Revisiting Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks': Palette and Color Study

It would have taken Edward Hopper around a year to paint 'Nighthawks', revisiting the painting as the oil paint dried so that he could build up his distinctive layers of color. So in that spirit, I'm returning to the color study that I started in the previous video. Not only does this give us more of an opportunity to examine the colors and palette of this wonderful painting, it also allows me to highlight another advantage of the two-color mixing method that I teach, namely repeatability.

A key skill for any painter as they develop their artistry is to be able to work on paintings for extended periods of time. But when you return to a painting after weeks or even months, how do you repeat the mixes that you were using to get the colors you wanted?

With conventional paint mixing, where you may be using three or more colors, it can be extremely difficult to get the exact proportions right to a repeat a mix. However with two-color mixing, all you need to remember is the pair of colors that you were using and then you can get back to the mix quickly and easily. It can even save you money as well, because you won't be wasting paint.

So you will see me find my way back into various mixes as I continue to work on my 'Nighthawks' color study. In this exercise I'm not really concerned with drawing or technique - I just want to give you an appreciation of what a great colorist Edward Hopper was, and more generally how important it is to understand how colors 'change' as they are put alongside each other. And of course it would be great experience for you to try this for yourselves!

I hope you enjoy this video, which will be the last on Edward Hopper for now at least. If you do, please remember to 'like' and subscribe, and as always if you have any questions or observations, please drop them in the Comments which I review regularly.

Our next Great Artist will be Monet!