Mixing Exercises 37, 38, 49, and 50

And that's that! All fifty exercises of Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green by Michael Wilcox are now completed.

37 was a transparency exercise. Especially the cadmiums covered well.
38 compared tonal range of a light wash to a heavy application of a pigment.
49 and 50 were about comparing light washes of a pigment with a mix with Titanium White.

Mixing Exercises 47 and 48

Exercise 47 - Introducing Yellow Ochre.
Yellow Ochre and French Ultramarine.


Exercise 48 - Introducing Raw Sienna.
Raw Sienna and and French Ultramarine.


This wraps up all the color chart exercises in Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green. There are four exercises involving opaqueness testing and mixing with white that I expect to complete over the next day or two. Funny how the robins and this exercise series are closing so closely together.

I do have a new project waiting in the wings, something that will carry us along until the watercolor course begins. And speaking of the course, yesterday my Cornell account was opened for that course and I've been poking around there. Although I spend a tremendous amount of time in front of screens day and night, I still prefer the pleasure of paper and ink in hand. I am collecting all the course material and formatting it up nicely for printing. Half the course is already complete.

Mixing Exercise 46

Exercise 46 - Introducing Yellow Ochre.
Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet.

I guess I didn't much think about Yellow Ochre as a yellow, that is until those oranges started popping out. I knew having colors so close together could lead to some nuanced mixes--I tried mixing in tiny bits of Cad Scarlet and it worked!

All my mixing exercises have used Winsor and Newton exclusively. But tonight, I slipped in the right hand column using M. Graham Yellow Ochre. I think this pigment might be a bit cooler than the W&N. This is my very first M. Graham experience. I found the paint a good deal smoother than W&N, not so heavy, much easier to mix. Smelled funny... Plastic? Fishy? Dunno... more sniffing needed. And, of course, do need to try more paints.

Mixing Exercise 45

Exercise 45 - Introducing Burnt Sienna.
Cerulean Blue and Burnt Sienna.

Once again I enjoyed mixing a blue into Burnt Sienna--this is a very cool warm color.

Mixing Exercise 44

Exercise 44 - Introducing Burnt Sienna.
Phthalo Blue and Burnt Sienna.

There is something about these subdued tones that move me. Similar is yesterday's mix with Ultramarine Blue. Tomorrow wraps up the Burnt Sienna and Blue series with Cerulean. Then it's on for three additional earth pigment exercises and two white mixes. That's it!

Mixing Exercises 41, 42, and 43

Exercise 41 - Introducing Burnt Sienna.
Winsor Lemon and Burnt Sienna.

Exercise 42 - Introducing Burnt Sienna.
Permanent Rose and Burnt Sienna.

Exercise 43 - Introducing Burnt Sienna.
Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.
My favorite of these three exercises, the neutrals here are amazing.

Mixing Exercises 36, 39, and 40

I thought I'd spend some extra time and wrap up the Phthalo Green series. I skipped exercises 37 and 38--they're not color charts but some simple exercises in opacity. Next up is a series using earth pigments--the siennas and yellow ochre.

Exercise 36 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Winsor Green BS and Winsor Blue GS .

Exercise 39 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Permanent Rose and Winsor Green BS .
This has to be one of the most pleasurable mixes in the entire series. I was completely stunned with the range of lovely colors produced using these two transparent and staining pigments. I wonder how many paintings have used just these two?

Exercise 40 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Cadmium Scarlet and Winsor Green BS .

Mixing Exercise 35 and Rublev Chart

Exercise 35 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Cadmium Yellow and Winsor Green BS .


Here's a simple chart of the Rublev colors. Also included is a bit of random mixing.

Mixing Exercise 34

Exercise 34 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Winsor Lemon and Winsor Green BS .
Beautiful and clean colors. I kept the top row a bit less saturated than usual, perhaps because I started out with yellow.

