Sunday 26 February 2012

Painting Lesson. Complementary Colours and Keeping It Simple





















Lesson 2
Complimentary colours and keeping it simple with oil techniques.
Materials: Stiff hog hair brushes one large one small. Red, Blue, Yellow and white. Work at an angle if possible.
The complementary colour of a primary (red, blue, or yellow) is the colour you get by mixing the other two primary colors.
If we take red then the two primaries left are blue and yellow are and together they make green, so green is the complimentary of red.
If we take blue then the two primaries left are yellow and red and together they make orange, so the complimentary of blue is orange.
If we take yellow then the two primaries left are red and blue and together they make violet, so the complimentary of yellow is violet.
The complementary of a secondary color is the primary color that wasn't used to make it. So the complementary color of green is red, of orange is blue, and of purple is yellow.
Why are Complementary Colors Important in Color Theory?
When placed next to each other, complementary colors make each other appear brighter, more intense. The shadow of an object will also contain its complementary color, for example the shadow of a green apple will contain some red.
In the last lesson we moved colour into shadow by mixing in progressively darker tones of the same colour family. For example yellow could be darkened with yellow ochre, burnt sienna right through to burnt umber. Another way to darken a colour down is to add its complementary colour or its opposite on the colour wheel.
Keep it Simple
· Avoid over mixed palette colours. The less mixing you do the richer your paint quality will be, one way is to let your colour mix on the paper.
· Have ample amounts of paint, if you finish with a clean palette you either got lucky or skimped on the paints.
· Use as few brush strokes as it takes, don’t fiddle.
· Keep it simple and don’t try to overdo the detail.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Exhibition at Home Quarter


















I have some work in a fantastic space on the 3rd floor of the Home Quarter shop in Liverpool 1. We’re on Hanover Street right next to Radio Merseyside. I‘m showing work with a selection of artists from my old studios and the mix of styles makes for a really good exhibition with both prints and originals on sale at very reasonable prices.
Some of the Liverpool paintings are on offer, framed originals at £120 and Perspex prints for just £20. Pop along and have a browse, you won’t be disappointed, promise.
http://www.thehomequarter.co.uk

Monday 20 February 2012

Painting Lesson 7. Seeing tones.















Painting tones

Recap for classes at SARAH Hall and Orrell.
Using only two colours and white, I’ve used ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Burnt sienna is like a really dark orange or complementary colour to the blue. Some colour matches will be possible. For instance if the tone leans toward cool blue or warm brown I can approximate them but I’m really interested in getting the tonal relationships in place
Find a photograph to copy the tones (not the colour). Colour supplements or catalogues offer a good range of figure studies.
Map out a plan for the painting and block in the main shapes laying in the dominant tones (not colour)
Keep squinting at the picture to get the right tone is good for seeing the relationship between values but not colour.
Keep things simple and avoid any detail. Think back to the paintings of Peggi Kroll Roberts who we looked at last week.
Some tips from Richard Schmid
Squint down until most of the detail disappears and what you are looking at can be seen in a few shapes
The purpose of squinting is to make judgements about the relationships between the values not he actual shades. You are looking for relationships.
Step back from what you’ve painted, view it from a distance to see the value relationships clearly and see what may need adjusting.
The fewer clear cut values in a painting the more powerful the visual effect.
Simplify what you see.

Now you try again at home and simplify with another photograph

Sunday 19 February 2012

Saturday 18 February 2012

Sunday 12 February 2012

Friday 10 February 2012

Monday 6 February 2012

Drawing practice. After Richard Schmid II





















Graphite on paper 20cm x 14cm. Copy of an original painting by Richard Schmid from 'Alla Prima', Everything I know About Painting. A bible of sorts on the art.

Sunday 5 February 2012