A couple of weeks ago in my beginning oil painting classes at SLC we learned more about mixing color. Most everybody struggles in the beginning to get their mixing skills to a point where they can easily mix a value and color for the painting they are working on. This usually comes with just lot's and lot's of painting, but you can do a few color mixing exercises to help you learn.
This exercise is one of the many simple tools out there to get you started. In some art schools you do this kind of exercise using many colors, for weeks and weeks, before you even begin to paint. We used the everyday paint tube colors that are out on our palette, starting with the warm and moving around to the neutrals. You can do it any way you like. Just begin at the top with white, then, using your first color (yellow) paint the block along the top in the same order and along the left side. The idea is to meet the color in the middle, then add white. Continue with the next color, only this time and on all of the following colors, you will be mixing the color next in line, going across and down first. Then again mix the colors down the left side with the ones along the top, only this time you add white to the mix. You will find that the lower colors at the diagonal line from the starting point and below will be your tints and above that pure color mixes.
After a while you will really start to enjoy the process and look forward to what the next tube color will do when mixed with the next.
You will find yourself getting to the value and color you are looking for faster the next time you paint. Try it! **If you paint your graph on a piece of loose canvas you can roll it up after it dries and easily carry it with you to class.
3 comments:
Nice exercise. Thanks for describing it. It will surely be most helpful.
This looks good and helpful and I intend to do it. However, I am a bit confused. After mixing the top colors with white and then begin with the left colors and mix with the top do I still add white? The directions say yes, but that doesn't sound correct to me. Help!! :-)
Thank you Vinayak.
Linda, I know it's a bit confusing and I had some trouble explaining the process.
Okay here goes: The colors along the top are one at a time mixed with the color on the side and then painted in the corresponding box going down. Once you have done this, you do it again, only this time you will add white and paint the box across.
So, you will mix each color twice, once without white, and again with white. The paint without white goes from the top down from the top color. The paint with white goes across from the side color. You should end up with the upper diagonal colors as pure and the lower diagonal colors with white. I hope this helps.
Randy
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