Changing Colors

Keeper Palette, oil on panel, 2.5 x 10 inches, 2004-2005

The burning bush (Euonymus alata) outside is starting its autumn blush. It'll be the last flourish of color this year. In a week or two, until next spring, the outdoor colors will be a far more subtler thing.

The colors I paint with are a simple group. Above is an image of an old keeper palette which shows them at a glance. When I start to see and paint I think of them more as temperatures and emotions. Towards the end, I aim for a more universally understood language. If I think too hard, they become combinations and permutations:

n_C_k = n!/(k!(n - k)!)        n_P_k = n!/(n - k)!

So I try not to think too hard.