World far from black and white for color-blind artist (PHOTOS)

Color blindness isn’t stopping South Walton’s Aaron Sutton from painting daily scenes of life on C.R. 30-A.

“It is a challenge and it has caused me to mess up a few paintings,” Sutton, who’s blind to both red/green and violet/blue differences, told The Log. “I remember accidentally painting a face of a person green ... It’s interesting to think that what I paint may look completely different to me than to someone else.”

Sutton said he’s been painting and sketching as long as he can remember, whether drawing on his parents’ walls while growing up in Texas, or winning elementary school art contests, starting with a Best of Show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in third grade.

After graduating college, Sutton said, he wanted to become a professional artist, but had no idea how to start. The influence and inspiration of Texas artists John White and Greg Goodnight changed that; Sutton said working in Goodnight’s studio for a year was a better art education than four years of college.

A year ago, Sutton — who’d become familiar with 30-A through vacationing there — decided that the natural beauty and the family atmosphere made it a perfect source of artistic inspiration. He and his wife made the move, and he now works as marketing director for Beach Properties of Florida in Grayton Beach and owns a Web and graphic design business, Pure White Design.

Despite his color-blindness, he said, “I can still feel what ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ colors are. I also work with a lot of neutral and gray colors early in the process of a painting. That helps me to get the values right.”

Sutton said his method is similar to grisaille, a Renaissance painting technique in which images were executed first in gray, then layered over with color. He said he also asks his wife’s input as to whether a color choice works.

Since moving to 30-A, Sutton has adopted the practices of the “daily painting” movement, where artists commit to produce a painting at least five days out of the week; Sutton said he hasn’t been able to maintain that pace, but he’s painting more in South Walton than he has since college, and posting the results to his blog.

“I thought that by having a daily blog, it would motivate me to paint more often and really soak in all the great local color,” Sutton said.

“Another goal of the daily painting movement is to create quick paintings that are more affordable. If someone subscribes to my daily painting e-mail list they get paintings in their e-mail to enjoy every time I post a new one to the blog. I have had some great feedback from a few 30-A locals, and out-of-towners as well.”

Sutton said he works with heavy body acrylics, usually over canvas or boards covered with layers of a primer called gesso to make the painting smooth. He said he also does woodworking with pieces of local driftwood and mesquite and juniper from Texas.

His long-term goals, Sutton said, are to keep improving, to see how God blesses his career and to promote family values through art: “I want to point people to what truly matters. Life is simple and fulfilling when we get to know God and when we invest our time in the people that matter most, our family.”

If that doesn’t lead to a full-time artistic career, Sutton said, he’s still satisfied as long as he’s painting: “No matter what I do, I can't fight the bug to create with my mind and with my hands. I have to do it or things just aren’t right!”

For more information, visit AaronSutton.com or PureWhiteDesign.com