This summer I had a client asking for a diptych for her 2 little girls, and a gallery that was telling me that their clients were finding that my work was too dark, that they liked the brighter colours. So I started on these small ones in acrylic, where I was trying to keep things simpler - colours fairly pure and with a lot of white. I noticed the contrast between these small guys and the ones on the other wall on the shelf, which had gotten much darker.

It was helpful to have this section set up, because when I was working on something else, I'd place it alongside of these ones and then it was easier to tell if it was getting dark or muddy. Otherwise it's sometimes hard to tell that your work is getting so dark, until you have something really bright to contrast it with.

 I liked having them on the wall as puzzle pieces, and it didn't feel as though they needed to be as "finished" either.

 little ones 3x4", squares mostly 6x6"

I was struggling to keep the colours of the top left one pure,
from a distance it didn't read the same way as the others.

 acrylic and chalk pastel

 acrylic and pencil

chalk pastel and pencil

 acrylic and pencil

 acrylic and pencil

 acrylic

 acrylic, pencil, chalk pastel, collaged grid paper

(I found this one interesting sideways too )

 black but not dark, bright, because of the contrast

I found that the wall as a whole needed some black

I liked that I didn't play too much into this one