by
Armand Cabrera
Armand Cabrera
(all images by Armand Cabrera)
I believe curiosity to be a cornerstone for success—in any field. More than anything else, it’s the fuel that drives us to know new things—the necessary requirement for the achievement of a goal. Stop for a moment to think about the question—“How do you do that?” Then ask —“Can I do that?” These are the thoughts that spark creativity.
All the artists I admire have a strong sense of curiosity about how things work. They tend to be voracious readers, seeking out knowledge wherever they can find it. They are not afraid to ask for help to solve a problem. Great artists experiment, they analyze, they question how and what they are doing—always refining or working to improve something about their art.
Curiosity can take you down dead ends, too. However, curious people seem to pull more knowledge from the experience than others would. They use the information, learning from their mistakes and incorporating that experience into their library of knowledge to avoid similar situations in the future.
The famous science fiction writer, Theodore Sturgeon, signed his name, followed by a letter “Q” with an arrow through it. His symbol meant—“ask the next question”.
Want to be more successful at what you do?
Be curious. Ask the next question!
Want to be more successful at what you do?
Be curious. Ask the next question!
In the painting below “Be Curiouis. Ask the next question” how did you create the green in the distant hills. I use Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yello and Viridian to create my greens. But I have difficulty creating distant greens. It seems white does funny things to greens. If I cut back on the yellow it appears to be too blue and does not show the green I see in your painting. Joe Kotowski
Joe,
Thanks for asking. To get my greens to cool in the distance I use a compliment depending how warm or cool I want it to be. In this case I used warmer colors to mix the foreground greens and swapped them for cooler colors in the middle. Then I added more blue and cad red (warm) and even farther back alizarin (cool) to the mix to shift towards blue violet and lower the saturation.
My palette consists of Viridian, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Alzarin Crimson, Cad Red Light, Cad Yellow, Cad yellow Lemon, and White.
Armand
I have been using the same palette since reading about it on your blog. It has really helped me. However, I did not realize Alizarin was cool!
Joe,
Remember color temperature is relative. So Alizarin is cool compared to cad red or yellow but it’s warmer than cobalt or ultramarine blue.
Armand
It worked! Not as well as it works for you but your help improved my paintings. I did as couple of 8×10 practise paintings. I experimented with French Ultramarine with a warm yellow and Cobalt blue with a cold yellow plus other combinations. Then I played with Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson. I was always afraid that by using reds to kill the greens it would warm them and move them forward. However a little white and some “fiddling” I was able to create a range of greens that receded. Your tip about relative coolness was fantastic. Thanks. Joe
I love your blog…
This one, among all of the posts, made me smile. Thank you for making us think and learn.. and inspiring us to keep working at it!!