The background is almost abstract, and the woman walking through the atmosphere is very, very real. Catching the Breeze, art print from Steve Henderson Collections.

In professional fine art, the term “local color” refers to the actual color a viewer expects to see — in a landscape, figurative work, or still life painted in a representational manner. Local color is not a term one uses with an abstract painting.

Now the beauty of working with local color is that you can push it, pull it, stretch it, and play with it, and this is what Steve has done with the painting, Catching the Breeze.

We’re on the beach at sunset, and those of you who have experienced glorious sunsets on the coast know that there are pinks, purples, corals, oranges, yellows, and warm, warm, reds. This palette of God’s across the clouds and sky is what infuses so much emotion into a coastal twilight.

And this palette of warm colors is what Steve has chosen to push, to its limits, in Catching the Breeze — emphasizing the deep, rich colors of the sunset and scaling back on any greens or blues that one mentally expects to see (because the ocean’s blue, right?) A skillful use of lavender, interspersed with greys, white, and abalone, subtly contrasts with the warm hues, drawing them out further.

The perfect companion to Catching the Breeze, Ocean Breeze incorporates and celebrates the same warm, vibrant palette of color. Art print from Steve Henderson Collections.

The result is an atmosphere of color, mystery, and grace — the young woman strolling meditatively through a seascape, her elegant manteau catching the breeze, thereby fusing her into her background: the ocean, the beach: they are there, but in an abstract manner blended with realism, the same way that the colors are unreal, yet real.

The overall effect is one of high color, movement, and emotion.

The original painting, Catching the Breeze is sold. The collector who purchased it told Steve, “I feel as if I am the woman in this painting. I look at it, and I am there.” Prints of Catching the Breeze are available at this link at Steve Henderson Collections.

And “there” is a good place to be.

Writing is an art form of its own, but all of us, regardless of how well we dance the dance, must and need to write. Grammar Despair will help you solve the common little problems that plague the best of us. At Amazon.com.

Read the rest at Steve’s weekly e-mail newsletter, Start Your Week with Steve.

Licensed open edition prints of Catching the Breeze are available through Framed Canvas Art, iCanvasART, and Great Big Canvas.

Please contact Carolyn@SteveHendersonFineArt to inquire about any of Steve’s original oil paintings or licensed open edition prints.

Shipping of original paintings, purchased through Steve Henderson Fine Art, is free to the U.S. and Canada. All other areas, contact us and we’ll figure out the shipping charges.

Check out Steve’s artwork at Steve Henderson Fine Art. Original paintings — licensed open edition prints — Santa and Holiday. Steve’s licensed work is available at Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, Amazon.com, Light in the Box, and Framed Canvas Art.

If you are a manufacturer who would like to use Steve’s artwork on your products, please contact his agents, Matt Appelman (matt.appelman@artlicensing.com). You can see Steve’s Art Licensing page here.

Check out, also, Steve and Carolyn’s products at Amazon.com:

Live Happily on Less: 52 Ways to Renovate Your Life and Lifestyle (paperback and digital book)

Grammar Despair: Quick, simple solutions to problems like, “Do I say Him and Me or He and I?” (paperback and digital book)

Step by Step Watercolor Success (digital DVD workshop designed for beginning to intermediate watercolor students and artists)