Having with fun with COLOR...

 

To create convincing or intriguing color has always been a challenge. At best it's seldom an easy thing for me to figure out, much less master. It almost seems like some elusive creature that I come close to understanding, only to have it slip away.

Keeping this in mind, I've always found the process of developing color charts a good tool. These allow me to look at how a a single color straight from the tube changes with additions of light or dark values.

The tinting chart pictured below is one I worked up on 9 x 12 canvas paper for Yellow Ochre. I'm putting together portrait studies so I've wanted to do this again for a while now to refresh my memory.

From the left side I began with pure Yellow Ochre, then vertically I made three tinted gradations of Ochre, achieved through additions of White; by the end it's much more like touches of the dominant color added to White to achieve the brightest tint. Row two shows Ochre with a touch of Cadmium Yellow, then the same process of tint gradations vertically using White. On row three I decided to look at Ochre with a touch of Burnt Sienna, and tint gradations using White going down. Cadmium Red and Ochre represent row four, and tint gradations using White. The last row combines Ochre with a cooler red, Alizarin Crimson, then tint gradations using White run downward. I do love that final pink - so fresh!

Tinting Color Chart for Yellow Ochre

As I end for today, my daily work and post for Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for January is included below; more information here http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog.

I loved painting this piece and am looking forward to doing something similar on a larger scale, maybe 30 x 40. Wish me LUCK! Now that I'm working up these color charts, the knowledge will serve me well as I work this one out.

Rain Cloud, oil on 11 x 14 canvas

 Thanks for stopping by and I invite you to visit me at http://www.donnashiver.com/

Peace and Health all