Notice color before naming it

Choose a small area

Open Water Lilies and enlarge a patch of water. Rather than calling it simply blue or green, list the colors you notice. Look for small marks tucked between larger ones.

Compare neighbors

Find a pale mark beside a darker one. Notice which seems to come forward. Now find a similar pale mark somewhere else. Does its surrounding color make it seem different?

Try this on paper: draw the same small gray square on two different colored backgrounds. Describe how each one looks to you.

Make a small palette

Pick five colors from the painting and make five swatches with pencils, crayons, or paint. Aim for an approximation rather than a perfect match. Place the swatches in different orders and notice which pairings you prefer.