COLOUR STUDIES
E
very landscape painting I make
begins with a colour study. It’s a
practice I adopted not long after
art college, when my interest in
painting the colour of light was in its
formative stages. Now, whether I’m
making a small painting in the open
air or a more developed piece in the
studio, the colour study is an integral
part of my process. Without it, I would
not be able to face the audacious goal
of translating light into paint.
Although colour is highly subjective,
it is anything but random. The colour
study is an extension of the idea that
colour is intentional. As landscape
painters, we naturally “borrow” the
colour relationships we find in nature,
but we also rely on colour strategies:
specific colour relationships that can
be used as a formula for building our
colour composition. For example,
we might use an analogous harmony,
a complementary or a split-
complementary relationship.
A strategy also includes determining
which particular pigments will best
create those relationships and
mixtures. I’ve always been surprised
by artists who dive into a painting
without having a clear colour plan.
It’s true that many colour relationships
can be worked out during the course
of the painting, but the clearer your
plan is at the outset, the more likely
it is that you will arrive at an effective
solution in the final work. The colour
study is a way to test that plan.
Colour studies take extra time, and
to some they may seem like an overly
formal process, but I believe there is
no better way to expand your colour
vision and flex your colour mixing
muscles than to do colour studies.
They can be fun, practical and
very rewarding.LEFT Mitchell
Albala, The Way
Home, oil on
panel, 40x40cm
A colour study is
an ideal way to
test which colour-
light strategy
works best for a
particular subject.
From my studies
for The Way Home
(see page 66),
I chose the second
combination – the
warm yellows and
subtle Phthalo Blue
accents produced
a sensation that
felt most like
brilliant sunlight.RIGHT Mitchell
Albala, The Colour
Thumbnail, oil on
paper, 7.5x10cm
A colour study
doesn’t need to
be tight or polished
in order to get the
message across.
The simple sketch
establishes the
basic composition
and colour groups.WHY MAKE A STUDY?
When I reflect on so many years of
doing colour studies, I can think of
five important ways in which they
have helped my practice:- Capture colour better
In landscape, each painting is
typically pegged to a moment in
time and a particular colour of the
light. Colour studies are a great way
to determine what works best for a
particular subject, as I did in the
studies for The Way Home.
When painting outdoors, I
respond to nature. Like the
Impressionists, I try to capture the
colours as I see them, even though I
know that perfect matches are not
possible. In such cases, the colour
study serves as a way for me to test
which pigments and colour mixes
will best translate the colour of the
light in that subject.
In the artificial light of the studio,
I cannot respond to nature in the
same way. Instead, my approach to
colour must be partly invented. I rely
on photos and memories of sunlight
on certain subjects at certain times
of day. I am willing to experiment,
which is the whole point of the
colour study. - Get your eye in
Colour studies are the perfect
warm-up exercise – try to think
of them as painted thumbnail
sketches. Not only are you able to
familiarise yourself with the colours,
but also the basic design and
composition as well.
3. Relieve the pressure
Psychologically speaking, a small
study is a low-pressure exercise.
You are less likely to be invested in
a small “disposable” study than you
would a larger painting. The study is
a safe avenue down which to
explore (and get lost) without a large
time commitment or attachment to
the outcome. Of course, colour
studies can sometimes be mini
masterpieces in their own right,
entirely saleable at an open studio
or exhibition of smaller works.
4. Move beyond photos
Many landscape painters work from
photographs. There is nothing
inherently wrong with this practice,
as long as it’s done properly. Avoid
the temptation to simply copy the
colours seen in a photo.
A series of colour studies can
liberate you from the single and
often limited option proposed by the
colour in the photo. Colour studies
force you to try alternate strategies
and encourage you to be more
creative with your palette choices.
5. Become more expressive
The smaller the study, the more
painterly and gestural it is likely to
be. This is easy to see in all the
colour studies featured in this
article. For some painters, this is a
desirable quality, but one that is
difficult to translate into larger
pieces. An expressive study can
serve as an inspiration; a gentle
reminder of the expressive style you
aspire to in the larger painting.
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