"White Wicker"
12 x 12
Lesley Powell
Lesley Powell
It's been a while since I wrote about a particular hue, but my post on REDS was very popular, so I've decided it's time to take a look at some blues. I typically use two blues on my palette, a light blue and a dark blue.
For my light blue, I use Cerulean. Cerulean is a bright, vibrant color. I have learned that a little bit of this paint goes a long way! It was first developed in the 1860's, and it became an important part of the Impressionists' high key palette. This famous painting by Monet features cerulean in the sky:
The name "cerulean" is derived from the Latin word caeruleus, which in turn is derived from the diminuitive for heaven or sky. So I guess it is not surprising to learn that the Impressionists often used cerulean for painting skies. Here's a plein air painting I did in the south of France that features a bright cerulean sky:
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| "Gare St. Lazare" Claude Monet |
"Bonnieux Lane"
11 x 8
My dark blue of choice is Ultramarine. The shadows in the painting above are based on ultramarine, so the painting is a good example to show the difference in the two hues.
Hardly a newcomer like cerulean, ultramarine has been used in paints for over 1500 years. It was used in the ancient world for cave paintings, and in the Renaissance by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. Ultramarine is made from crushed lapis lazuli, which is a semi-precious stone. Lapis lazuli was, and I believe still is, mined exclusively in Afghanistan. But thankfully, the pigment has also been made artificially, and more inexpensively, since the 19th century.
Hardly a newcomer like cerulean, ultramarine has been used in paints for over 1500 years. It was used in the ancient world for cave paintings, and in the Renaissance by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. Ultramarine is made from crushed lapis lazuli, which is a semi-precious stone. Lapis lazuli was, and I believe still is, mined exclusively in Afghanistan. But thankfully, the pigment has also been made artificially, and more inexpensively, since the 19th century.
Back in the mid-1600's, Johannes Vermeer used pure ultramarine made from lapis lazuli. Take a look at the wonderful blues in his work below. Imagine how vivid the blues were before time darkened them! Just as an exercise in high/low comparisons, I'm showing my own little denim jacket below, which is largely in ultramarine. Not that I would ever dream to compare myself to Vermeer--but it's fun to see old world and new world examples!
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| "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" Johannes Vermeer |
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| "Denim Jacket" 12 x 10 Lesley Powell |
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