color! seductive, distracting- and compelling

 here is a photo of one of the palettes i use painting nests, yes i really do use bright pure colors like that, i layer color over color in thin transparent layers and slowly build up colors.
i do the same when painting the birds for the out of the nest series
(the crows are a slightly different story, but we aren't talking about the crows now)
also in that photo is my garbage bag under my paint table and the folgers coffee "can" i use for rinse water.

 ( thaddeaus likes to drink the water, and i use colbalts and cadmiums)

i love the colors i use, each one made it onto the palette because first off they are light fast, second they are full rich lusty colors. if they didn't reach into my soul i wouldn't have them on my palette.
now normally i prefer black and white to color, because i know me....it's easy to get waylaid by the color and not pay attention to basics like form and modeling. so periodically throughout the painting i will run a photo of my progress through imaging software and turn it into grayscale to check if i still have things working. if they are fine, i continue painting.....if they don't work......well then decisions need to be made. some are simple......MORE DARKS in certain areas.... some aren't as simple....and may lead to a painting being recycled.
(yes i know... a lot of people start screaming at me when i say a painting is getting recycled.....but really if i say it's not good enough, it is NOT good enough- i can and will do better)

so it's not unheard of for me to do 4 or more paintings of the SAME thing...almost exactly, trying to 'get it right'.  it's not often thank goodness but if i have to i will

now the next picture is my palette as well, however this one is my palette chart. and yes i do this will ALL color (and sometimes even blk/wht in pencil) i draw it all down to tint....... i find it helpful on a few levels.
i get to work with the colors without having to have pressure to 'paint' something and i keep it on my drafting table if i need to remember the basics of a color....... it helps me make mixing decisions as well.
'mmmm that red is more orange.... so i'll pair it with that yellow which is also has orange in it....makes things brighter'
i label the colors with the pure pigment, MY numbering system (for color tests) and the color name.
actually i have four more colors on that chart now.. but that is the palette i used for the nest/bird paintings. and the new colors that were added recently were used in the holiday collection

for anyone involved with color, i would suggest a color palette chart.... i also do wash charts (especially of greens and purples, they seem to give me the most trouble)

so here is another behind the scenes of painting this series.....
meanwhile the quest for the voice over has been set down for the moment... i am painting crows and hoping that the muse comes back soon. i figure it's ok cause it's back to school time anyway..... but this all needs to be finished at least by the next two weeks and launched

til next time