March 2013 Challenge Palette

This month’s challenge artwork comes from Franz Marc, an Expressionist painter. The abstract forms are so intriguing as a starting point, and I’m especially taken with the meanings Marc associated with particular colors, like yellow for sensuality.

From a color perspective, pretty much every color of the spectrum is represented in Deer in the Forest, offering up a ton of different directions you can go for your challenge pieces. I love them for being a return to the bright colors we see during spring, and for being so bright and saturated. How are you feeling about them this month? Are you excited for a return of the bright colors?

As far as using them, if you tend to shy away from using so many bright colors at once, pick one or two and opt for more subtle secondary colors, like the light grays and whites of the trees or softer browns in the deer. Another way to look at this month’s challenge is through proportions (I just talked about color proportions on my blog this week, it’s on my mind). The colors I see the most are the greens and yellows and orange-y browns, so you could start there and add in touches of the other shades – bright blues and bright reds, for example – as needed.

What colors do you plan to use this month?