Dearest reader, you must be so tired of color squares. To be honest, sometimes it is a chore here, but I am learning, maybe more than I can now realize. Soon the birds will have flown and the squares all filled, just about the time my watercolor course begins. Change is afoot...

Mixing Exercise 33

Exercise 33 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Winsor Green BS and Ultramarine Blue.

Today's exercise uses a blue that extends a bit further away than yesterday's blue. I can see something of yesterday's range of mixes contained in today's exercise. Curiously, I never realized the extent of violet in the French Ultramarine. (I'm seeing more violet on my chart than this screen.)



The Natural Pigments order arrived today! Here's a little study using the Rublev brand watercolors, Nicosia Green Earth and Italian Raw Sienna. There seems to be a bit of grittiness with these paints although perhaps I've simply not had enough experience with my W&N earth paints. I'll have a better idea soon as my mixing exercises will next week turn to using earths.

Mixing Exercise 32

Exercise 32 - Introducing Phthalocyanine Green.
Winsor Green BS and Cerulean Blue.

Phthalo Green is a powerful pigment. Just a bit goes a long way.

Mixing Exercise 31

Well, this wraps up the three pigment mixes. Some lovely colors here... From now on, I'm back to two pigments with some interesting mixes.

I have twice emailed Winsor and Newton regarding their cadmium mixes and sadly they have disregarded my queries. On the other hand, within an hour of emailing Natural Pigments regarding an overcharge on my recent order, I received a phone call assuring me that their billing mistake was corrected and never made it onto my credit card. Nice going NP! Shame on you, W&N.

Mixing Exercise 30

Exercise 30 - The complementary pair, red and green, with violet-red and yellow-green. Permanent Rose, Winsor Lemon, and Cerulean Blue.

Tomorrow's exercise will the last in the series of mixes involving only the six colors--Cadmium Scarlet, Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Winsor Lemon and Cadmium Yellow. (That is, except for Exercise 9 with the Pthalo Blue.)

The six additional pigments to be included in the remaining mixes are Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Pthalo Green, Pthalo Blue, and Titanium White.

There are fifty exercises in all and I expect to wrap them up just in time for the start of the Cornell watercolor course.

With all my tubes of paint, I was surprised to find that I was without a Raw Sienna. Here's how I decided to fill in that blank. ;-)

Mixing Exercise 29

Exercise 29 - The complementary pair, red and green, with orange-red and yellow-green. Cadmium Scarlet, Winsor Lemon, and Cerulean Blue.

Similar to the previous exercise, except this green leans into yellow. As the green drops out with increasing doses of red, orange appears.

Mixing Exercise 28

Exercise 28 - The complementary pair, red and green, with orange-red and blue-green. Cadmium Scarlet, Winsor Lemon, and Cerulean Blue.

Something that seems to have fallen by the wayside in this scan is the wonderful granulation that Cerulean Blue brings to these mixes. In fact, the mixed pigments in wash on my palette needed constant stirring up. Other qualities come to mind--transparency to opaqueness and staining ability, properties that I've rather disregarded in these exercise posts, although have had some awareness in my exercises.

My cadmiums and the cerulean offer great covering ability--highly opaque. The Winsor Lemon, Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose are transparent pigments. Opaques are noted for some ability to perform as transparents when used in light washes or glazes.

Mixing Exercise 27

Exercise 27 - The complementary pair, red and green, with violet-red and mixed green. Permanent Rose, Winsor Lemon, and Cerulean Blue.

Wow, what beautiful mixes! I just love these center colors. I've been altering my mixes. Instead of simply watering down the mix each time for each square, I'm washing in a few at a time and glazing over to grade them out. It makes things a bit easier to control but I must remember to wait until a square is quite dry before trying to glaze. Otherwise, I might be likely to lift the pigments rather than apply more.

Mixing Exercise 26

Exercise 26 - The complementary pair, red and green, with orange-red and mixed green. Cadmium Scarlet, Winsor Lemon, and Cerulean Blue.

