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Writer's pictureBob Palmerton

Painting Technique: What You See is Not What You Get


See the color in the photo below; this photo was digitally enhanced as best as I could using Microsoft Office. In fact, without adjusting the color saturation, the sky was a flat white, showing no clouds or the deeper blue you see here.


As I focus in on portions of the photo on my laptop, additional colors become pronounced, such as the pinkish hue in the distant mountains. Here is the work-in-progress version of the pastel painting, started in class at the Michigan Art Center:


In this pastel rendition, I have added blues in the trees, started to bring in the earthy orange red found at the ground as well as in portions of the trees, and that distant pink emerges in the mountain range.

I also used my "Artist's License" to change the composition, eliminating the large tree in the middle of the photo, and creating the beginnings of a snow squall (up here in the Grand Tetons).

Use your "Artist's License" to let your imagination flow freely.

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