October 2023 / No.3

Notes on my art and creative process

“Birch Point Curve” marks the starting point of a walk I often take. The trees here make no secret of the season and I wanted to capture this wild green storm of summer leaves.

From trees to beetles to crayons, green has always been my favorite color — so I was surprised to learn its controversial story in the art world.

To start, it has a poisonous past. Eighteenth-century “Scheele’s Green” — used in popular wallpapers, fabrics, and paints — turned out to be deadly due to the high arsenic content. Its replacement (“Paris Green”) was also highly toxic and later banned. Green pigments are safer now, but making them still has its complexities.

In fine art painting, some say not to use a lot of green because it looks hum-drum to the viewer’s eye. The theory is that there is already so much green around us (trees, bushes, grass), who wants to see more?

And even after toxicity + viewer appeal have been considered, how one applies the color matters. To avoid creating an overly-green area, working in reddish hues (its color-wheel complement) can create more interest. Painter Stapleton Kearns calls this “smuggling red.”

Green’s complex story is fascinating, and at one time had me asking if, when, and how I should use it. Ultimately, I think the following exchange (jotted down by my mom when I was five years old) is the best guidance:

Me: Why is green my favorite color?

Her: Because you like it better than the other colors.

Me: But why does it make me feel so joyful inside?

It’s a joy to use green in my work, and like Kermit the Frog once sang:

“It could make you wonder why —
But why wonder, why wonder?
I’m green, and it'll do fine.
It's beautiful.”

Instagram: @DrawKevinDraw
Website: KevinTseng.com
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Sources:
“The History of the Color Green”
“Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death”
“Smuggling Red”
“It’s Not Easy Being Green”
Super books on color:
“The Secret Lives of Color” / “The Color Bible”