Mixing Exercise 25

Exercise 25 - The complementary pair, orange and blue, with mixed yellow-orange and green-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and Cerulean Blue.

This series of complementary exercises has juggled a couple of blues against a range of oranges. From browns, grays, and subdued to brighter greens, the center point of these mixes has presented quite the range.

Next up is a week of red and green. I am reminded of my much younger days when I practiced scales and Hanon on my piano. Those exercises were not always terribly exciting, but at times quite rewarding, at others meditative, and they did quietly and surely instill a deep body/mind sense of space and motion. I'm hoping for similar results here.

Mixing Exercise 24

Exercise 24 - The complementary pair, blue and orange, with mixed red-orange and green-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and Cerulean Blue.

If you have been unfortunate enough to closely read my exercise pigment descriptions (like the one above), you will have noticed that I regularly botch up the exercise numbers and the pigments. I'm a bit challenged with edits post cut and paste. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. ;-)

Hey, I have a new book! Gretchen recommended Making Colors Sing by Jeanne Dobie. I ordered it yesterday and it came in today. I take that as a sign that I was meant to have it. More on this soon...

Mixing Exercise 23

Exercise 23 - The complementary pair, blue and orange, with mixed red-orange and violet-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and French Ultramarine.

The intent of these recent exercises has been to use various oranges against a stable violet blue. Next up will be a couple of exercises in similar fashion, the blue being the green blue Cerulean.

Mixing Exercise 22

Exercise 22 - The complementary pair, blue and orange, with mixed yellow-orange and violet-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and French Ultramarine.

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.

Mixing Exercise 21

Exercise 21 - The complementary pair, blue and orange, with mixed bright orange and green-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and Cerulean Blue.



I may have once again started with my orange on the red side, but the range of hues is extensive! I was floored by the greens--I had figured the browns would simply transition into the blues.

Mixing Exercise 20

Exercise 20 - The complementary pair, blue and orange, with mixed bright orange and violet-blue. Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, and French Ultramarine.


These mixes came out with a good deal more browns and grays than illustrated in the book's example. I like mine better. :-) (I think my orange may have been mixed a bit more towards red than yellow.)

Mixing Exercise 19

Exercise 19 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with orange-yellow and mixed bright red -violet. Winsor Lemon, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.

These exercises open me to color. Not so much my brighter mixes... I am attracted to subdued colors and all their subtle variations. I get the urge to paint "something", not just my little three quarter inch squares, but I will continue to put my time into daily exercises. Soon enough I will be shifting focus--the water color course is due up in a month or so, leaving me just enough time to complete the book's fifty exercises.

But isn't this enough to do? Well... You know how it is... I've just become a bit interested in Paleolithic art--cave painting. Look at those wonderful earth tones. Truly earth tones. I'd love to learn to mimic the look. I suspect my library will soon be growing. But for now, I'm digging up web resources.

Mixing Exercise 18

Exercise 18 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with orange-yellow and mixed bright blue-violet. Winsor Lemon, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.



This exercise and the next are like the last two, replacing the Winsor Lemon with Cadmium Yellow.

Today I spent some time reading David Rourke's article Color and color mixing. From there I slipped into the Munsell color system and reading his A Color Notation.

I'm watching "Frida" while wrapping things up here.

From Wiki:

Drawing on personal experiences, including her marriage, her miscarriages, and her numerous operations, Kahlo's works often are characterized by their stark portrayals of pain. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She insisted, "I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."
...

As a young artist, Kahlo approached the Mexican painter, Diego Rivera, whose work she admired, asking him for advice about pursuing art as a career. He recognized her talent and her unique expression as truly special and uniquely Mexican. He encouraged her artistic development and began an intimate relationship with Frida. They were married in 1929, despite the disapproval of Frida's mother.
...

Later, in his autobiography, Diego Rivera wrote that the day Kahlo died was the most tragic day of his life, adding that, too late, he had realized that the most wonderful part of his life had been his love for her.

