The master artists understood color, hue, temperature, chroma, and value, and knew how to place the pigments onto their canvas (board, or whatever substrate) with meticulous care. Many of them also made and mixed their own colors, and painted with a very few of these. For example, many of Rembrandt’s palettes only consisted of shades of umber, ochre, white, black, and red. How simple is that?
Of course, it’s unfair to try to relate to the great artist of old as if they painted the only way an artist should paint. The playing field is not equal. They didn’t have the many choices of tubed colors we have today. When you realize it wasn’t until the early 1800s that a variety of different colors became available, then you understand artists before this time had to work with what they had. Because of this, it was the limitation of the palette that created such harmonious paintings.

Lynn Burton just sent a new series of paintings to us, and we wanted to feature some of them. I especially like what I consider to be a more vibrant and active style of paintings than what we have seen before.

Who doesn’t love a “Stag in the woods” painting?

A buffalo standing atop a hill, showing all his might and strength, dominates this painting. However, it’s not just the composition that reigns supreme here. What really makes the painting is  the subtle use of the secondary color scheme.

The color scheme using green, orange, and violet are especially good in landscape paintings, creating harmony, giving you that inviting feeling of being able to walk right into the picture.