“Intermission” Oil on Canvas. I originally painted this solely as a background, but as I sat in front of it, about to paint some detail on top, I just felt soothed by the colors and the motion of the brush strokes. The painting said “I am, as I am, enough.” So after the Covid panic and the wild election season of 2020, a calm intermission. Let’s hope the play has a ending that pleases all.
This is my new favorite painting. I combined some abstract elements with lavender fields in Provence. I also used elements of color theory that I used from Stephen Quiller and his book Color Choices: Making sense out of color theory.
The Quiller Wheel works by using semi-neutrals that harmonize a painting. For instance if you need a dark for a shadow you could try blending a purple with the opposite on the color wheel a yellow, for a cool toned semi-neutral.
You can see how this works on his website, where I love some of the muted tones in his paintings.
So without further ado, Lavender in Provence.
Over the years this has turned out to be one of my most popular paintings and I won’t give up the original. But for a friend I did Lavender in SC
And in 2016 a gallery wanted the original (which I still won’t give up) so I did Provence 2016 for them.
So if you in the mood to try reading the book I used Making Sense Out of Color Theory know that although he works in watercolors, he has charts in the book that cover acrylics and oils, as the exact name of a purple hue may be different for different media. It also comes with a pull out color wheel that I have on my studio wall. One of my favorite things about the book is that he will do the same scene using different color combinations and intensities, that in itself is very educational.
Happy painting!
If you like his work and you are a watercolorist you may like this book: