This is the second in a 3-part series highlighting some of the artists whose work appears in my new book, being released on October 13, 2026.
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Color Dominance, an Extension of Color Grouping
One of the painter’s greatest challenges is keeping all the colors within their picture harmonious. Using a wide variety of colors from every part of the spectrum can be tempting, much like a bowl of candy, but it can lead to discord. “All color is no color,” as Sir Kenneth Clark said.
Bill Cramer, “Moment in the Sun,” oil on linen, 16 x 12″. While there are many different colors in Cramer’s painting, they all fall within three major groups: the dominant group is formed by the autumn yellows and golds in the trees. A smaller group is the violet mountain, which complements the yellow. And the third group is the set of blue grays found in the sky and the shadows at the very bottom. By holding to a limited number of groups the painting exhibits greater color unity and harmony.
As in many aspects of painting, narrowing our options leads to better results. This is certainly the case with color. When our color strategy holds to two or three color families or groups, the painting will not only have a better chance of being harmonious, it will have more impact. Holding to a limited number of color families may seem restrictive, but color grouping doesn’t limit the number of individual colors you can use (values, saturation levels, temperatures) — it simply proposes that those many colors fall within a limited number of families.
In my second book, The Landscape Painter’s Workbook, I devoted an entire chapter to color grouping. (Also see The Power of Color Grouping in Landscape Painting.)
In the new book, New Lessons in Landscape Painting, I take the concept of color grouping a step further with color dominance, which suggests that one color family should dominate or “rule” the color composition, with the others take on supporting roles.
Color Dominance Benefits
Light in nature is often infused with a dominant hue—what the Impressionists called the “envelope of light.” We see this effect, for example, under atmospheric conditions or during the “golden hour” before sunset, when warm orange and gold light glazes everything it touches. Color dominance naturally lends itself to conveying these effects. A dominant hue also helps establish a mood and stronger emotional tone.
Dominance vs. Non-Dominance
The best way to demonstrate color dominance is to compare a color-dominant work with a non-dominant one. Here, we compare the same subject, with the same compostion, in the same medium (pastel).
Without Color Dominance (left)
If a color strategy can be compared to a musical score, we could say this painting has too many notes. It’s a festival of color from every hue family: yellows, blues, reds, violets, greens, and oranges. Nothing takes priority. The four color families in the sky visually overpower the lower portion. Too many color families wind up competing with one another. The result is certainly colorful, but feels undirected.
With Color Dominance (right)
By contrast, when the strategy is limited to just three groups—pale violet, pink, and blue— the overall impression is more focused. If we liken this version to a musical score, it’s more like a trio built around a specific key. The painting has unified light, a calmer feeling, and more atmosphere. The dominant blue sets the overall mood, while the pink acts as a warm accent that enlivens the color strategy.
Dominance through Proportion with Sandy Bricel Miller
The most direct way a painter can assert color dominance is to let one color family occupy 60, 70, or 80 percent of the painting. Other colors may be present, but they play supporting roles. This approach creates impact through the sheer visual weight of the dominant color.
Sandy Bricel Miller, Diablo Lake, watercolor, 13″ x 17”
In Diablo Lake, the viewer is struck by a breathtaking expanse of pure turquoise. “To capture the essence of this glacier-fed lake, I let the extraordinary turquoise color take center stage,” says Bricel Miller. “I mixed a series of analogous colors—‘supporting cast members’—that feature both cool and warm variations of the soft blues and blue-greens.” She also introduces carefully chosen contrasts to enliven the color composition. “Our eye delights in subtle color gems that provide contrast to the dominant color family, pushing beyond a monochromatic color scheme. The delicate golden rose in the distant peak and warm, muted greens in the foreground serve this role, creating color accents that support the leading actress, turquoise.”
Dominance through Hue Integration with Eleinne Basa
This approach to dominance is more nuanced than dominance through proportion. One hue still dominates—but it does so not because it occupies the largest area. Instead, the dominant color is infused into every other color in the picture, serving as a unifying thread.
Eleinne Basa, Moonrise Fog, oil on linen, 30″ x 30”
Moonrise Fog whispers with cool tranquility, demonstrating how the choice of a dominant color fundamentally shapes a painting’s mood. Note how the muted warm notes, scattered throughout the composition, help prevent the cool dominance from becoming overpowering.
The chapter on color domiance also features examples by John MacDonald, Romona Youngquist, Anne Blair Brown, and Mitchell Albal