Artist - Barbara Simmons

Tip of the month – December 2008 A question that I am often asked is, “How do you choose your colors?” I find this to be a very important question. It indicates that careful color selection is evident in my paintings. Color BY CHANCE would not work for me.
This lily returns each summer. It is salad plate in size.	When I decided to paint the lily, I wanted to present it in a dramatic way. Its color would glow in a dark ground.
This site was along a northern highway in Quebec. It was a gray rainy day.	When I decided to paint this scene, I noticed the quietness in the photo. I decided to paint this landscape in warm/cool and light/dark contrasts to show the quiet at the end of the day.
Both of these painting were painted with red/green complements and Quinacridone Gold glazes.	This painting shows the color choice more clearly.
Below, you will see 2 very different subjects. I have a choice. I can paint them as they appear in the photos (a rendering) or I can paint them in a more creative selection of colors. I do not have different palettes for different subjects. I believe that I can paint diverse subjects with the same color selections.
	Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Sienna, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt Blue, and Indigo are the colors. Late in the painting, I added Alizarin Crimson.
	OCTOBER was created from the photo reference at the left and the color selection described above (no Alizarin Crimson). I wanted to express the idea of a late afternoon in the autumn.
When I looked at my photo reference of the orchid. I could see the same kind of color sensibility as I had painted in the landscape – very light value and very dark value. It should be possible to express the rich color and the beauty of the flower in a tropical atmosphere with the same colors.
	I squeezed out fresh color onto my butcher tray palette and put away my other colors.
As is my usual habit, I tried some of the possible color combinations for the orchid painting. I added Alizarin Crimson to the 3 analogous complementary pairs to complete my color selection. ORCHID GLOW is the result.
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