Be Bold. Be Vibrant. Dance With YOUR Colors of Joy!
‘Lady of The Lake’ had “too many colors” for her…
Be Bold. Be Vibrant. Dance With YOUR Colors of Joy!
One of my favorite things as an artist is to experiment with new color palettes, intentionally grabbing colors I don’t normally use—perhaps ones that don’t seem to go together at first—and then challenge myself to create surprising, vibrant and yummy color compositions.
I never limit my use of color. I don’t follow any ‘rules’. I embrace the ‘uncomfortable areas’ and celebrate turning them into exciting bits that make my color compositions unique and vibrant.
But I get it, pushing color boundaries is hard. It’s uncomfortable. And too often we’re influenced by what other people think. Sadly there are some who—by voicing their color biases—can unintentionally shut down our dance with color.
She tried to shut down my color choices… but I wouldn’t let her
Years ago, I was in a class happily painting, enjoying the way various colors played against each other, when another student walked up and said: “You use way too many colors. You need to go on a color diet”.
I froze. Then stood back. Was she right? But these colors brought me joy! (and still do)
Looking over at her muted paintings, it was obvious that greyed shades of brown and blue were the colors that brought her joy. Also, based on conversations I’d overheard, her past experience in art school played a role—she was taught to limit her choice of colors to three and mix all other colors from those.
And yes, the greyed tones of brown and blue are gorgeous too!
What she missed out on is that her art lessons—as valuable as they are—are just that: lessons
Color mixing teaches us the origin of colors, and trains our eye into seeing the undertones of complex colors. But lessons aren’t meant to become a cage. They aren’t meant to limit us or prevent us from experimenting, or playing, or finding our own voice.
I paint with the colors of joy in my heart, but even so, we are all creatures craving acceptance, validation and positive attention. Had I not already gained confidence in my colors, had I not sold the very painting she criticized, had I not received affirmation of my eye for color from friends and customers, her comment could have been poisonous to my growth as an artist.
That never would have been her intent, but as anxious as we are to impart our knowledge, experience and opinions on others we forget that in doing so we can harm more than we help.
Unfortunately, our sense of color is fragile. We’re bombarded by the opinions of others—by advertisers, by trends, by the critical voices of teachers and others who feel their colors are the ‘right’ ones. We’re left wondering if our color choices are somehow inadequate. Or the wild display of colors we love are somehow ‘too much’. Or too little. Or too vibrant. Or too boring.
But, there are no right or wrong colors—only combinations that make YOU feel happy... and ones you’ve decided still need work.
So, believe in your color choices and dance with YOUR colors of joy!
