12 x 16
Oil
Artist: Susan Tyler
“Hitching” G Lee Gallery 2217 Strand in Galveston
I moved to Texas in 1959 and have not left! I had two sons in Texas, one in Huntsville, & one in Austin… And yet I am still not really a Texan. Maybe it is that outsider appreciation that makes Texas a great place for me to live. I have lived in, Dallas, Abilene, Huntsville, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Galveston and now Centerville. I consider it a great day when I am able to take a day trip or short vacation to any of the 4 corners of the state to savor the landscape that holds new and iconic Texas scenes side by side.
The above painting is one that I started working on when I lived in Galveston. I found this not so rare scene during one of my many rides on the ferry over to Bolivar and back. Watching the dolphins, the big ships in the shipping lanes, the ever changing skies, and yes the gulls means that the ferry ride is always a treat. I once had a co-worker, Larry who whimsically called the ferry his yacht that he and wife use to ride on in the evening after a stressful day at work. It was on one of my trips on the ferry in February that I caught this gull hitching a ride.
Let me talk a bit about the mechanics of this painting. Yellow and Purple are one of the three compliments. When mixed together and tinted with Titanium white they make some wonderful greys. In my paintings I often use a pair of compliments ( Yellow & Purple, Red & Green, Orange & Blue) as one of the basic structures for the painting. When you use the greys from the same complimentary pair, you provide a subtle structure of values within the painting that helps move the eye from one value to the next. As an artist, complimentary greys are so much fun to work with. None of the hues are straight out of the tube, every stroke of the brush contains combination of the yellow/purple compliment ,even the red on the exit sign.
Complimentary greys used throughout the painting not only provide continuity of the hues for the eye to rest and feel comfortable in, it also provides one of the means to make your center of interest POP. Granted the composition and value gradation are equally important, but notice how the Yellow of the ferry gate and the gull pop out at you, that is enhanced by the play of the complimentary greys.
I am sorry if I got too much into the weeds with my explanation of the complimentary greys, but Harry Aschan, my instructor from Sam Houston, got me started with complimentary greys back in the early 60’s. I used to work for him painting backgrounds for the maritime murals that hung in the Flagship Hotel. Each mural approximately 10’x 10′ was a scene of a historic maritime battle. The huge murals greeted you on each floor as you got off of the elevator. So I was primarily the sky and water painter. He wanted the sky and water not to fight with the center of interest, so he had me use complimentary greys. Thus started my fascination with the complex versatility of complimentary pairs.
If you are in Galveston, be sure to stop by G Lee Gallery on the Strand. Susan
