Munsell Gray Scale

I'm back after days of measuring, mixing and tubing. For results there are nine tubes of hand-mixed paint in Munsell values 1-9. It's probably impossible to reach the extreme values of 0 and 10 in paint. In the chart below Holbein Peach Black starts off the low end with a value of about 0.5. The high end is Gamblin Radiant White with about 9.75.

Apologies for this photo... Once the scale dries and can be scanned safely I'll post a better image.

More soon as I examine the chart in Photoshop and tune up the paints as needed.

Oils Value Chart

The panel was finished up today. All together, there are two coats of Golden GAC 100 front and back, and three coats of Golden Gesso on the front and one on the back.

Using Munsell value chips (2-9) and a few oils, I practiced mixing values and applying with palette knife. I started with a brush and soon found it quite a waste of time, once I realized that mixing took place with the palette knife and not the brush.

Paints used are:

• Gamblin Radiant White (Titanium Dioxide; Safflower Oil)
• Wiliamsburg Ivory Black (Amorphous Carbon; Linseed Oil)
• Holbein Peach Black  (Aniline Black and soot from lamp; not sure but probably Linseed)

Safflower or poppy oil is sometimes used with white to reduce the slight yellowing of linseed oil, so this Gamblin white will push the very high end of white in the Munsell scale, perhaps as high as 9.75. (In fact, some oil brands are mixed exclusively with a non-linseed oil.)

Holbein's Peach Black is known as one of the blackest blacks, pushing the low end of Munsell down to 0.5.

I'll be picking up an extended Munsell value chart that better displays values. It presents in quarter values with, for deeper blacks, a glossy finish.

And lastly, there's a Natural Pigments order on the way: earth oil paints and grinding oils.

Having a stock of dry pigments is so exciting! With an appropriate binder (gum arabic, egg yolk, linseed oil) I can produce watercolors, egg tempera, and oil paints, all from the same material.

Roses and Munsell

I figured I'd play with color today. I cracked an egg and sanded a board... and then thought that a bit of color exploration with Munsell chips would be fun. Sidetracked again.

This series of chips is from the 5Y chart. Isn't this fascinating? These colors give me a sense of green. Low chroma yellow displays as muted greens! I remember this happening in my Zorn palette explorations when I mixed yellow ochre and vine black and got these kind of greens.

Okay, so the general hue and chroma has been established. (These first two columns of the 5Y chart are chroma 2 and 4 respectively.) What's the value? Squint. I see it somewhere between 5 and 6.

The dried rose petals are a complex myriad of colors, never mind the iridescence that adds richness. (Can I capture that in egg tempera?)

There are some low values here that seem to fit into this range of chips.

Here's a look at the overall 5RP chart. Isn't it amazing the range available with just this hue?

It would probably be fair to wonder just what it is that I am up to. I don't expect to be running around holding Munsell chips up to everything in sight (although I will from time to time do just that). I think that exercises like these open up my color experience and also get me thinking about tonal value.

I've been reading up a good deal on using Munsell with oils. In fact, I have just a very few tubes on the way for some beginner tonal exercises. But it seems clear to me that egg tempera is a special case, being of so many layers. I mean, it's not like mixing a string of values  with the same hue and chroma, perhaps useful for turning form. Well, maybe I could mix something like that with egg tempera, but I'd still want the layers.

So you see, I'm somehow plotting my course, with as many questions as answers. And that may never change.

Thoughts on making charts

I began with the intent of copying the Munsell 5YR chart in egg tempera but soon realized that I didn't have enough familiarity with my pigments. So for a starter exercise I simply cut loose and played with a few pigments that I thought might get me close.

The Cyprian umber seemed to be outside the hue family but the English sienna and Type B umber came in with a few colors from the chart. I thought that I could run through adding more white to a pigment and see it walk up the value scale while holding chroma. Not so with these pigments, and I find this fascinating!

I want to retry this study with the same pigments only now working strictly with the Munsell neutral values as value guides and see how the pigments then perform. The initial pigments will take time but I suspect this will get easier as I gain experience.

