It's Apple Painting Season

An apple painted for the sixes fundraiser show at the ;cal arts association.

No title - Oil on panel 6 x 6 2023

Color by chatgbt

I started an account on chatgpt recently. I ask for a basic forula to mix a 12 color spectrum pallete from the primaries. I was fully expencting some nonsense. Here's what I got from the first pass in 10 seconds.

Creating a 12-color artist palette using only red, yellow, and blue oil paints allows you to explore the fundamentals of color mixing. These primary colors, when combined in various ways, can produce a wide range of hues. Here's an outline for a script that will guide you in doing so:

Mixing a 12-Color Artist Palette from Primary Oil Paints

Introduction:

  1. Brief about the significance of the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

  2. The idea behind creating a diverse palette using only these colors.

  3. Materials needed: Red, yellow, and blue oil paints, palette knife, mixing surface (glass or wooden palette), and paper towels or rags.

Steps to Mix the Palette:

  1. Setting Up the Primary Colors:

    • Place a dab of each primary color - red, yellow, and blue - on the palette, spaced out.

  2. Creating Secondary Colors:

    • Orange:

      • Mix equal parts of red and yellow.

    • Green:

      • Mix equal parts of yellow and blue.

    • Purple:

      • Mix equal parts of red and blue.

  3. Creating Tertiary Colors:

    • Red-Orange:

      • Mix 2 parts red with 1 part yellow.

    • Yellow-Orange:

      • Mix 2 parts yellow with 1 part red.

    • Yellow-Green:

      • Mix 2 parts yellow with 1 part blue.

    • Blue-Green:

      • Mix 2 parts blue with 1 part yellow.

    • Blue-Purple:

      • Mix 2 parts blue with 1 part red.

    • Red-Purple:

      • Mix 2 parts red with 1 part blue.

  4. Enhancing Palette Diversity:

    • Darkening Colors: Mix a bit of blue into a color to create a shadow shade.

    • Lightening Colors: If you have white paint, you can mix it with any color to create a tint.

  5. Important Tips:

    • Always clean the palette knife thoroughly before dipping into a new color to avoid unintentional mixing.

    • Start with smaller amounts of paint and add more as needed to get the desired shade.

    • The ratios mentioned can be adjusted based on the specific shades of primary colors you have. Experiment to find the perfect mix.

    • Oil paints can take a long time to dry, so ensure your mixed colors are kept in airtight containers if you wish to use them later.

Conclusion:

  1. The versatility of primary colors in creating a wide palette.

  2. The benefits of understanding color mixing for an artist.

  3. Encouragement to experiment and explore beyond the 12-color palette for even more hues.

This script is a basic guide, and individual results may vary depending on the specific brand and hue of your primary colors. Remember, mixing colors is as much an art as it is a science, so trust your instincts and enjoy the process!


Next morning—

I'm looking for a neutralized 12 color palette based on the 12 color spectrum palette. As described by John Sloan's "on Drawing and Painting"ChatGPT



John Sloan, a prominent American artist and a member of the Ashcan School, was known for his insights into color theory. In "John Sloan on Drawing and Painting," he describes a spectrum palette. A neutralized version of this palette would mean taking each of these vibrant colors and toning them down, making them less chromatic and more muted.



To create a neutralized version of the 12-color spectrum palette, you'd typically add a color's complement (its opposite on the color wheel) or a grey to subdue its intensity. Here's how you can approach a neutralized 12-color spectrum palette based on Sloan's descriptions:



  1. Neutralized Red:



  • Add a touch of green to subdue the vibrancy of the red.



  1. Neutralized Red-Orange:



  • Tone down with a hint of blue-green.



  1. Neutralized Orange:



  • A touch of blue will neutralize the brightness of orange.



  1. Neutralized Yellow-Orange:



  • Add a hint of blue-purple to subdue this color.



  1. Neutralized Yellow:



  • Neutralize with a touch of purple.



  1. Neutralized Yellow-Green:



  • A hint of red-purple will tone down the vibrancy.



  1. Neutralized Green:



  • Red will neutralize green.



  1. Neutralized Blue-Green:



  • Red-orange will neutralize blue-green.



  1. Neutralized Blue:



  • A touch of orange will neutralize blue.



  1. Neutralized Blue-Purple:



  • Yellow-orange will tone down the vibrancy of blue-purple.



  1. Neutralized Purple:



  • Neutralize with yellow.



  1. Neutralized Red-Purple:



  • Add a hint of yellow-green to tone down red-purple.



When neutralizing colors, the key is to add the complementary color slowly and sparingly. It's easy to add more if needed, but you can't take it away once it's mixed in. The goal is not to turn the colors into mud but to simply reduce their chromatic intensity, giving them a more subdued and harmonious appearance.



Using a neutralized palette can result in a more harmonious and cohesive piece of artwork, especially in scenes where bright, vibrant colors may not be appropriate or desired.



I'm really looking for the techniqueof starting by making a metaphor of the primaries. Mixing terries. For example Red orange mixed with red purple as a metaphor for red, Blue green mixed with blue purple as a metaphor for blue and yellow orange mixed with yellow green as a metaphor for Yellow. ChatGPT



Ah, I see! You're talking about a more complex and nuanced approach to the palette where the primary colors aren't the typical bold primaries (Red, Yellow, Blue) but rather a composite or "metaphor" of two adjacent tertiary colors. This technique can yield a very sophisticated, muted, and harmonious palette, as the colors you're starting with are already somewhat neutralized.



