Outdoor portraits and color

There are two things I love most when painting: painting outdoors and seeing color. The two go hand in hand, like cookies'n'cream, butter and lobster, and popcorn and a movie (I must be hungry). My father, Bill Chambers, often reminded me during my training years that portraiture was the most difficult of art careers, but also the most satisfying. Well, I haven't experienced anything more challenging than pulling off a portrait with good color. It's a challenge to get all the color relationships right. Actually, truth be told, it often seems impossible.

When I studied with Henry Hensche during summers on Cape Cod, I was always amazed at how he would use the entire palette to arrive at beautiful- and accurate!- color every time. He didn't follow the trend of reducing his palette to five or so colors. He didn't follow a formula in his head. He looked. He compared. He scanned. He responded to what was in front of him. His teacher, Charles Hawthorne, taught his students to "get the spots right, and then all else, including your drawing, will be right." Simply said, and best done simply, but most difficult to actually accomplish. Gotta love the challenge, though!

"Joshua & Cayla on Bald Head Island" by Timothy Chambers; Oil on Linen 40x60