Part Two ~ Close to Home
Project ~ Understanding Colour
Mixing Greys ~ Ana-chromatic Scale
Mixing the Mars Black and white gradually together to create a scale of greys was an interesting exercise, apart from being relaxing it was good to see how just a touch of either colour could change to a new tone. Finding the halfway grey was interesting as I did two scales and even though the mid grey turn out to be exactly the same. One of the mid greys looked light against the dark end of the scale in comparison and the other grey looked darker visually in comparison to the other mid grey when positioned by the lighter end. So the mid greys even the the same don’t look the same against other tones.
Ready for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colour mixing. It’s been a long time since I’ve done exercises like this, consciously being aware of the primary colours and what can be achieved from them. I think over the years I’ve gotten used to creating palettes while I work. But having done these exercises it’s amazing to see how many colours and tones can be made, and the range is endless!
To make the purples and violet colours I added crimson and a touch of white. The blue and red mixed together were making muddy brown colours.
I love how these tertiary colours have evolved on the palette ever changing as different colours are added to make and endless range of colours. It’s amazing how many colours can be made from the primary colours and saves a fortune of buying ready made colours straight from the tube!. The only thin is you’d have to be ready to make a large amount of your created colour so you don’t get caught out and not be able to match it half way through. Keeping a not of the colours used in sketchbooks is a wise decision.
Exercise ~ Complimentary Colours
This exercise was harder than I first thought it would be! I found that the colours in between the Red, Blue, Yellow and Green were tricky to make and I’d made them darker than they could be.
Here’s the exercise for creating twelve colours from Chevreul’s colour circle and then the opposite complimentary colours painting side by side. It appears to me that there is a pattern and the complimentary colours are a repeat of the chosen colours. Although this hasn’t been easy to do and I can see that they aren’t perfectly accurate if the repeat pattern is meant to be the case.
Project ~ Still Life
Exercise ~ Drawing in Paint
I didn’t have to look far to find objects around my home to draw that interest me. My bedroom is a very relaxing place and these items are the some of the first things I see in the morning. The scarf and beads draped over the wardrobe handles create a visually pleasing still life with the colour and soft textures of the scarf compared to the silver metal of the handles. The mirror also standing in the corner of my bedroom creates a good composition to reflect the space within my bedroom. These have been a subject before in the ‘Drawing Skills’ unit and my tutor at the time suggested they would be an interesting subject to do in colour. I’ve held on to these subjects thinking that I’d revisit in this painting course. The other object that interests me is the chandelier light hanging above my bed, also an item I see first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It’s often when I’m in a meditative state of mind relaxing before drifting off to sleep or waking up. The shadows created by the chandelier is interesting in the way it moves around depending on the light in the room at the time. I think they could make for interesting paintings. The items on a chest of drawers is a Buddha head and perfume bottle and a ‘flea market style’ book.
This drawing with paint exercise i feel maybe I was painting more than drawing as I haven’t any evident outlines. I did draw with the paintbrush though using various marks and different brushes. Square brushes were very good for drawing the straight lines in the door panel detail.
Exercise ~ still Life with Flowers
I was given these lovely lilies for Christmas and was very good timing for this exercise. I decided to use acrylic as I’m more confident with acrylics and wanted to paint a composition that is more painterly to be able to see brush stokes of colour layered side by side. I went straight in with a composition I liked by turning the vase around and painted it slightly off centre to show off the lily on the right. I found myself making up some of the colours I’d discovered in the Tertiary colour exercise, particularly the mauve which I used to paint the shadow. I love the shadow and find it just as interesting as the flowers them selves. The shapes created are almost abstract and give the painting some depth as well. I like the way the table has been cropped to make more of the vase and flowers composition. The glass I enjoyed trying to create reflection, shine and some of the distortion of the stems within the water. The texture of the textured paper I like also as it has helped the painting to be a bit more rugged. I chose an old brush as well to create a bristle texture.
Exercise ~ Still Life with Natural Objects
I decided to keep this exercise simple and paint these colourful peppers. Although ‘simple’ it was more of a challenge than I expected. The orange and yellow peppers haven’t come out as bright as I’d have liked but that could be due to the acrylics drying darker than when you first paint with them. I’m not sure I’ve progressed form the first still life as it is quite a different subject. It was interesting choosing the composition as once the peppers were cut in half I liked the stalk left on one of the halves and wanted this to be prominent. The insides are interesting to paint with the pale flesh in comparison to the brightness of the outer skin. I added white to the colour I used for the outsides to then paint the pale fleshy bit with the seeds. I added a touch of prussian blue and grey to the main pepper colours to create the deep inside of the pepper to show depth and highlight the seeds. I turned one of the halves the outside up to add a contrast to the smooth texture of the pepper in comparison to the inside. The background and shadows I feel I struggled with a bit, however I was trying to keep it slightly textured with colours from the subject and I used broken colours of neutral greys and greens for the shadows. The light source was above and slightly behind.
