Comments on: Color and color mixing

By: Patti C

Patti C — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:10:29 +0000

Woops! I meant to say that I am NOT interested in mixing cadmiums to simulate ochres and siennas!

By: Patti C

Patti C — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:55:37 +0000

I just discovered your site. I've not painted much in several years due to an illness but just got a bunch out of storage and hope to pick it up again.

I am amused that you prefer to use the earth colors than to mix. I find it absurd to mix earth colors. The natural earth colors are cheap, very light fast, and have a lovely depth from the natural clays that mixes can't match.

I do not care much for harsh cadmium yellows and reds and am interested in mixing them to simulate ochres and siennas. Most of the earth colors will thin down to transparency nicely also.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:35:58 +0000

Thank you for sharing so much great info here. I'll be reading again and again!

By: David

David — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:44:37 +0000

Mary,

I'm glad you found this useful.

By: Mary Sheehan Winn

Mary Sheehan Winn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:42:29 +0000

No one's been over here for a year?

I found your link through an email reference and I find this explanation very relevant! Thank YOU. I'm going to read it and read it and read it some more and I'm going to link it to my blog where many will, if you will, 'see the light'.

By: Color Theory « Changing Multimedia Landscape

Color Theory « Changing Multimedia Landscape — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:29:15 +0000

[…] PDRTJS_settings_272600_post_116 = { “id” : “272600”, “unique_id” : “wp-post-116″, “title” : “Color+Theory”, “item_id” : “_post_116”, “permalink” : “http%3A%2F%2Flaughingphoenix737.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F23%2Fcolor-theory-2%2F” } http://rourkevisualart.com/wordpress/articles/color-and-color-mixing/ […]

By: tombobiche

tombobiche — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:19:33 +0000

Im interested in finding resources for making real colored paints from available pigments; I have several ochres I've mulled and am sure they can be doctored up to look like the real thing. I guess the real trick for me has been to use whats available in the art stores most commonly and then use the same mixtures applied by the art companies to arrive at the hue of what would otherwise be more priceless colors like genuine ultramarine and even some of the rarer colors. Then of course some painters use even stranger mixtures like sap green, dutch pink and lake + black to make all their base colors which I guess is their own preference beyond the historic colors of a master they choose; but I figure if it mixes good and looks good why not, even though the sullen look of a black mixed painting has its place, so often the insistence to use it because its known as masterly can wreck a painting; but for sure I guess blue black or vine black would be a safe way to go.

By: tombobiche

tombobiche — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:32:36 +0000

And I I guess everyone has seen all the different kinds of blacks that even Goya and others kept on their palettes, I guess they used it in areas of the painting, but no doubt even some of the origional pigments mixed far better with their made blacks than ours do and show no signs of sullying the color of the entire mix even with brighter yellows. I've made pretty good blacks from calcined bacon or leather and even peach stones quenched in vinegar. Monet seems to have had some pretty complex mixtures with 15 pigments going at once with black, like white + vermillion + chrome oxide green + yellow and red earths + french ultramarine + chrome yellow + black.

By: David

David — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:08:08 +0000

@tombobiche -

It may be worth noting that the ivory black they used was actual ivory black. What is called "ivory black" now is basically bone black. I have not used the real stuff, but I do know that the properties are a bit different.

By: tombobiche

tombobiche — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:22:37 +0000

Those color spots of Hawthorne seem good, to see the plane of light, I have so many different palettes but most of them mix well within themselves pigment-wise so that seems to be most conventient to me with very simple mixing instead of full blown modulations and a palette that has no limits on range, but I switch palettes according to how best the pigments will refelct the light and I use about six that all give a bang for the buck, so to arrive at the natural or harmonious color with minimal effort. I believe the colors should be very bright and happy within themselves but that they should simultaneously appear to be remarkedly antique, and thats an easy way, and I still never do a color sketch without looking in my PC, even after looking at my color computer wheel by Grumbacher and thinking about the momochromatic, analgous, complementary, split complementary, temprature and saturation, but something like monochromity is a very acceptable parameter in my opinion.