"Autorretrato con Collar de Espinas y Colibrí"
("Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Humming-bird")

Wikipedia contributors. "Frida Kahlo." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 May. 2010. Web. 6 May. 2010.

Mixing Exercise 17

Exercise 17 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with green-yellow and mixed bright blue-violet. Winsor Lemon, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.


I'm beginning to understand these recent exercises. They're kind of like a guided exploration. What happens when I dance around a complementary set? I've read about true complements being mixed to grays and I think I'm very close with today's exercises. It's all rather fascinating and exciting. :-)

I'm also now trying to lay down smooth washes by tilting my paper and using full deep strokes--that is, instead of flat down with little pecking strokes. The mix consistency seems important in achieving a smooth wash. Too thick and it streaks.

Mixing Exercise 16

Exercise 16 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with green-yellow and mixed bright red-violet. Winsor Lemon, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.



Well now, this exercise was supposed to produce some muted colors but I don't think I mixed the proper red-violet, perhaps pulling too far to the red. Tomorrow's exercise will use the same three pigments but with a violet that leans towards blue.

The exercises are now moving towards an open style. I am encouraged to spend some time experimenting so I guess I'll just call tonight's work an experiment. ;-)

Mixing Exercise 15

Exercise 15 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with green-yellow and mixed bright violet. Winsor Lemon, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.



I particularly liked the colors in the center of the chart. This color set is one of my favorite exercises.

As I read through my various books on botanical watercolor, I notice that some artists work with a very limited palette, something similar to these exercises. And yet, there are others who may use ten different pigments (and some of them are already mixes!) in one painting. Everyone's work looks great. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.

Mixing Exercise 14

Exercise 14 - Grays and neutrals from yellow and violet with orange-yellow and mixed bright violet. Cadmium Yellow, French Ultramarine, and Permanent Rose.


This is my first three pigment mixing exercise. Firstly, I've learned to tuck aside enough starter mix for each column. Towards the end I ran a bit shy and had to start with a less that fully saturated mix. I like the browns, especially when they turn slightly violet.

These exercises are leaving their mark on me. I'm beginning to categorize colors--this red is leaning towards orange, that green is leaning towards yellow, that gray is mildly saturated blue... Sometimes I just stop and gaze at the foliage...

I particularly enjoyed the results on my mixing palette although I'm really not capturing in this image the lovely range of colors. This example got me thinking of perhaps how to establish a working palette for a real painting.

Mixing Exercise 9

Exercise 9 - Finding a little extra green with green-yellow and green-blue. Winsor Lemon and Winsor Blue GS.


Holy guacamole! This blue is intense! Thanks go to Gretchen and Katharine for encouraging me to give this pigment a try. :-)

Tomorrow will bring the first of the three pigment mixes.

Mixing Exercise 13

Exercise 13 - Bright oranges with orange-yellow and orange-red. Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Scarlet.

Nice clean, bright oranges, eh? Of course, the same principle we use here applied when mixing bright violets and bright greens. Start with pigments leaning towards the target color and it'll come up quite pure. Want less saturated secondaries? Use one or both pigments leaning away from the target color.

I still had a bit of trouble making progressive mixes but taking my time and adding just a bit at a time helped somewhat. Maybe this is all just a matter of practice...

Next up is a series of mixes with three pigments. (There's still a two pigment exercise coming up--that is, once the pthalo blue arrives.) I'll be using two primaries to make a secondary and then mixing that with its complement. Now how cool is that? :-)

Mixing Exercise 12

Exercise 12 - Mid-oranges with green-yellow and orange-red. Winsor Lemon and Cadmium Scarlet.


I think did a bit better this time graduating out the oranges but I didn't find it easy. I'm wondering if my lighting might be part of the problem. I'm working with overhead fluorescents and a small desk lamp with a so called daylight incandescent lamp. At some point, I'd like to pick up some true full spectrum lighting, just to take this possible issue off the table. But first, I'm trying to plow through this document.

