#ive spent plenty of time pondering a piece before deciding whst to paint next

[agblend13]

Art confession: I have no idea what people are talking about when they say "understanding color theory" made them better artists. (To be clear I'm not slagging anyone off, whatever helps you helps you!) I just do not understand. I've watched some color theory videos. I've seen clips or photosets where people go 'color theory is so crazy! 😲' and it's showing like, how a shade of gray will look different over orange vs. over blue. And I've sincerely tried to comprehend, because I am always looking to incorporate insights and perspectives that are new to me.

But I very Literally don't get it. What is the actual, physical process.

Let's say you can't decide on a color. So you... consult a color wheel? Look at a list you have saved of what shades go well next to other shades to create tension vs. calm? Did I already internalize color theory without realizing it or am I just connecting with a different process? What's not clicking.

It feels like someone is saying to me, "well garlic comes from central Asia, and tomatoes come from South America, and that's how I know they taste good together" and I'm over here thinking, okay, well I know garlic and tomato taste good together because I've tasted them and liked it. What does geography have to do with it.

My mom is a classically trained artist and I asked her if she knew what it all means and she said she had no idea either 🙃