This is a painting of a white pine on the river road in Milanville, PA. I have focused on this tree for several years for its unique little setting. It has enough space around it to allow light to get into it. That space has allowed it to spread out and not have to loose it's lower branches. On this cloudless day I notice how beautiful and neutral the scene was. I had to paint it. Had to. It gave me a chance to make a neutral palette from a spectrum palette and paint only with the neutral color.
For several years now Ive been looking for a structured approach to neutral color. Not mixing bubble gum and jellybean colors until I achieve an acceptable 'gray'. But a quick and economical method. The answer was right in from of my face. My life painting friend Judith Reeve had the answer. https://attentiveequations.com
Using H. Denham Ross, Robert Henri and John Sloan as her spirit guides she focuses on the depth and power of the spectrum palette. Sloan created a triangular color grid that, with some pain in understanding, offered me what I was looking for.
Using Sloan's 'color grid' I've begun to build a web based interactive.
The goal. To help artist understand structured spectrum color mixing. By using a visual tool an artist can internalize the process.
Speed and economy.
sample proposed layout for The Power of Sloan's color grid