Layering: Expanded Palette Knife Technique

 I've been experimenting with the palette knife, perhaps using it as if it were a pastel stick, layering colors on top of previous colors to create a new color perhaps. For this post I will use or demonstrate a 3-color palette of a red, blue and a yellow to create 'all' colors. The specific colors I will be using are: Cobra Water-Mixable Oils - Madder Lake (R), Ultramarine Blue (B) and Permanent Yellow Light (Y) and Titanium White (W).

The initial plein air layer was painted at the foot of the Catalina Mountains near Tucson. I then used my mountains, the Santa Rita Mountains, in my back yard to refine the painting.

This might be the final version for this first example after applying several layers (click to enlarge to see the texture):


Details for texture:







Catalina Mountain Foothill Painting Site:




And the painting while onsite. My painting buddies really liked this at that time.Perhaps I should have left it alone. But the dark shadows on the mountain bothered me. And the sky was too 'pastel' easter candy colored for my taste.


First main modification.  I had begun to use what I might call palette knife scumbling.



And again the final for comparison:

The intent between these two stages was to cool down the warm sky. However, I think I like the painting with the warm sky better. 
So should I add a warm layer to the sky?

ADDENDUM (10/31/21): Juried into the National Members Show for the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico and sold on Opening Night.


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