My exercises continue to miss the mark matching the book's colors. Of course, the book's chart portrays Ultramarine as positively violet. So, no worries.
Color charts are pleasurable enough and important for this beginner but I've been getting the urge for something different...
Here I thought I'd try a looser style with the same colors in the chart above.
Here are a couple of fun pieces based on the exercise 20 palette. I just love those colors. The one on the left was my first try. This evening I spritzed it down and added some darker values. Now I think I could have gone ever further with darks and bright blues and oranges. Even tried that toothbrush spray trick. I had in mind surfaces that might mimic stone in cave paintings.
Now that you have been doing these color charts for awhile and understand the mixing of individual colors, there is yet another level of color theory to explore and that is the relationships between colors themselves and how they can play off of each other when placed side by side. Certain colors whether pure or mixed can vibrate with energy when placed alongside each other and can move forward or recede within a composition. One of my favorite "color" books of all time is "Making Color Sing" by Jeanne Dobie. Despite it funny title, it's a classic and has influenced my watercolor painting and understanding of color perhaps more than any other book in the 20+ years since I first bought it.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is still in print. I think you might enjoy it!
~gretchen
Sounds fascinating, Gretchen. Thanks! It will arrive on Wednesday. :-) I think I am going to be in fine shape going into my watercolor course. I heard from Marcia today--start date is June 7th but I think that first week is simply software orientation. The site content should open up soon so I'll be able get an early jump on the details.
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