24" x 30" oil on canvas.The colors in this painting were influenced by something I saw several years ago. When we were working on "Pocahontas" in Glendale, there was a fire across the freeway in Griffith Park. At that time several of us were in a temporary building right next to the directors.
As I was walking to see the directors, I noticed that because of the smoke in the air the sidewalk was pink and the shadows were a very intense blue.
It's probably completely obvious to someone else but at that point I began to realize that sunlight actually had a COLOR and that shadows had a COLOR too. A lot of painters add just WHITE to lighten something, and they mix BLACK to make shadows. I don't even own a tube of black paint because ever since the fire it drives me crazy how it's often used. It's great to use black as a COLOR, like if someone is wearing a black t-shirt or is driving a black car. But to use it as the color for a shadow kills me.
2. I often like to paint fairly loosely but make things look completely recognizable.
3. Also as you can tell I don't like rendering.
4. The shadows in this photo might look like I used black but I guarantee you I didn't.
5. Depending on what I'm painting I might use Pthalo Blue or Alizerine Crimson or something like that for a shadow color.
Dan, the paintings in this blog are so great! It's a discovery for me, thank you for posting! So true about the colors and no need for a tube of black. The darkest I am using is a raw amber. I very much enjoy your style - colors. composition, looseness, and light in it!
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