Monday, May 02, 2011

What is Your Most Used Color?

Katherine Kean, Marsh Labyrinth, original oil painting, Cape Cod, The Great Marsh, cloudy, brooding, turbulent, atmospheric sky, amber, brown, copper, sedge, low tide, moody, reflective, contemporary
Marsh Labyrinth work in progress ©2011 Katherine Kean
30 x 24" oil on linen

Other than white, which may be the most used color for many painters, what is the the most often used color on your palette? For me it's a toss up between Ultramarine Blue and Cadmium Orange. I use both of them a lot in mixing. The blue is obvious in the end results, but the Cadmium Orange might be a surprise. Not only do I use it a lot in under painting, but I just get something out of looking at it. Is there such a thing as a "color high"?

10 comments:

Dianne Poinski said...

Loving "Marsh Labyrinth"!

This is an easy question to answer. I use a lot of green, with my favorite one being the PanPastel color "Yellow Green Shade"

Kathryn Hansen said...

if you study chakras,our energy centers, the second chakra is orange and is the color of creativity!

Katherine Kean said...

Hi Dianne,
I bet you do use a lot of green! I like that here in California there are so many shades of it - yellow green, sage green, turqoise green, and so on.

Katherine Kean said...

Hi Kathryn,
I like that!

oil painting classes said...

I like how you did the sky! Thanks for sharing this! Great painting!...Daniel

Katherine Kean said...

Hi Daniel, thanks!

Scott said...

I like Quinacridone deep gold, containing PO49, a rarer pigment soon to be extinct. It has a fantastic chromatic shift, starting from deep iodine to a subtle naples yellow. My experience the top two manufactures where you can still buy it, Windsor & newton seems to mix cool , while Golden mixes warm.
of course, my colors are violet mixed with orange and seeking the right ones that will blend, But I love your use of blue/orange. Which Ultramarine do you use?
Just like to take the opportunity to comment how nice your blog is, and I cant wait to learn how to make it look so good. Thanks- with respect-

Katherine Kean said...

Hi Scott, thanks for your informative comment. I didn't realize that about Quinacridone Gold. Now I see a notice on the Golden site about the discontinuation.

I use Gamblin Ultramarine most of the time. I seem to go through tubes and tubes of it.

I'm glad you like my blog. Thanks for coming by!

Anonymous said...

For some reason I can't get away from Pthalo blue (Green shade). Mixed with varying degrees of white, to me it seems the colour that best conveys the skies of Quebec. And there's something about it that I find so attractive, I can't help but put it in every painting, sky or no!

Stumbled on your blog while looking at Google search results for "Vegan art supplies," and I'm really enjoying seeing your underpainting work and your soaring clouds!

Katherine Kean said...

Hello veganactivist - sounds like you found a beautiful useful color. I love the ones that can go in every painting.

I'm glad you found my blog. I hope you're able to find the vegan art supplies you need.

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