The hunt for the right green

One of the challenges of painting landscapes through the seasons is getting the right greens. Spring greens are not the same as late summer greens. I live in the country and when I look outside all I see is a multitude of greens. When I look at my tubes of paints, I do not see any colours that match what I see outside.

There are so many exciting ways to create your own greens that depict the beauty of nature in any season. The first step is difficult and requires that we see the subtle differences in the variety of greens nature has to offer. Since most greens in nature are on the warm side of green and many greens that come already mixed in a tube are on the cool side, it’s important that we mix our greens

There are two approaches to getting at different greens

• Mix green by mixing blue and yellow:  This approach lends itself to such a wide range of greens. Using yellow, blue and brown you can create luminous or intensely dark greens and everything in between.

       or

• start with an already mixed green and then modify it depending on what you need:  This approach may be more convenient for some people. Sap green is often a good start because it can be natural looking. It can be modified by adding a bit of yellow or blue, and it can be darkened with burnt sienna or raw umber. You can also neutralize it with a bit of orange or red.

Both methods will work. The last step is recording the wonderful combinations that you can create. I suggest doing several charts with the various yellows, blues, browns and greens that you have. These charts can be varied considerably depending on what proportion of each pigment is added. They are also affected by the order they are put down, yellow on blue or blue on yellow.

Feel free to share your favorite mix. My favorite is lemon yellow and cyan blue from Maimeri Blu.

Check out the beautiful greens in Joe Cibere's painting

Danielle

p.s., would love to have you contribute some articles