These were done for Nathan Fowkes color workshop.
This is what I learned:
Warm temperatures vs. cool
Saturated color vs. Nuetrals

These are posted in the order I painted them; the top one being the first, ending with the two Boleyn sisters at the bottom. They are roughly 4"x 3", small, acrylic, scans not capturing the power of the originals of course. (Could you tell that husband and child were out of town when I did these?) I also bought better brushes and are getting to know them intimately~what I like and what lends itself to my personal taste and style.

Nathan says that "Great colorists are not born; you develop great color by practice and more practice." He has done a small painting a day for several years, starting with copying every single painting from a western book of paintings and he is simply one of the best colorists I know. (I prefer taking screenshots of movies particularly period films in which there are great examples of natural light and costume. By doing this, I can also get an understanding of how the story is staged, lit, how the director thinks). I also took note that he has two sets of some of the same colors~so that one set gets mixed and muddied and he still has a reservoir of clean saturated color to grab from and he has two containers to rinse his brushes, so he can get a cleaner rinse the second time. (He used gouache in class) He is also very picky about how saturated with water his brushes are. I have never seen anyone who does any of these things. Along with a masterful understanding of color, he has a great feel for brush stroke, two powerful advantages. (See his blog: http://nathanfowkes-sketch.blogspot.com) He told me, Kim, if you do a small painting a day, you will be a great colorist too. Nathan, you just handed me the Keys to the Kingdom. I highly recommend for any artist to take his color workshop. Thank you, Nathan, for sharing your knowledge!

Last night at the Canyon Country Guild Theatre, 3 25 min sessions, 8 1/2 x 11 acrylic on canvas paper. Nailed the composition and values the first 7 minutes. I knew I did it right, because everything that followed was cake. We artists dream of nights like these before real models. I flew this night. Also really understanding how to command a story-another big, big lightbulb moment.

To take charge of this "story", I lit the figure on the right so that that is the part of the painting you should look at first, then her eyes direct you to the figure on the left. I wanted the blue tone of the canvas to peep out of the flesh tones on the right figure, some organized brushstrokes over the flesh tones to keep it fresh and seemingly haphazard but planned. I gave the figure on the right a questioning look, waiting for a response from her friend. All this was decided before painting a stroke.

WORKING ON this angel during my lunchbreaks.

WORKING ON

Roughly 5 inch by 5 inch, Acrylic on canvas paper at home during the rain storm.

I used to have many warm colors on my palette. Of late, I've been really having fun with the cool colors. Now as I look at the colors I've laid out, I have many more cool colors than the warm earth colors.

The indian with torso came out just okay. I love the colors I used but the face looks retarded. So I did a quick color sketch (small portrait) and wouldn't you know, that one looks better. I overworked the face on the first one and probably ruined the surface so it was harder; it was just too small; or I just need more practice. These are small; the Indian face maybe 2 x 3in; the other a little bigger than photo size.

These were done during my lunch break.