I think I heard this piece of advice some time ago and was reminded of it recently in a weekly art bulletin that I receive…thanks Colin!
You can’t say any fairer than that. Painting is all about getting paint onto something and unless expressing, responding…. perhaps being surprised…. I can’t make real progress. I’ve always found it important to create forms, values and contexts, rather than overly worrying about the exactness of colour. Although I’m a bit of a colourist, don’t concern myself about the precise paint I’m using…. balance arrives toward the end of the journey. Colour is, after all, only relative!
Perhaps there’s something unconscious going on as well …. you have to respect it, give it a bit of free rein! I’m not suggesting that you go hog wild, but a certain arbitrariness can be a good thing – the disparate ideas, forms and colours melding together into something greater.
Once there’s paint on the brush ….PAINT!
Such great advice, but SO hard to let go and just do it.
Hi David. When I first started painting, I bought a variety of colours. Any, really, that struck my fancy. There are some I have rarely used. But now I am appreciating the greens, oranges and purples I can create myself with the primary colours. My “go-to” palette will probably vary a bit, but I don’t think one can go wrong with red, yellow and blue. And I most certainly agree that you have to get your paint on canvas.