Painting 3: Advanced Color Theory || @Elody

Elody Painting 3: Advanced Color Theory View my profile

Min 8 colors Full Spectrum Set of Paints 1 Water Container 1 Paper Towels or Rag Several Color Swatches or Magazine Pictures Min 8 colors Full Spectrum Set of Paints 1 Water Container 1 Paper Towels or Rag Several Color Swatches or Magazine Pictures 1 Paintbrush

Get App Make sure you have a full spectrum set of colors (see Painting 2: Colors You Need for Color-Mixing). 1 @Elody on

Get App Let’s first review color theory vocabulary. The Color Wheel is a rainbow in a circle. 2 @Elody on

Get App Primary colors are red yellow and blue, the three colors that, in theory, can make the other colors. 3 @Elody on

Get App The Secondary colors are purple, orange, and green. They are halfway between the Primary colors.￼ 4 @Elody on

Get App The Tertiary colors are between each Primary and Secondary. An example would be yellow-green. 5 @Elody on

Get App The color wheel can be divided into many more colors. Each color is called a Hue. 6 @Elody on

Get App The number of Hues are uncountable. But each Hue can contain thousands more colors. 7 @Elody on

Get App For example, each Hue can be made lighter or darker. This is called the Value of a color. 8 @Elody on

Get App These are “Value Scales” showing the full range of a hue from light to dark. 9 @Elody on

Get App Saturation is how vivid or intense a color is. Neutral means a color is dull: grayish or brownish. 10 @Elody on

Get App High Saturation is vivid (top). Low Saturation is dull (bottom). 11 @Elody on

Get App Complimentary colors are opposites on the color wheel, such as red and green. 12 @Elody on

Get App Together, compliments make neutrals. If you want to make a color duller, add its opposite. 13 @Elody on

Get App Let’s go back to primary colors. Red, Yellow and Blue are called the “painter’s primaries”. 14 @Elody on

Get App There is another set of primaries that is used by printers: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. 15 @Elody on

Get App Neither set is perfect, which is why the colors I recommend include similar colors to both sets. 16 @Elody on

Get App We’ve already made the Secondary colors with our six Primaries. Let’s mix some more complex colors. 17 @Elody on

Get App Gather some paint chips. You can get them free from the paint section of any hardware store. 18 @Elody on

Get App If you don’t have any, cut squares of color from magazines or anything else. 19 @Elody on

Get App Choose three colors that are vivid and three colors that are more neutral. We are going to mix them! 20 @Elody on

Get App Start with your vivid colors. To make this peach, I’ll try combining red, yellow and white. 21 @Elody on

Get App You can see that my first try is too dark in value. I’ll add more white! 22 @Elody on

Get App Closer. Still just a little too dark. I’ll add a tiny bit more white. 23 @Elody on

Get App Now that it’s the right value, I can see it’s too yellow. It needs to be more pink. 24 @Elody on

Get App Now I’ll add a tiny bit of my magenta. Then a little more white. When it disappears, you’ve got it! 25 @Elody on

Get App Sometimes it takes many tries as we adjust the hue, value, and saturation. We’re training our eyes. 26 @Elody on

Get App Now my vivid purple. I know to use magenta and ultramarine. First it was too dark, then too pink. 27 @Elody on

Get App The vivid colors are easier. For this teal I used phthalo blue, cadmium yellow light, and white. 28 @Elody on

Get App The neutral colors are trickier. I start by using the primaries that will make a duller green. 29 @Elody on

Get App It’s still too vivid, so it needs more of its complimentary color, red. I steal some from my peach. 30 @Elody on

Get App Now this brown. Follow my brush to see all the colors I use to adjust it until it is correct. 31 @Elody on

Get App First too dark, then too purple, still a little too dark, finally both lighter and a little redder. 32 @Elody on

Get App Last, this blue-grey. I’ll start with light blue and slowly adjust it with tiny bits of color. 33 @Elody on

Get App We are training our eyes to see what a color “needs” to move towards the correct color. 34 @Elody on

Get App If you can make all six colors match, you’re really starting to understand color. It takes practice! 35 @Elody on

Get App These paintings are all by the artist Paul Klee. Try making an abstract painting to practice color. 36 @Elody on

Get App I like to make subtle color shifts and explore color relationships in mine. Good luck with yours! 37 @Elody on

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Elody Elody Gyekis Brooklyn and Pennsylvania based artist. Painter, sculptor, animator and community artist. “Batik” Watercolors Animated Paper Puppets Decorative Tissue Paper: Potato Stamps Decorative Tissue Paper: Tie Dye View full profile