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Green faces
Ah Steven, where do I begin? Living in New England I am fortunate to have taken courses with, belong to a society with and sometimes schmooze with adherents of the Boston School. There are some wonderful books on the school on this very site. (Thank you Cynthia!)
They were a group of artists from Boston who studied classical painting techniques in Europe in the 19th century and brought them here. These techniques almost died out in America in the mid 20th century. A few stalwarts kept this small flame burning. So much knowledge was almost lost. One of them is the foliage thing. Simply put, skintones reflect any color that is near to them, adjacent walls, trees outside a window etc. Try this yourself, take a juicy blob of white paint place it next to window that is close to foliage and note the color change. That is why you have to have the clearest window possible. That is why north light is best, it is the steadiest and the most neutral. I paint a lot from life and I am always amazed how cameleon-like flesh is. I hope this is clear.
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