41 Comments
Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Your very first painting is the best, in my opinion. I like the saturated hues and next to the darks it all works in a wonderful way! You may be letting your prejudice against saturated pigments (“desperation move”) cloud your judgement. All the other paintings are wonderful but the first one is striking.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

The first and last are my favorite. I think the use of strong pigments is not your usual style; therefore, you tackled the softness with a vengeance. The use of strong pigments is sometimes needed when painting in nature. The last painting appears more in your style but you still had to add the dark highlights to get there. Enjoy your gift as an artist. Your work is beautiful!

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Love this post, Ingrid. Thanks.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

I love the first painting! I also love how you make us all think and continue to share your knowledge and personal painting journey with us. Thank you Ingrid.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Hi Ingrid, An excellent experiment. Thank you for sharing your thought process and accompanying photos. This post is a wealth of information. I personally like the 4th painting prior to the addition of the strong red accents. The light on the bell flowers is glowing, which is what called to you to be painted. Bravo! Looking forward to our time in Italy this October.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Fascinating article Ingrid, and equally fascinating are the responses. I also believe your own personal biases are showing, which is of course normal. Thank goodness we all have different tastes! It reminds me, as a teacher, to be careful of the words I use and the judgements I make, as they will simply reflect my own personal tastes. Makes it tricky eh?

I love the idea of your colour experiments, and THAT is a very helpful thing to all of us!

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Hi Ingrid! This was really interesting! The dark flashes of deep red in the final iteration really made a huge difference- my favourite though was the moody one with all the greys :). It was great to follow your thought process, thank you!

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Ingrid…as always thanks for your thoughtful investigations into the world of painting…. Always the explorer and teacher! I know many painters would have been satisfied with image one …but for Ingrid that is only the start of a wonderful exploration into the many variabilities that tweaking a painting will take us. Love your exercise much like your class at Winslow Art Center. Glad to hear you sought shelter into the studio as your work progressed….bugs and heat…not fun. I think you will find takers on any of the versions as I am sure tomorrow and the next day and the next day….may change your mind as well. Thanks for always sharing with us this gift of your painting journey. Fellow painters if you haven’t….take one of Ingrid’s classes. She is a tremendous resource and as exampled here always willing to share her knowledge…..yes I am a biased fan

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Gosh, it is hard to choose one as each one, in its own way, is lovely. I'm also a huge fan of Bato! Thanks for posting - lots to explore and think about! Off to pull out some purple paint! See you in Italy!

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I am well as I hope you and your family are too. I enjoy seeing your name pop up on my email. I know you will always have something thought provoking to share. Good for you with the Bato example! I hope you are enjoying your summer and getting ready for your Fall adventure in Italy. Jealous. Very toasty down here this summer as they seem to be getting toastier each year. Been exploring some new painting tools…construction related lol and am contemplating the Lake O’Hara bus lottery for next year…I am sure you have gone as it’s in your backyard. Always good to hear from you! And again thanks for your sharing.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

The first one is my favorite. It has the most life in it. It makes me feel happy looking at it. It is fresh and inviting to look at. It touched me.

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Jul 24, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

The colors of the last painting are my favorite and I think that the slightest touch of dark gives it more interest and balance. Very pleasing to my eyes. Thank you for this great lesson. Ghislaine G.

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I like the first painting best as it has very strong values. The purple really stands out!

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Jul 25, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

I too favor painting #1

It’s vibrant, more spontaneous

It sings!

There’s a pleasing rhythm that engages the viewer

Lovely Ingrid!

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Jul 26, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

So pleased to receive this Ingrid. I think number five sings a similar song to number one . One is fortissimo and five is much quieter. I love them both. Great exercise .

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Jul 30, 2022Liked by Ingrid Christensen

Painting #5 is the best, in my opinion. The others rely on black or a large amount of dark colours, and that makes the overall work look dark, not capturing the happy mood at all. Painting #5 captures the sense of a summer day, using lighter values and yes, a splash of very dark to keep the painting from seeming insubstantial. Like the beach scenes by Sorolla: lots of lights but those touches of dark are enough. I don't think I would worry about saturated pigments; easy to desaturate them. I can see from the other comments that all of the works were successful! Thanks for thinking about colour in such a serious way.

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