I think one of the things I love most about the modern selection of oil paints out there is how many vibrant paints there are. It brings me so much just to look at the spectrum of colors on my paint wall. I personally am a person who loves to exude bright colors and have interesting silhouettes in my daily appearance (when I’m not in the studio), and So i think it’s important that my paintings have this to a degree as well. I think my most exciting paintings use at least one vibrant, sometimes near-neon, color in the palette. It makes me excited to work to see something heavily saturated and colorful brought to life on a canvas. 

For this I am extremely picky about which paints I’ll use and have specific brands I use for different colors all together. For my most vibrant paints, I use Langbridge Paints, for my pale tones I use Gamblin, and for the majority of my earthen tones I use Winston Newton, and for my lightest and deepest blues I use Old Holland. When I run out I don’t try and find a replacement outside of the paint brand I like because I think knowing your paints is important too, the viscosity and opacity matter when mixing a palette, so If I run out I find myself placing an order with the brand to replace it. 

Knowing your paints and your color scheme can really help a painting come to life. Speaking to the color scheme side of things it’s important to know if the painting is going to be entirely bright and saturated, or is it with the full spectrum of tints and shades for one color, or will the vibrancy of the painting's focus be off put by more neutral tones. 

All this is to say one of my favorite parts of being a painter is playing with color, and getting to enjoy all of these decisions with every piece.