A gallery owner once told me that people don’t buy green paintings. At least not in her gallery. My experience has been that it depends on the green and how dominant it is in the painting. But it is certainly not a favorite, like red or orange.
I’ve never had success using a color that is “in” as proclaimed by design gurus. I always do best by painting what I paint with the colors I love, which usually fall into the red/orange family.
But selling my art makes it possible for me to keep painting, so I am always tuning in to my collectors’ preferences. Google Analytics can tell you those things now—how many people clicked on this image versus that one on a website. Sometimes I think I’m getting too much feedback.
It’s like a pop musician looking for another big hit on the charts.
There’s no going back to virgin territory where I faced a blank canvas with only my own desires in mind. I try, and some days when I’m in a bad mood, I purposely paint something ugly just to get past the gossamer restraints.
How do we stay pure when we need to make a living?
A green painting that sold: