The Power of Warm Hues

My choice of blues has altered slightly this summer.  I'm leaning towards the cooler blues: thalo, manganese, blue turquoise.  But what has also become clearer to me is that blue's complement, orange, can also intensify the blues, and vice versa.

In this painting of one of my favorite lobster boats in the Harbor, I looked a long time at the traps at the stern of the boat.  The longer I looked, the more I noticed how the brown traps had a bit of orange light shining through.  After putting down the sky,  the warmer clouds and the underpainting for the water, I immediately went to that area of orange.  I charged in a bit of greenish hue to break up the orange square and the result seemed to glow.  Inside the cabin there were also undertones of a duller orange.  Surrounded by blues, the orange areas took on an added aura of importance.

The other reason I painted the boat was because of all the textures protruding against the sky.  Lines and little shapes help describe the equipment on board a working lobster boat.

Finally, there was the decision, as always, to eliminate unnecessary elements in the background.  There were approximately 50 boats out in the harbor plus the shoreline and all the flotsam and jetsam on the dock.  I added one boat in the background for balance, and then the barrel on the dock for the same reason.  

Still, I'll bet your eye goes right to the rear of the boat and that glowing orange.  Grouping your warmer colors and surrounding them with cooler colors will surely help guide your viewer's eye where you want it to go.

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