Let's build a palette based on this concept:



Metaphoric Primaries:



  1. Red (Metaphoric): Red-Orange + Red-Purple.



  1. Blue (Metaphoric): Blue-Green + Blue-Purple.



  1. Yellow (Metaphoric): Yellow-Orange + Yellow-Green.



From these metaphoric primaries, we can derive the secondaries and tertiaries:



Secondary Colors:



  1. Orange (Metaphoric): Mix metaphoric Red and metaphoric Yellow.



  1. Green (Metaphoric): Mix metaphoric Yellow and metaphoric Blue.



  1. Purple (Metaphoric): Mix metaphoric Blue and metaphoric Red.



Tertiary Colors:



  1. Red-Orange (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Orange mix closer to the metaphoric Red.



  1. Yellow-Orange (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Orange mix closer to the metaphoric Yellow.



  1. Yellow-Green (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Green mix closer to the metaphoric Yellow.



  1. Blue-Green (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Green mix closer to the metaphoric Blue.



  1. Blue-Purple (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Purple mix closer to the metaphoric Blue.



  1. Red-Purple (Metaphoric): Lean your metaphoric Purple mix closer to the metaphoric Red.



In essence, these colors are twice removed from the original, clear primaries. Because of the intricate mixing, the resulting colors are muted and complex, giving depth and sophistication to your palette.



The benefit of this approach is the inherent harmony within the palette. Since all the colors share components with their neighboring hues, it's challenging to create discordant color combinations, making it an excellent palette for unified, cohesive compositions.



Remember, the ratios in which you mix will determine the exact hue of each color, so you might need to experiment a bit to get the desired shade.

And the next evening


Can we expand the metaphor further?

ChatGPT

Certainly! The concept of using metaphoric colors can be expanded to delve even deeper into the intricacies of color mixing. Let's break it down further using a "second-level" metaphor approach, going beyond the primary metaphors.

Second-Level Metaphoric Primaries:

  1. Red (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Combine a tertiary mix from the first metaphor (e.g., a mixture leaning towards Red-Orange) with a tertiary mix leaning towards Red-Purple.

  2. Blue (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Combine a tertiary mix leaning towards Blue-Green with one leaning towards Blue-Purple.

  3. Yellow (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Combine a tertiary mix leaning towards Yellow-Orange with one leaning towards Yellow-Green.

From these second-level metaphoric primaries, you can derive another set of secondary and tertiary colors:

Second-Level Metaphoric Secondary Colors:

  1. Orange (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Mix 2nd level metaphoric Red with 2nd level metaphoric Yellow.

  2. Green (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Mix 2nd level metaphoric Yellow with 2nd level metaphoric Blue.

  3. Purple (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Mix 2nd level metaphoric Blue with 2nd level metaphoric Red.

Second-Level Metaphoric Tertiary Colors:

  1. Red-Orange (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Orange mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Red.

  2. Yellow-Orange (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Orange mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Yellow.

  3. Yellow-Green (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Green mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Yellow.

  4. Blue-Green (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Green mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Blue.

  5. Blue-Purple (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Purple mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Blue.

  6. Red-Purple (2nd Level Metaphoric):

    • Lean your 2nd level metaphoric Purple mix closer to the 2nd level metaphoric Red.

At this stage, the palette has been expanded into even more subtle and nuanced shades, each one being a complex mixture derived from multiple stages of color mixing. These colors will be inherently harmonious due to the shared elements in their mixtures.

However, as with any approach to color mixing, the key will be experimentation. Exact hues will depend on the specific pigments and ratios used, so it's always a good idea to test and adjust the mixtures as needed to achieve the desired outcome.



Cuke 'O Rama

It’s that time of year again. The DVAA Sixes show looms.

Opposing cucumbers on an old Pepsi case. Pretty simple but needed some little brushes to make it work. Now for some nice tomato slices and Balsamic Vinegar.

Cuke ‘O Rama 6 x 6 Oil on panel ‘22

Skinners in the Fall

This is a painting I started in March. This was done over the past 2 months a little bit at time after dropping two earlier attempts. This is the eddy pool above Skinner’s Falls on the Upper Delaware River painted in a relatively limited palette. Late in the day the sun reflects off the trees on the New York side of the river. A phenomenon that happens all year ‘round.

This is nearly finished. I have to wait a while for the colors to sink. Then I’ll ‘oil the painting out’ to see if anything needs adjusting.

Eddy in Fall 16 x 24 0il on linen panel ‘22

For the Birds

This ceramic bird is from my grandmother’s kitchen. It used to sit on the kerosene stove holding wooden wooden matches in it’s mouth hoping for a treat. I was always drawn to it as a kid. My Great grandmother and Grandmother lived in a little house by the railroad tracks. No hot water. No heated basement. When they washed the dishes they had to heat water in a kettle.


I placed it in this Robin’s nest amount some dried reeds. Sort of an exercise in focus. Mostly neutral color as I like it. Watercolor and gouache with some airbrush pushing the background back. I have a collection of bird nests for just an occasion like this.

Untitled ‘22

Watercolor and gouache on illustration board 10.5 x 12