from Skip Whitcomb

What does it take to create an expressive painting? Well, what we usually do and fall back on is throwing everything at the painting. We stubbornly adhere to our photo references or what we are seeing in the field. It’s so easy to become a slave to the subject. Skip wants to ask you to think about lifting your thinking above the subjective. This means you are not a slave to that image or landscape, still life, etc. We need to think at a higher level than this. To do that, it’s not all that difficult physically or procedurally to do it. It is difficult mentally. We must take that next step beyond where we often find ourselves copying what is there, or closely copying. Skip likes to think there is a formula for it. This is simply the BV (big value) + MC (mother color) = E (an Expressive Painting).

Decide if your values will be mostly light with a few darks, or mostly dark with a few lights. The Mother color means making that big color decision. From this point forward, think about how you can make your painting even MORE expressive than a fairly accurate something that’s already out there.

BV (big value) + MC (mother color) = E (Expressive Painting)

As you can see below from this painting by Birge Harrison, you can see the big value statement is mostly dark with a few lights, and the Mother color is blue. Everything in this painting has a blue property to it, except with its complement of orange. The orange makes the blues appear even bluer. This is what Skip means by determining what your Mother color is going to be.

But remember, without values supporting this, your color is worthless. The values must carry your message. Harrison was a master colorist, and by the same token, he was a master at using his values in light and dark ranges. He leaves no doubt in the viewer’s mind of what he wants them to see. He wanted to make this an evening, twilight piece. These are his tools to carry his concept and are how you should be thinking about your work too.

Learn from Skip Whitcomb through his exclusive mentoring course, “The Power of Orchestrated Color.” Give yourself a reliable foundation to make thoughtful color decisions with Skip as your mentor: