Forty shades of Green

Following on from my last blog “Light & Shadow, a love affair” I thought I would touch on the colour GREEN, not everyone is comfortable painting with this colour, but for me it always turns up in some form or other.

Green symbolises nature, it is easy on the eye, a relaxing colour that revitalises our body and soul, it makes you feel safe and secure and gives us hope.

It ranges from the bright yellow-greens all the way through the spectrum to cool blue-greens.

Some of my favourite artists were champions when it came to green. These are some of the works that have inspired and influenced me:

• Georges Seurat “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
• Paul Cezanne “The Brook”
• Claude Monet “Spring in Giverny”
• Vincent Van Gogh “Landscape at twilight”
• David Hockney “Woldgate Woods” and “A Yorkshire sketchbook”
• Brian Rutenberg “Camellia”

There are so many more artists and artworks I could list, but this is a small insight into those that popped into me head without even thinking.

If you paint, why not go and grab a cool yellow (eg. Lemon yellow/Hansa yellow light) and mix with a cool blue (eg. Pthalo blue-green shade) and some white and see how many greens you can make. Also try a warm yellow (eg. Cadmium yellow dark) mixed with a warm blue (eg. Ultramarine blue) and some white, you will be amazed at how many greens you can get.  I’d love to hear how you get on.