The possibilities are not endless...

Here is the color studies I completed for my most recent painting, 'The Devil is in the Details'. These color studies were completed digitally.  

While the possibilities are vast, they are not endless. If you're trying to say something specific, it's your job to remove everything that doesn't support your message and keep what does. You need to be a good editor. Every color has an emotional state that must match the emotion you want your audience to feel. (Disney movies have mastered this.)

In this case it was regarding color: I had to find the most suitable fit. Deciding what the colors should be is akin to deciding what the colors can not be (Re: top left corner - what was I thinking?). Nothing quite said heat like warm colors yellow and orange. This image was kind of tricky because the painting is split in two with separate color schemes that still had to work together without being too obvious (Re: top right corner: 'Ooooooh - blue and orange, how'd ya come up with that one?'). 

I looked at cosmic and nebula photos (wanting the bottom half of the image to have a very tranquil state to contrast the fire in the top half) and saw there was a lot of blue-green. I incorporated that so it wouldn't be so direct yet still work well with the top half. (Compare top right with bottom right, the study chosen to based the final painting off of, shown below.) 

The Devil is in the Details - color study

I've been working on a few things, but here is something new with 'The Devil is in the Details' painting still in progress: the final color study (digital).

Adobe Color Wheel

Discovered this really useful color scheme generating tool online from Adobe that I've been having fun with recently. Great way to understand the color wheel and discover combinations you may not have thought of. (I'm always trying to come up with more daring color combinations in my paintings.) You can even upload reference photos you find and it will show you the major keys at different values.

Art & Intuition

Late June, I had finished the drawing for the painting that would become 'Fleeting Focus' (above). Then, early July my computer was temporarily being fixed and so I wasn't able to look at additional reference photos online or do color studies in Photoshop. Knowing of the approaching deadline for Galerie Abyss' 12x12 group exhibition and not wanting to wait, I decided to do something a little uncustomary and start the painting anyway with the color scheme I had in my head. Anyone who is familiar with my THOUGHTS & PROGRESS booklets can tell you this is not how I normally operate. (See below)

This is what the painting originally started to look like. (Kind of boring.) I received my computer back but then left for a needed break away and spent some time with my family. When I returned, I looked at the painting with a fresh pair of eyes and HATED IT. I sought to improve it and did some color studies. (See the final one below)

 

Now, I was getting somewhere. I had thought about the color, lighting and reflections enough that I allowed myself to start painting. Color studies (for me at least) give me a starting point - somewhere to go from and improve upon. I then completed the final painting (see below). 

You will notice the final image has some changes from the drawing and color study above. Because I gave myself more time to think about the outcome, I came up with more ways to improve it:

The last '6' of the slot has not yet come to a stop. This gave the painting more interest and a greater sense of movement. 

Red (the character from Red Hot Riding Hood, the wolf character in the painting is based off animation genius Tex Avery's wolf character of the same cartoon) was originally going to be reflected in his nose. I really liked the lighting choices I made in the color study and couldn't figure out a way to make it work because it would have meant adding another light source and altering the lighting. So I abandoned it. 

With slot machines, you see remnants of other icons above and below what the wheel eventually stops on. I dropped those elements because they were unnecessary and would have meant I would have needed to paint the numbers smaller to accommodate them.

  

All this leads me to my confession: art is not overly intuitive for me. 

 This is not an apology or an admittance of defeat, just an acknowledgement (and acceptance) of how I operate. My goal is always to make the best artwork I can, and can't successfully accomplish that by just 'winging it' and hoping it will magically work out. Some artists are (at least seemingly) more spontaneous with incredible results. I'm not one of them.

So - what have a learned from this experience?

I already have a process that works for me - that I can improve on and should not jettison.

My best effort will only come from me genuinely thinking and planning the quality of the outcome. Said another way: not being 'overly intuitive' is not a bad thing because it forces me to think about it and produce great work.

Taking a break (weather it be leaving for a week or just taking a long walk and returning) is something I shall implement more.   

Just because my computer is being fixed doesn't mean I can't do tonal and color studies the analogue way. (I just prefer digital in the planning phase because it's faster and doesn't waste materials.)

Can art become more intuitive for me over time? 

Yes. Every time I start a new work of art it's not like I have to relearn everything all over again. So there ARE things I don't have to actively think about each painting. Also, each new painting allows me to learn at least one new technique I can apply again to future paintings. (With 'Fleeting Focus', I studied then learned how to paint a convincing motion blur via the spinning '6'.)

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney

I've been learning so much from this book since I bought it 2 months ago. 'Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter' by James Gurney. Excellent comprehensive resource for any painter (regardless of medium) wanting to understand and incorporate more of those two devices into their work. 

(Available online and in most book stores. If you buy it directly from James Gurney, he'll even sign it for you: http://jamesgurney.com/site/213/color-and-light-a-guide-for-the-realist-painter )
 

THAT LAUGH! - color study

Here is the rough color version completed with acrylic on illustration board. Some things will still change in the final, but this basically sets the palette.
This study will be available on my online store once the final painting is complete: 
http://jonodoironstudio.storenvy.com/

Cereal Siege - color studies

I've started work on the 'Thoughts & Progress' booklets for the 2 new paintings ('Cereal Siege' and 'Sunny Side Corrupt'). What stage of the process would you most like to see? What questions about the paintings would you like answered? Please let me know and I'll make sure they're included. (You can see booklet examples here: http://jonodoironstudio.storenvy.com/collections/117461-books )

 

Above: professional Illustrator, Charles Vinh, whom I learned from during the making of 'Cereal Siege', added on a stage in my process called 'color studies' (or, color thumbnails). Small studies to come up with a color scheme  for the image that will then be expanded upon in a larger format. Bottom left is the final line drawing and next to it is the final tonal.

Cereal Siege

I'm simultaneously working on 2 paintings right now. Just finished preparing the surface of the new one (my final project for the Illustrative Painting class at Syn Studio) with gesso and all done the planning. Almost ready to paint - my favorite part of the process. I included a sneak peek of the rough color study. The painting is called 'Cereal Siege'.