Green Is Not the Painter's Horror Color

Spring Green
Oil on Canvas Panel
11 x 14 in/27.9 x 35.6 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2015

When I hear about green being a horror color for painters, I always think that's funny. Funny because there really are no horror colors, only inexperienced painters (I was going to say bad, but decided better not to).

Not sure what it is about green that a lot of painters hate and shy away from. You'd almost think it was criminal to paint with green, either mixed or especially straight from the tube.

To hear them, you'd think green was not a natural color, you know, as in nature.

I'm not sure in what part of the world those painters live, but it surely must be dry, barren, lifeless, and colorless.

I happen to reside in a relatively warm and humid area not that far away from a coastline, as I'm sure many other painters do as well. I am here to tell you there are a lot of really green greens all around, including forests, prairies, creeks, and beaches. That is especially so in the spring and summer--paint green in all its brightness and green-ness!

Green does not have to be subdued or neutralized on the palette or canvas to look real. If you want green to look real, paint it the way it actually looks and the color it actually is.

Green is not the painter's horror color.