The colour wheel
ref:http://www.oca-student.com/node/93122
Picking colours –think what will mix and compliment
referring to : The artist’s handbook (fifth edition by Ralph Mayer ISBN 978-0-571-14331-3
recommended colours in bold
black –Ivory black (made from bone) less dense than lamp black (made from tar)
red –blue red: alizarin crimson clear and transparent
yellow red: cadmium spectral absorption in area of orange and pure red vermilion pure red
blue –red blue : Prussian(ferric-ferrocyanide)–described as a greenish blue in the book
or ultramarine cobalt
–green blue: ? cerulean phthalocyanine manganese
yellow– red yellow :cadmium
lemon yellow -contains more green
orchres — yellow orchre –red shade of yellow
green viridian- blue green
pure green -hooker’s
Oil painting notes from “The artists handbook of materials and techniques” Ralph Mayer ISBN 978-0-571-14331-3
mid 16th century
good optical quality, flexible and varied effects,colours don’t change on drying. The oils may yellow or crack.
oil allows paint to spread, protects it from atmosphere or mechanical forces, it acts as adhesive,it gives the colours depth and tone.
Oils dry by oxygenation linseed oil high in linolenic acid which oxidises to a yellowness-reduced by drying in daylight but not direct light.
Linseed oil –from flax
stand oil -mixed with turps-used to varnish -does not leave brush strokes and yellows far less
Other oils -Poppy –slow drying easily cracks but less yellow due to less linolenic acid
Walnut oil- faster drying than poppy, becomes ransid with keeping
Soya bean oil- inferior to linseed Perilla (from Japan) -yellows
Sunflower oil and hempseed oil –similar to poppy oil -have been used as linseed oil substitutes
Safflower oils- good replacement for linseed but may brittle with ageing
semidrying oils-cotton seed or corn –can by dried with heat–less durable
nondrying oils -castor oil (often added to shellac and lacquers to increase flexibility)
shellac -from deposit left by insects on trees in India-insoluble in turps– used as varnish for furniture –turns dark with age- when mixed with pure alcohol can be used as sizer and as fixative for charcoal
Notes from Collins Artists Manual, The complete guide to Painting and Drawing materials and Techniques consultant editor Angela Gair 1995 ISBN 0 00 4125557
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours
Harmonious colours –are related and close on the colour wheel primary and next secondary colour
|Complementary colours are opposite to each other and opposite on the colour wheel. primary and opposite secondary colour Red v green, yellow v purple, blue v orange.
Hue = colour
Intensity = saturation =brightness
Tone= lightness or darkness
Tonal key –many different tones produce disharmony
Tonal values -light= reflect light, tones modified by surrounding colours.
Counterchange –light against dark creates interest and can take eye around the picture.
Can tone down colours with earth colours
Mixing colours
Complementary colours intensify but when mixed on palette make greys. Greys produced by mixing complementaries (rather than black and white) are lively and form foils against bright colours.
Split complementaries : complementaries juxtasupposed produce exciting contrasts –split complementaries are more pleasing than complementaries
Blue –complementary =orange split complementaries -orange red or orange yellow
neutral tones in a painting can be enhanced by an area of pure colour
playing with creativity 