If you are painting your landscape from nature, you may find the hues changing as the sun crosses the sky. In many instances there is the need to finish the work in the studio. You should get in the habit of constantly making color swatches of what you see. If you do this, be certain to make good notes describing the time of day, the month (season), the atmospheric conditions at the time, and the exact color mixing formula. Always keep these filed and notated. It takes time, but you will eventually have hundreds of color swatches that gives you perfect reference material.

Here are three tips that we here at the art center hope you can appreciate and use:

1.  At Sunrise: The temperature of the painting becomes warm and not cool.  The painting for this time of day should start with a Cadmium Yellow Light or Lemon Yellow wash. This color will dominate the painting and should be mixed with all the hues. However, as the sun continues to cross the sky, the cast of yellow becomes a deeper hue.

2. 

Midday:

When the sun is directly overhead, a darker yellow should be dominant throughout the painting. Experiment with this but often yellow ochre and oranges will be a good place to start. Whatever mixture of colors selected, the value should be light because the sun washes out the darker tones. Trees, for example, should be lighter at the top than at the bottom. Be sure to notice that shadows are more harsh at this time of day.

3. Late Afternoon: As the sun falls into the western hemisphere, more oranges and reds and purples are evident. By sunset, the yellow hues have almost vanished. The closer to dusk, the cooler the temperature of the painting. These colors should be mixed into your foliage to make it appear normal.