
Author: finn
palo verde – color
some thoughts on color
I’ve been working with color quite a bit lately, and I have mixed feelings about it. I’ve gotten the colors tamed, I’m able to get them subdued and looking more natural. More like how things actually look without garish saturated colors. I like that. But…
To me color is weaker. It just doesn’t have the hard-edged, gritty, badass sharp stick in the eye power of b/w, which to my mind can begin to convey the heart and spirit of the desert. This is a tough hard-edged place. Color can look nice but for me it falls short of what I try to do. It’s the nature of the beast.
I’ll use color, for a change of pace now and then if nothing else. I’m not rejecting it, but I do realize my true visual language is black and white. Know thyself…
two chollas
human presence
deadwood – color
dead cholla

I haven’t done much color for several years. I try it now and then, but I seldom like what I get so I abandon it. But that annoys me so I keep coming back to it.
I’m starting to appreciate it more. It can be good if you learn how to use it in your own way. I don’t know yet – maybe ’26 will be a year of more color. Stay tuned…



