Color Studies

These are a few studies done in oil. They are not works of impressionism but are rather "color studies," a type of exercise which painters use both to plan compositions and, such as in this case, to exercise their capacity to capture the tonal key of a light setting by rendering the relative values of color in that setting. 





Sandra Shaw, an artist whom I respect, states the purpose of color studies as such: "A brief sketch quickly executed heightens the artist's awareness of what he is looking at, and motivates him to commit to canvas the essential elements of the subject. By executing many color studies from nature, the artist learns to grasp the essentials of a subject and establish them as the foundation of his work."
(Link to Sandra Shaw's website)


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