Color in the Landscape
Nagel’s experience as a professional horticulturist—
he worked for Denver Parks and Recreation for 48 years
before retiring recently—taught him a lot about color that
carries over into his paintings. “We designed big flower
beds, sometimes with more than one thousand flowers
in a single bed,” Nagel says. “That’s when I started really
learning how to use primaries and how to get tertiary
colors to work.”
His efforts in designing real-life landscapes also taught
him the power of complementary color in any landscape.
“I noticed when grouping flowers together that the great
thing about complements is how they harmonize and make
one another pop at the same time,” Nagel says. “They bring
out one another, but contrast in a way that’s not a big jolt.”
Nagel has taken time and gathered advice to gain
a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationships
of color. “Albert Handell once told me that to get more
atmosphere in my paintings, I should use more mauves,”
Nagel says. “There are a lot of pinkish mauves in Spring
Rain, which isn’t a direct complement of the greens in the
piece, but close enough to create a mood that also allows forArtistsNetwork.com 41