From the Artist: I was surprised at how much variety could be created by mixing four colors. As an unintended bonus, I also learned how much better artist grade paints are than craft paints! Because I could not find phthalo blue in a craft paint, I spent the extra money on artist grade and am hooked.
From the Painting Guide: Using only four colors does initially seem like it'll be very limiting, but the proof of the pudding (as the cliché goes) is in the mixing, as you discovered. You do pay extra for artist's quality paints, but there is a reason for it which quickly becomes evident in the colors when you start using the paint. The colors are stronger, brighter, and the results when mixed are more intense and less muddy. If money for art supplies is tight, I think it's better to paint smaller paintings with top-quality paints than big paintings with less intense colors.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Spend a moment tracing with your finger the main shapes in this painting. Notice how the triangle in the top left-hand corner echoes the triangle of jetty in the foreground, as well as placing something of interest in what would otherwise be a dead corner of the painting.
The dangling rope leads your eye from the jetty up and into the composition, across the boats and off to the right-hand side. The shapes of the boats themselves pull your eye across the composition. I like that the boat right in the front goes off the edge; to me it gives a sense of space to the scene, of the story continuing, not being confined by the edges of the canvas.
Direction of the Water In this type of setting there would likely be a dominant direction in the water's flow, with ripples in the water mostly in that direction, such as to the left of the white boat. This should continue through the whole scene, but in this painting there are sections where there's a sense that the water has been painted around the boats, rather than it continuing under them or small waves bouncing up against the side of the boat.
See Also:
• FAQ: Should I Use Student or Artist's Quality Paints?
From the Painting Guide: Using only four colors does initially seem like it'll be very limiting, but the proof of the pudding (as the cliché goes) is in the mixing, as you discovered. You do pay extra for artist's quality paints, but there is a reason for it which quickly becomes evident in the colors when you start using the paint. The colors are stronger, brighter, and the results when mixed are more intense and less muddy. If money for art supplies is tight, I think it's better to paint smaller paintings with top-quality paints than big paintings with less intense colors.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Spend a moment tracing with your finger the main shapes in this painting. Notice how the triangle in the top left-hand corner echoes the triangle of jetty in the foreground, as well as placing something of interest in what would otherwise be a dead corner of the painting.
The dangling rope leads your eye from the jetty up and into the composition, across the boats and off to the right-hand side. The shapes of the boats themselves pull your eye across the composition. I like that the boat right in the front goes off the edge; to me it gives a sense of space to the scene, of the story continuing, not being confined by the edges of the canvas.
Direction of the Water In this type of setting there would likely be a dominant direction in the water's flow, with ripples in the water mostly in that direction, such as to the left of the white boat. This should continue through the whole scene, but in this painting there are sections where there's a sense that the water has been painted around the boats, rather than it continuing under them or small waves bouncing up against the side of the boat.
See Also:
• FAQ: Should I Use Student or Artist's Quality Paints?