Trio Carmel Day 2

An Exercise in Color

Today we worked under the old adage, "start in the middle and work your way out.".. Is that an old adage or do I just make up sayings that match what I do? Don't strain your mind over it! But we certainly did start in the middle ground. I wanted to get some rolling hills and perspective started when we had a few hours to work before the store opened so our weekend visitors could see a little bit of imagery instead of just 3 stripes of color. 

Joseph is a designer, a sketch artist, and a computer graphics wizard... None of these things add up to a lot of color! We had a great time throwing back to the days of coloring books and positive space. His muscle memory and habits have all been built up to make lines that let us see the negative space, the blank areas make the picture, like comics. When painting a colorful mural we use colored in areas to make positive space so there are no outlines. I remember the times when color was harder because I worked in monochromatic colors. Even now I don't see or use totally natural looking colors, but I'm used to going right in with the color. There was a lot of "don't forget to color it in," and "oh, how do you work so fast??" But we were both laughing and having fun. It feels (to me at least) like a great exercise for the brain, and super satisfying to struggle, paint, and work. Joseph seemed pretty pleased, and is already learning tons. It always helps me to teach, and talk out loud about the decisions I make when I paint.

Day 2: Rolling hills and the Arroyo Seco
And that's me and my miata through the window