As a painter, my goal is to work with the paint until it appears to transform into something else. something real, something spatial, something seductive. That's what I feel is part of the magic of painting. So I wanted to show you another example, using that same idea we just talked about, instead of one color going flat across, varying and how much variation can create that idea of volume and space and something seductive. So I took for as an example of painting of mine that this is actually a smaller version of a large painting that I have in my studio that's on gold leaf. And I took a print of it.

So I could bring it in here to show you on a video and it's at a point where I am thinking that the bottom of this painting needs something it feels a little bit boring and I would like to add a Blue River, it feels like a landscape to me. So I would like to put a Blue River right in here. And I Blue River, you could think of it as a blue line just like the red ribbon or the red line that we painted before. So when I want to paint that river, I'm going to avoid taking one tube of blue and just squeezing that out and painting a solid Blue River, it will not look realistic on this painting. So I could also go to the store and buy 10 different tubes of different blues, but why spend the money when you can actually mix it as long as you have a palette like this.

So I'm going to actually start with the cooler blue, the Ultramarine Blue that's right here. And I don't need to take it out of the tube here. And I'm just like I did the red. I'm going to give myself five or six variations of this. Blue, just to create a small river right in here. And I often feel like Hey, why don't I just squeeze out a little bit of blue.

But I make myself do this every time because that variation is so important. Okay, so like the red, the first one over here, we can make it a lighter blue by adding some white. And I want to compare it to its original blue to make sure I'm adding enough white, or not too much. So I'm going to go back to the blue over here and just put it over here to remind me what it looks like without adding anything else. So I can constantly refer to it and say, Does this look like a big enough visual leap without being too big that it doesn't look like it's part of this blue family. And I think it looks pretty good.

So I'm gonna leave it so lighter than we can go darker. I'm going to add black What I should have done is given myself a little more room between the colors, but if I'm careful, I can do it. And I like using this knife that has a step to it, hold it like this, you can see it goes like a little step. And that is very different from a palette knife that's flat. So if you compare these two, if I tried to mix with this palette knife, I'd be dragging my hand through the paint, even more than mixing it. So I like something with a step and plus it has a nice little spring to it.

And it's allowing me to that little spring is allowing me to maneuver carefully because I didn't give myself much space here. Alright, so we have darker. Now this color blue could go warmer or cooler. That means I could add a little bit of red to one and a little bit of yellow to the other. I could also go to my other blue over here which is a green or blue and Let me just try that. Now this is a modern color.

There's modern colors and mineral colors. Modern colors are very dark and their mass tone. And they actually get super bright when you add a little bit of white. So let me see if I can add just that amount, just that right amount of white to make it what I call pumped to make it look like the light just went on. Add a little bit more. When I added white to this ultramarine blue, it got lighter, but you see how it gets a little bit chalky with this modern blue called halo effect acts very differently.

So look at how nice and bright that's getting. And it's also very different than this blue, but it still looks like it's part of a blue family. So I've got two different blues. I've got a dark a light, I've got a warm and a cool. I think I'm going to make one a little more purple layer, and I could go right into my purple but if I didn't have that, I could Also use a cool, red. And it's also looking a little dark.

So in addition to the red, I'm gonna add a little bit of white. There's no rules here. The idea is just to give yourself a variety So, and it's very meditative in a way just to spend some time saying, hmm, how do I want that river to look, I want it to go darker, lighter. And that's what happens in reality is things shift all over. So I think I need another light one, I want something that's very, very light blue, just add a little bit of blue. And so here's a nice little family and you can make more if you want, but this will be enough for the demonstration.

Now I'm going to go to this board and At least two brushes I like to vary the brush. I can also use a knife to to apply. And I'm going to start with this ultramarine blue, and I'm going to put it on. See I want my river to start about here. And that's just looking pretty dark. So I'm just gonna go with this lighter one.

And then I'm gonna switch to a brush and change out the brush again. Maybe make it look like it's got some waterfall effect and then switch brushes. So painting does take a lot of effort. I know we live in a world where you feel like you just press a button and something happens and can I just do this Blue River in 30 seconds but The more time we put into it, the more interesting the painting can get. Once I have a variety of colors, I can then go back in with a brush. And just keep working it until it feels like it transforms into something else.

I rarely put paint down and leave it and say, Oh, that must be good. I keep working it until it feels like what I'm trying to get to. And not only do I put paint on and with a variety, but I like to take it off in places. There you have it, and now the river feels like it fits in with the rest of the painting and looks more real and looks like it's transforming instead of just a plain old blue stripe