Color Bandit

Color Bandit/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ $125

Today is Day 20 of Leslie Saeta's Thirty Paintings in Thirty Day Challenge (link). My theme has been color.
I chose this wonderful dog today to paint "white".

Artist Note: My sister-in-law, who paints with me, remarked that she was having trouble understanding the difference between "dark" and "warm" colors. I have promised to write a post about "how to see color" but perhaps this little dog will help answer the first question about "warm"and "dark".
When asked about the color of the dog's fur, the immediate answer is "black and white" . The dark is black.  However, if this painting were painted in black and white, the dog would be without dimension: even with some shading of the greys, it would mostly appear "flat" on the board.
Easily in this painting, you can see that the black contains warm (browns, warm greens) and cool (blues). It is still dark. The white is made of warm (yellows) and cool (blues/purples) and a few areas of highlighted white. Go find a photograph of something with black or white fur and look at it carefully. Can you see the other colors in the white? In the black, usually a cool blue makes the shine.
Let me know, if this helps.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/color-bandit/116354