Blue and Orange

On the Suffolk Coast

I love the way Willard Leroy Metcalf has used just a touch of orange, in the form of light from the setting sun striking the hull of the boat, to complement the blue in this work. Complementary colors make each other appear more intense, producing a richer painting. Here they have been used with great subtlety and imagination. The orange patch draws attention to the huge fish.

Complementaries produce an interesting grey when mixed together. If the two colours are only lightly mixed, preserving a little separation, the resulting grey will have an iridescent quality a bit like shot silk.

The greys in the clouds may have been mixed this way.