The Trouble with Green

     I just finished this commission for a couple that asked me to paint this photo they provided from some land that they own outside of San Jose, CA. I haven't been there, but I liked the picture and have recently shown it to them. Photos are a tricky thing...you have to use it as a departure point and always end up making modifications to the image. They like it, which is always a relief.
     Although it looks like there is a lot of green here, there isn't really. Like Kermit says, "Being Green isn't easy." Nor is mixing it. One of the biggest things that I find to be a problem with green in paintings is the overuse of Phthalo green or Viridian Greeen. yuk! No wonder the word Phthalo is so hard to pronounce! This green is an  unnatural, weird, too bright color and all too often I see it being used straight from the tube onto the canvas. This green doesn't really appear in nature and surely should only be used (if at all) with lots of modification and addition of other colors. I seldom use paints straight from the tube anyway, because the color that I want usually needs to be tweaked a bit, but Viridians and Phthalos are almost impossible for me to work with. I think that I have an ancient tube of it floating around that I often only look at as a reminder of what NOT to use. Often, my favorite greens come from Black and Cad Yellow Medium mixed together. There is a bit of transparency left when the two are mixed together, which I often want. I like Sap Greens and Olive Greens, but they too are very transparent, so I usually end up mixing my own. As much as I love green and trees and painting outdoors, I find that there are huge amounts of blue and purples in trees deep inside close to the trunks. There are mysterious areas that I love to try to get into when I am painting a landscape.
   So...as an aside...I am looking at turning 60 soon. I wrestle with this because most of the time, I sure don't feel like 60.  I have been thinking a lot about the past, the things I have learned, the people that I have loved that are gone, and so many of the mistakes I have made. I try hard not to regret. For me, it's not the things that I have done that I regret, but rather the things that I haven't done. More about this later, because I'm not 60 yet and I still have a little time left to ponder.

Commissions

Deb wants to commission me to do a landscape from a picture I took in Tuscany. We both love Italy, especially Tuscany. We have been talking about it for awhile now and I finally ordered the canvas (24x48) that she wants.
Most of my artist friends have commissions in one form or another that provide the bread and butter financing for their art. Some love doing them and some (like me) have mixed feelings about them.
My biggest concern is whether or not my patron will like the finished piece. This can be a sticky wicket for both parties. What do you do if they don't like what you have produced? What happens to the relationship if this happens? What happens to the artwork? Many questions...
Basically, this is how I handle comissions and so far, has worked for me.
1. I make it very clear, that I own the image, the picture, the painting, etc. regardless of whether the patron purchases the work. In particular, with portraits of people, I may do what I like with the image.
2. Based on the above, they are not obligated to buy the piece, once I have agreed to the work. The reason that I do this is because I will paint what I want, how I want, and once again, the image belongs to me.
3. By making sure that the artwork is something that I can sell, hang or use, it really doesn't matter whether the patron purchases the work. In my mind, it is really just another painting. So, I make sure that the painting is something that I am happy with. Sure, I want the potential buyer to like it as well, but sometimes this doesn't happen. If it doesn't work out, I'm ok with the outcome and still have a viable piece of work for my trouble.
4. I accommodate only to a point. I am willing to please the patron in terms of painting size, color palette, and subject matter. Beyond that, it's my call. I like having some parameters, as this keeps you from being all over the place, which is what I would do anyway. But I control these decisions and negotiate them up front.

So....I will start on Deborah's painting today and let you see how it evolves.