I started this piece by painting the entire canvas orange!

I had a picture of a small path next to my parents’ home in France, which can be described in one word: green. From the foliage of the trees to the water of the stream crossing the path, everything is some variation of it. The overall feeling of the photo was so peaceful, and it reminded me of how much I loved nature - and the color green! - since I grew up in the countryside.

In the color wheel, green is classified as a “cool” color, and so I decided to try out a technique that is supposed to bring warmth to the painting by making the entire canvas orange (or a “warm” color) first. The purpose is not to paint completely over it, but to play with the effects of transparency. In retrospect, I should probably have used red for the complimentary color effects!!

I really enjoyed painting this, because there was no composition work and no background collage to prepare - it was just me and my brushes.

By the way…. do you know what all the complimentary colors are?!?