Summer Days: See What a Difference a Color Makes

Summer Days/ oil on board / 5" x 7"/ sold

I was asked about the colors I use in my paintings. As I work on a post of how I might be able to describe "how" to see more colors, I decided to post two versions of this painting that continue to illustrate mass or shape pattern.

Squint at them. The earlier version (lower) has a large dark mass (the tree) isolated from the smaller dark masses (the shorts and shoe) and a bright mid valued mass (the shirt). Then there is the isolated light of the water and the small whites of the shoe.

Now, squint at the improved top version. Here, the darks connect: tree, shoe, shadow, shorts, rod. The lights connect: top water, down the side of the trunk, shoe, highlight, shirt, face top of hair, water. The "before" version (lower) is too "jumpy" and there is no color harmony: just bright, shouting colors.