I start out intending a softly, softly approach, only to feel I need just a touch of a cadmimum here or there and pretty soon, whoops - there I go again! I can't resist the richness of oil colour - the sheer physicality of painting with a luscious red next to a vibrating green, an Alizarin crimson next to a Naples yellow - simply delicious!
I love to see paintings where the colour vibrates. Take Rothko for instance. You will only get the full power and drama of his colours when you really sit and study the canvasses in his special gallery at the Tate Modern in London. Maybe your response to them is dismissive - large canvasses which are purely blocks of colour? But for me those blocks are not only technical wizardry at its best, but they also stir some very strong emotions. It is the way the colours sing and vibrate. And it is that vibration that comes about as a result of understanding how colours react one with another and layering them to achieve the ultimate glow.
A lot of patience is required and the ability to have several canvasses on the go at the same time. I currently have 5 in various stages of progress! All part of my determination to build up colour in layers and perhaps less emphatically! Take a look at the colourful pieces on my web site and watch this space for changes!
http://www.annie-taylor.com