Blue sky's

Old Yeller  5x7 oil on paper  $90

I think this is my first vertical format painting this month.

In this scene from Peeple's Valley, I used a Thalo Blue for the sky.  Unlike the purple from a couple of days ago, I never really got into using Thalo Blue.  I think I still have the original tube I bought back in art school.  I had fun with it and it made some really pretty grays on the ground but I sure did have a hard time photographing it.  It kept coming out REALY intense.  I also lost some of my gradations in the photo shoot.  Lots of digital adjustments to try and wiggle it back into reality.  I sacrificed a bit of the yellow to get the blue some-what right.

Other blues I use include: (listed in order of favoritism)
Cerulean
Ultramarine
Prussian
Cobalt
Indanthrene
Thalo

I know them all and they all serve a particular purpose.

Usually, when I paint, I'll choose one of these to be my primary blue (Cerulean) and then choose another to be a secondary (Ultramarine or Prussian).  When painting sky's with Cerulean Blue I'll mix in a bit of Yellow Ochre (a muddy yellow) and Alizarine Crimson (like a wine red).  This mixture creates a grey-ish purple blue that just works beautifully.  To lighten this mixture I'll use a Naples Yellow Light (a very light, washed out yellow) and Titanium White (pure white).  For foul weather I introduce a bit of Ivory Black (just black).  When painting, depending on the size of painting, I'll change the mix of paint a bit with every 3-6 brush strokes.  On large studio painting the sky usually gets two coats of color, allowing the paint to set up or nearly dry in between coats.  Doing this ensures the sky is not a flat blue which make the painting look dead.

Did you know a simple sky blue could be so difficult?

Good times.

-Larry