Today I felt like experimenting a little - I needed to loosen up and try some new things. I think painting from photos and trying to be "representational" often makes me tighter and too real with my color choices. Today I had fun and loosened up. And I can't tell you how much fun I had! I should paint this way all the time! Instead of copying a scene, I created different moods and interpreted.
I chose a photo of two cowboys from a rodeo we stopped at in Bertram. It has a nice contrast of shadow and light with lots of fun highlights. I massed everything together basically and then just added a midtone here and there.
I tried different color schemes and its interesting to see how the mood changes with each.
The first one I wanted to do in '
hot' colors. All warm reds and yellows. A wonderful reference for work that looks like you're in the blazing sun is John Asaro's book "A New Romanticism" (btw - I have his book and didn't realize it was so valuable$ now!)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_v_IYrzetH4PStzxYZxD4GSQIgOYVqEsqx-7M5hNY8hXTtYMZ4VfRLZlDhFhZRTz3-Wvoz-aOXojvLMLJUbOLi_folmxT4cK-z9KKZlqdCq3-zgBPG3JFg_5HDug37R2-ctypQ/s320/cowboys1.jpg)
Next, I approached it with a
cool palette and it almost has a feeling of a night scene under moonlight. One regret.... I put his hands in with a red. I got too literal. Painted what was there rather than what
should have been there.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZ8-ljycDVSo7D5EOgr4_pivDHTeeMnKHVPJTJxcYtgtoFobMM_VAFxLNzcBtLYwMPBruXaBX-Z0PXLWcmmIWZOfmK9QkQmc4ervtf-7xfxT7QgfhT5-MJK7CTY0uAVAM2QhJNw/s320/cowboys2.jpg)
Next, I chose to paint the scene with
complements. First,
purple and yellow. Obviously not direct complements. The yellow turned out more towards the green side.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yXHTVCYCwCAhgEhI2gAzpXurFg7Ufu1VnJuIO26g-vH0cjLO6bAqJlves0XXz_EPiNl80lqxGIHIAma6gHd_ODxr35aqRr-f98TAPqjgmjQG1RWIQaceVOzSqX-lhiU0GCC3Sg/s320/cowboys3.jpg)
And
red and green. I like this combination a lot for this scene/subject.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V0BokFgYlbjXS1x2x19sY8_eWNG_KkpFiTOY8Cep0pqUQwstGjAJdHx1RNrpqfKjrBJ1zyXfWg2mCd1nmAdm1Qq2_K5w7mR6SXi2udtrU4WEnSSm0cIYux3AOgEmlQB0fDHWZA/s320/cowboys4.jpg)
Finally - I wanted to try to paint in a
higher "key". Everything I do generally has the full value range from 10 (black) to 1 (white). This time I wanted to try something very light. And this is my favorite.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6SBPypqK-yQ_tMPFn0ONH16wTu5HmOh2MeeIufFOkxkZyfHhtfbAfqY7PSufYFwaKPE7LqDpxD3ih0q_S7867CakWhliFjg48wjnZoBfB_hJTg6A6Jaq-lkSnTDeP3DC9XtYT7g/s320/cowboys5.jpg)
All of these took a short time. They are on linen scraps and I painted them with washes and really massed everything together first, then went back in to model the forms. I can see doing this with cafe scenes very successfully.
What a great exercise. I feel renewed!