredible difference.  The bottom right painting has also been really improved by adding more contrast and warming up the yellows.  You were right about overdoing it on taking out some color.  Also of great interest to me is that you seem to have the same bias that I have toward making your sunlit areas too cool.  The artist who told me to take the cool yellow off my palette and only use a warm yellow (this is some of the best advice I have ever had) is Tim Horn.  Tim says that his paintings are all about the warm sunny day with interesting shadows and shapes and clean color.  Check him out at www.horndesign.com.  I would also add, since you are somewhat of a detail addict (I am one as well), that he is a master of simplification.  Thanks for posting these paintings side by side; that is incredibly helpful for all the rest of us who struggle with the same problems as you.  Stu

Comment by Aurelia Sieberhagen on January 20, 2013 at 23:04

Lovely paintings, Jon.  I really like the top one.  I notice you used the double split complementary harmony at the top one (GY - P, YR - B) and analogous GY, Y, YR, R, RP with complementary B at the bottom one.  Well done!  Did you plan it like this?

Comment by Jon Main on January 20, 2013 at 21:12

Hey, Jessica - thanks for the encouragement! - kind of you!

Comment by Jessica Futerman on January 20, 2013 at 19:01

Wonderful paintings! Taking the fence out has made your grass come to life in the first one. And the sun falling on the buildings is lovely.  Those beautiful warm colours of France!