“High Desert Falls” was a demonstration painting for my weekly class on the subject of choosing a warm or cool palette for a painting using the Analogous Color Wheel. The subject was inspired by a hike in the Las Vegas hills to a waterfall (yes! there is nature in Las Vegas). I kept the subject loose and painterly to fit the subject of moving water. This painting is available through http://dailypaintworks.com

First, I decided to create two small pastel sketches, 6×8 using cool color choices and secondly, warm color choices. The colors you see on the strips to the right of the sketches are the color choices for the under painting.

When choosing these colors I used the Analogous Color Wheel which is based on the Munsell Color Wheel. Munsell used five primary colors; Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple, differing from the traditional triadic color wheel; using the three primary colors of Red, Yellow and Blue.

For example for the warm color palette, I chose Orange as my dominate Hue, then followed the color wheel to choose the complement and discord colors. It is important to remember to use the neutrals and not necessarily the full chroma or intensity of the colors chosen.

This system will automatically create a harmonious color palette and simplify your choices as you paint. Give this system a try today, I think you will find it will expand your color choices beyond attempting to copy the colors of your photographic reference.

If you want to challenge yourself further, create the painting from a black and white version of your reference, as I did in these sketches to free you up from local color and get your creative juices flowing!

6×8 Pastel Sketches with pastel spread with alcohol under painting in both cool and warm color choices

I chose the warm color palette using predominantly Terry Ludwig Shades of Nature Set for the under painting. I further varied my final version of the painting by choosing the composition from the cool sketch and the palette choices from the warm sketch. Does your brain hurt yet?

What could be better than spending a fall morning painting at a family farm, Pennington Farms in Applegate valley near where I live in Southern Oregon? penningtonfarms.net

The renovated rustic barn on their large berry farm produces a wonderful variety of berry jams and home baked pies and cookies. The Pennington family welcomed our painting group, PASSO who worked diligently to represent an aging barn brought to life.

I painted this pastel directly on Wallis Belgium Mist surface using a variety of hard and soft pastels. I sketched the image first in my notebook with pencil, doing a rough value study. Then I drew the basic shapes and outline on the surface with a paynes grey Creatacolor pastel pencil.

I didn’t have an umbrella and the sun became very intense after about an hour in a half so I knew it was time for a cookie break and to start the next painting.