There might be two approaches--mixed with white, or straight pigment(either layered or different strengths).  Note the last column where I layered pigment instead of mixing white, preserving transparency.

Munsel Student Charts

An exercise of Chapter 1 of the Munsell Student Color Set is to break down the little packets of color chips, one packet for each hue page. They are then arranged in place, labeled on the back, and glue sticked in place. After the first few charts, the sorting became considerably easier as I picked up an eye for chroma and value.

These charts will get plenty of use in the upcoming exercises.

Neutral Refinements

Yesterday we saw how the yellow of the yolk fades quickly. I think it's still fading, becoming whiter! Later this evening I'll paint up another white chip for a three day comparison. I think I've read that fading does occur over a few days--wish I could find that reference.

Gretchen asked if I compensate for the inevitable whitening of egg yolk yellow. At this time, I haven't tried. I think this will only become clear when I can accurately mix a Munsell neutral and then see if it holds. Granted, in white the yellow is obvious. As the value decreases, will the yellow be as prominent? How about when I begin introducing color? I think only by experience will I be able to answer these questions. (Note: The Munsell kit call for using acrylics for these exercises. I decided to use egg tempera to challenge myself and become more familiar with my medium. Also note: the rational painting recommendation below for burnt umber is based on oils.)

Although it doesn't present properly, the Munsell chip is actually a darker value than my first painted chip. You see, the Munsell chip is N9/, a value of 9. Munsell values theoretically go to 10. Titanium white can present as high as 9.75 and I am certainly seeing a lot brighter white than that N9/ chip. I forgot all about this and somehow associated pure titanium white with N9/. What this means is that I must tone down the pure white for the true value of 9.

Early this morning I finally arrived at a hue close to neutral! The Munsell Student manual suggests using either cadmium red or yellow to warm up a hue or cerulean or phthalo blue to cool it down. Well, I just couldn't seem to pull my hues to neutral until I remembered another source mentioning to use burnt umber. That works pretty well!

On my lower set of chips above, the chip on the left is the bluish hue I was trying to neutralize. That's the Munsell chip in the middle. On the right is my mix with burnt umber, the bottom part of that chip with slightly more umber than the top. See how it's pulling in closer in hue? The value still needs work, though.

I found this method on rational painting.org where Graydon Parrish recommends mixing the proper value using black and white and doing the same with burnt umber and white. Then with both mixes at the same value, mix them to achieve an exact neutral. The thought is that one must deal with only one property (hue, value, chroma) at a time.

So you can see that I have some work ahead of me. And yet, I've already learned a lot and starting to pick up an eye for real neutrals. I'll be working on my neutrals while forging ahead on the remaining exercises in Chapter 1.

Munsell Neutral Value Scale

The second Munsell exercise calls for creating value chips using the student kit's chips. In the image below the Munsell chips are upon my own painted in egg tempera on Bristol Board using natural black oxide and titanium white. Some chips I hit pretty close; others need work. Also, notice the mid values, how my paint leans to the blue. (I'm working that out now.)

Exercise 1.2

Inevitably when I describe what egg tempera is all about, the question of the yellow of the yolk comes up. Doesn't it color my paints? Usually, it seems not very noticeable at all. Pigment colors hide any yellow and often the paint is quite diluted.

But white is another story! Can you see the slight yellowing of the chip on the left? I painted that just an hour ago. The one on the right was painted last night. This is a great example of how any yellowing does indeed fade out quickly.

Titanium White
Fresh                             One Day Old

Munsell Intro

I'm working with "The New Munsell Student Color Set, 3rd Edition". Each chapter has a series of exercises that I'll blog on as I work my way through.

Chapter 1 is all about the vocabulary of the Munsell system. Rather than trying to present information that is already so well documented, please Google "Munsell" for details.  This one in particularly is spot on.

Exercise 1.1 is rather simple. Break apart a packet of colored squares, determine where to place each, mark the back and glue stick in place. Well maybe not that simple. It is a good introduction to the Munsell properties: Hue, Value, and Chroma. HVC.

Exercise 1.1