Citrus and Glass Compliments | 6×8 | Oil on Panel

Still-lifes present an opportunity to easily explore beautiful color harmonies, as here in Citrus and Glass Compliments. Orange and blue oppose each other on the color wheel, and therefore create a nice color “vibration” (a rather vague term!) Basically, when an artist places one of these colors near the other in a painting, it produces a pleasing effect. (And vibrant hues like these can also feel exciting and energizing!) I especially wanted to play with one element in this scene: the shadow. Bright, warm-white light shining through a blue bottle and bouncing off oranges created a rather stunning rainbow effect on the white cloth backdrop! You’d be surprised how often this sort of effect occurs in nature. Keep an eye out for this spectrum-effect whenever sunlight bounces off the ground and onto a white surface. Fair warning: you have to look carefully and patiently!