Primary Colors

[Douglas Drenkow]

I realize better why Ms. Whitelaw's palette works so well, with a "dreamlike" quality (to my mind), and why it contrasts so much with the limited palette in that Picasso I referenced.

Ms. Whitelaw's limited palette plays against the inherent nature of the colors: She chooses a warm version of the cool primary (ultramarine blue), and the cool versions of the warm primaries (red and yellow). She thus keeps things "toned down", in a sense.

By contrast, the Picasso plays to the "strengths" if you will of the colors (not that Ms. Whitelaw's paintings are in any way "weak" -- they are more subtle): His reds and yellows are fiery, his black (once again used to represent the blue family) relatively cool.

Now back to sleep...