Mixing Exercise 11

Exercise 11 - Mid-oranges with orange-yellow and violet-red. Cadmium Yellow and Permanent Rose.



I think these orange exercises are a bit skewed by the W&N Cadmium Yellow. The tube lists only PO20. The W&N website lists PO20 and PY35. W&N Cadmium Yellow Light (the pigment I should be using) is listed as PY35. So, it seems that my Cad Yellow is actually a mix of Cad Orange and Cad Yellow Light. Hmm...I am mixing with a mix... This does gnaw at my perfectionist tendencies but I'll just keep mixing away here, knowing that my yellow is a bit overextended into the orange camp.

Curiously, W&N's Cadmium Orange is a mix of PR108 (Cadmium Red) and good old PY35. Another mix! So how come they mix in Cad Orange to make Cad Yellow and don't use any Cad Orange to make Cad Orange? I think this is a good question so I have posted it off to Winsor and Newton technical inquiries.

Mixing Exercise 10

Exercise 10 - Grayed oranges with green-yellow and violet-red. Winsor Lemon and Permanent Rose.


Well. I know this is supposed to be a grayed oranges exercise but, really, they sure look bright enough to me. Okay, so maybe the bright series will be brilliant oranges. I tripped a bit between columns three and four, as I probably could have squeezed in a couple more mixes, but these pigments were so lively.

Perhaps one must also take into account the tonal ranges of the pigments. Lighter must translate a bit to brighter. Ah, to properly account for the pigment and resulting mix properties of hue, chroma, and value. More to keep in mind.

I'm off for special binders with transparent sleeves to keep my work clean and in order. I can appreciate as I parse through my exercises how my nuanced mixes have improved. I made a change today that helped by switching from my Raphael 8408 #6 to a #3. I'm finding that the 3 holds a load that more closely fits with a square meaning less wicking off and more control. But, I do love the 6--it actually seems to tip off better than the 3. I guess each brush is truly unique.

Mixing Exercise 8

Exercise 8 - Bright greens with green-yellow and green-blue. Winsor Lemon and Cerulean Blue.

Interesting how these greens are so bright. As these exercises go on I'm gaining a bit of comfort with where pigments are positioned in the color spectrum. Exercise 9 call for replacing the Cerulean Blue with Phthalocyanine Blue with the expectation of even brighter greens. Well, out of all my tubes of paint, I don't have this pigment so I'll simply pass on this exercise. Next up, Exercise 10 will be grayed oranges.

Mixing Exercise 7

Exercise 7 - Mid-intensity greens with orange-yellow and green-blue. Cadmium Yellow and Cerulean Blue.



Tomorrow we wrap up the green with the brilliant set! :-)

Mixing Exercise 6

Exercise 6 - Mid-intensity greens with green-yellow and violet-blue. Winsor Lemon and French Ultramarine.



I feel like I'm gaining a gentleness about mixing--using less paint, less water, unloading the brush on my towel as needed. I am beginning to feel how little of a mixed in pigment is needed to make a change.

I'm seeing color. Sometimes I see ultramarine or cerulean or something close to that. But what I am most noticing is that there are so many colors. Subtle differences are coming to life for me. Just barely registering is the thought that I may try to replicate these nuanced tonal hues.

Mixing Exercise 5

A link to my botanical illustration course posts is now featured on Cornell's registration page . Included is one of my drawings, my favorite submission. I will soon be signing up for the watercolor course starting on June 7 and will naturally be blogging it all out right here! :-)

Exercise 5 - Grayed greens with orange-yellow and violet-blue. Cadmium Yellow and French Ultramarine.


It is suggested that one think about where each mix might be used so I'm thinking mostly about botanical style paintings. The violets, well, I thought of rhododendron and azalea flowers. Violets and pansies too. These greens and blues, so many possibilities... Foliage. Perhaps shadows. It seems to me that there is an incredibly rich range with these two pigments.