More swatches today, but blues--I have so many, can't resist them.

Then I thought I'd do an all-blue still life with this great blue-striped sheet I have, but I abandoned it: for one, the stripes are too strong (and carelessly done; I've learned from painting architecture that if you're going to do details like that, you need to do them carefully, and not overdo them), but mostly, I think this is a good illustration of how using all one color doesn't work! Even if you want an all-blue picture, you still have to get some yellow and red in there. I'm sure there's some color theory or physiological reason for this, neither of which I know: maybe all one unremitting cvolor exhausts, or bores, the eye! I just know that over the years painting teachers always suggest adding other colors.

So, being unhappy with the direction of the blue still life, I turned and looked out the window and started just trying to paint what I saw. It was more fun to begin this, with no expectations and no idea of it being anything, than to try to do the "exercise" above.
Not to claim too much for it, partly because I have to stop here for today, but I think I see some influence of my Cezanne copies of last week ...