Saturated Color

One of my students is doing a master copy of Millais' Ophelia.  She is working from an image on my computer and I desaturated it to gray scale so she could clearly see the value structure as she is working on the underpainting.  I liked the black and white version much better.  I thought the greens in the image we were painting from were too saturated.  I have never seen the original in person, so I am not sure how it compares.  We were discussing this and my student said she liked the vibrant greens.  I partially desaturated the image, and she was right!  I like the vibrant greens better too, when compared to a slightly desaturated version.  I love teaching, as I think sometimes I learn more than my students.  I think the vibrant greens make the painting a bit more arresting, and contrast with the subject matter.  Dead Ophelia surrounded by all that vibrant green life.  This is a lesson in how important color studies are.

Millais' Ophelia, Tate Britain, grayscale

Millais' Ophelia, Tate Britain, desaturated

Millais' Ophelia, Tate Britain, original