Project ~ Colour Relationships
Exercise ~ Exploring Contrasts
Firstly I chose bright orange for my colour ‘A’ as I think this is a good colour to experiment with other colours. Above are the range of colours I chose with notes. The orange is brighter and darker when next to the yellow and then lighter next to the deep red. The orange with the pale pink however almost becomes the same in terms of brightness. Then the orange placed in the middle of its’ complimentary colour of blue appears brighter and seems equal to the blue. They vibrate slightly too, firstly the orange comes forward and then the blue comes forward; they are equal in intensity. The lime green appears brighter when placed next to the pale pink compared to with sitting next to the grey. likewise the pale pink stands out brighter sitting inside the pale blue. The grey appears darker next to the lime green and then shows up lighter next to the dark blue and dark orange. The bright vivid complementary colours placed next to each other tend to vibrate.
This exercise really highlights the potential problems of colour while trying to paint a composition. Colours would have to be adjusted slightly depending on what colour they are going to be placed with even if they are the same overall colour being used. The hue can constantly change according to light and its juxtaposition with surrounding colours.
Exercise ~ successive Contrast
This was an interesting exercise, I tried four colour circles; red, purple, orange and blue and covered the other three up one at time to see the results and I could actually see a tint of the complementary colour in a circle when I looked at the white paper.
“These effects are caused by the stimulation and exhaustion of colour receptors in the retina. By exhausting the receptors for red, for example, only the remaining combinations of colours that mix to produce blue green are seen when you turn from looking at red to looking at white. White light, as Newton showed, is made up from all the colours of the spectrum. The human eye has full colour discrimination through the rod and cone cells. The rod cells in the retina distinguish light and dark, while the three types of cone cells respond to red, green and blue- violet which make up all colours.” (Practice of Painting, OCA, 2017).
Exercise ~ Still life with colour used to evoke mood
My home seems to have many flowers in vases at the moment which is perfect for some of these exercises. I chose to paint this vase of off white roses to evoke mood as while they were on the book case and I was sitting there looking at them I found them relaxing and calming. The petals are an off white cream with a tinge of green and are very gentle and delicate in appearance. So I chose muted pale colours of pale green, pale blue and cream which are calming colours. I chose a soft haired brush as well to create a smooth and soft effect with the paint. I started with a mix of white and raw sienna to create a warm glow then layered other neutral, grey and cream tones on top. I kept the paint light and built up in layers of washes. I used white mixed into the colours to make lighter hues to create a light calm feeling to the subject. I wanted to create a light calming atmosphere in the painting. The petals I built up with cream mixed with cadmium yellow and white and a tiny touch of emerald green to make the green tinge. I asked my friend when the painting was finished what mood it evoked and she said ‘calming’ and light’, I’m happy with that!
Exercise ~ Still life with complimentary colours
This exercise was quite a challenge to work from the same subject but in a different colour palette. I chose to work with Red/purple (Alizarin) and it’s complimentary colour Chartreuse (a bright mid green) as I thought this would be good for the subject being roses. I created a mix of the green with emerald green and cadmium yellow, and alizarin mixed with red and I then mixed these with white to make lighter hues. I then mixed these lighter hues together to create the tertiary colour for the background and mid tones for the painting. I started the painting with the greens for the leaves and stems and the background colour of neutral cream with a tinge of the green and pink. The green at this stage was quite muted however when I started to introduce the pinks and Alizarin the green started to resonate with the purple and pink tones and became quite harsh. so I found throughout the rest of the painting I was trying to calm the green down by mixing the mixed purple into it to make it more dusky. This was a good exercise to work with colour tones again and how different hues react with each other. It was also good to get used to mixing more tertiary colours as well.
Drawing and Painting Interiors
Quick Sketches around the house
I think looking at the sketches the one with the most promising composition is the one with the cabinet or the chest of drawers with my favourite objects and the view onto the stair landing. The cabinet drawing and view looks interesting with the glass doors and the items inside it.
Exercise ~ Simple perspective in interior studies
I decided to draw the black cabinet view in my bedroom which is the focal point and chose to paint with black and grey tones as the cabinet is black. I think the top part of the cabinet is convincing, as the perspective is alright and the washed out black paint make the cabinet look dusted and clean. The glass sheen I think you can see that it is glass with personal items and clothing inside it on the glass shelves. The door frame I’m not very pleased with, perhaps I could have painted this more of a tone. the bed I like with one of the posts and the soft drape of the curtain. I liked working in this way; drawing with the paint and realise that an earlier exercise where I’d painted the scarves on the door handle I could have tackled more with this approach.
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Henri Matisse at the Met: The Mindset behind the Masterpiece
Sketch the line 