Painting to Match a Living Room’s Colour Scheme

You’ve probably heard those jokes about people who buy art because it matches the colour scheme of their lounge, not because of what the painting was. Well, I just found myself offering to lend a friend a painting (dominated by cadmium yellow) that he’d admired but was worried would clash horribly with the colours of his house’s interior walls, which are either yellow or green. I said that if it did, he could return the painting and I could paint the scene in some other colours if he liked. Was I selling out my artistic integrity, or merely being practical?

After all, if he returned the painting, I hadn’t lost anything (it’s not as if I’ve another buyer eagerly waiting in the wings for the painting). But if he got it home and decided it did fit, then I’d gained a sale.

If he decided he’d like it in some other colours, then I will have created a very specific challenge for myself. I generally found it hard to replicate something, to retain the freshness of the ‘original’. I've never done initial colour studies for a painting for this reason, preferring to work and rework on the actual painting or, if a painting isn’t working, to tackle the same subject from a different approach.

If I succeed in finishing the same scene in different colours to a level that I’m happy with, I’ll have moved my painting skills up a notch. And if I don’t, well, being a friend I can just admit it hasn’t worked out (yet!). There’s not the same level of pressure to get the work done there would be with a commission from a stranger.