A Split-Complementary Tetrad Palette...Camp 20 Creek oil..WIP

Working on putting together my second E-learning online session, on understand and putting to use various limited palette strategies as often taught by Edgar Payne, and Emile Gruppe...as well as "moi" yours truly...

Went out tonight...a bit late, and grabbed a large panel which is uncharacteristic of me as I settled into the understanding that this one will take two different evenings at least to finish.

Gruppe advised his students when painting toward the sun to paint a combination of yellow and white paint into the sky first, the painting the cooler blue into it.  Takes less cool color to get the warm color right, than warm color to get cool color to work.  I sensed a slight green in the sky...and thought a strategy that would make use of yellow green might be very nice.  Also sensing some blue-greens as well...and thus decided on the Split-complementary tetrad strategy.

Here's what it looks like on my palette...and color identified-

 

  

Use your regular pigments to create the mixes you need, ideally making enough to work the brunt of the painting.  What we have here...are the split-complementaries of green  (red-violet and red-orange), and the split-complementaries of red (blue-green and yellow-green)  In essence it gives me two reds to work with...the blue-green acts as my blue, and yellow-green becomes or substitutes for my yellow.  Each RYB colorwheel strategy uses each of the primaries.

In Gruppe's teaching...he says that each primary color exists in everything we see because we have three cones that detect the primary red, yellow and blue.  He set up typically a warm and cool of each primary as his palette...plus white.  When you select a strategy, it is something like a game however...but it forces or imbues a unique working color harmony that translates to a mood.

You can see from my shadows here...that the sun was low, I was racing against time...

 ...and to paint outdoors comfortably in the winter, I like to layer my clothing.  I am wearing wool fingerless gloves.  For my torso's warmth, I wear a thermal longsleeve shirt, a sweater over that...a quilted jacket seen here, and a vest.  Note also, I'm wearing rather larger glasses that I had specially made just for my painting.  They cover my eyes well...(its not a fashion statement), and protect from harmful UV...and those that know me, know my habit often to paint looking toward the sun-
 

Lastly, the sun gets to a point where it is pointless to continue.  You frankly just cannot see the subject any longer.  Time to pack up...come back hopefully tomorrow!