Are color choices personal?

Looking at Art:

An artist friend recommended a painting exhibition to me that she had loved. When I entered the gallery, I was surprised to find landscape paintings in lively bright colors. My biggest surprise was that my friend had a high opinion of the works and their saturated colors. Since I have started painting seriously, I notice that my taste has changed and I prefer subtle colors with an emphasis on values and the contrast of darks and light areas. How do you respond to colors in art? Do you like to see a predominance of bright colors? Is color a matter of taste?

Work in the Studio:

I had a critique of my work by an accomplished, award-winning watercolor painter several years ago. He said that my greatest weakness was the choice of colors in my work. At the time, I thought that the criticism was rather harsh. However since that critique, I find myself thinking of my color choices more critically when I paint. In the painting shown here, I wanted the dark areas to be subtle, helping to highlight the remaining light portions of the painting. I deliberately kept the colors unsaturated to create a certain mood. Since I have just completed the painting, I’m not sure how I feel about it. Perhaps I need to live with it for a while.

Rest Your Head, Watercolor, 14” x 11”