Thursday 22 August 2013

Colour Flirt

I was reading a blog by Lorraine Brown about what she had learned on a colour course she has just completed and it got me thinking about my own relationship with colour.

What Lorraine has learned is that there are so many colours we can get from just 6 primaries and she has the proof in a wonderful series of paintings she has produced from that limited palette... so is that the path I should take?  I do already use a limited palette for most of my paintings using a max of 6 and probably more often 3 or 4 but whenever I read anything like this it makes me think am I doing it wrong if I want to use any colour that speaks to me for a particular subject?

I did a workshop yesterday which also prompted this blog and I was trying to explain how I came to use certain colours. The point is I don't have to actually see the colours in an image, I make them up and use whatever I think look good together.

As many of you will know I use my colour planets to work out what colours I might use in any particular painting and I often get a feel for which colours might suit a particular subject. So as you may remember when I did this painting of Holly

I used opera rose, indigo, transparent orange and a touch of burnt sienna. Not colours which may immediately jump out at you for this image but ones which I felt would work and convey something a bit different. I could see a touch of pink and brown in the image, I know I need a dark colour either a deep blue or brown to give me the tones I need and I like to use the orange whenever I can so I tested the colours in a planet and liked them together and that's how this painting came about.

The problem I would have with using a limited number of primaries now is that I could never have got this look without the particular colours I have used.. I could never mix colours which come remotely close to either the opera rose or the translucent orange.. both colours have properties which are unique to them.

I also like bought purples, they give me a far richer colour than I can get with any mix that I have tried so far, one of my other bought "No, No's" is Schmincke May Green, it is an opaque colour but I like the way it mixes with UB to give a rich dark green. I also like Winsor and Newton Green Gold which like Quinacridone gold has properties I couldn't mix using any blue and yellow primary.

I am a complete walkover when someone says "Oooh have you tried this colour or that" and find I use a lot more than 6 primaries a lot of the time (though not in the same painting). I have listed the colours I have in my palette here and when I have a new subject I am always looking for a new, individual and original combination which I maybe haven't tried before and that is actually part of the fun and challenge for me, I don't always take too much notice of what I see I just decide on some possibles, check how they work together then go with them in the painting.

I do have my favourites of course for example, I prefer burnt sienna to light red in most instances (though I like light red for buildings) and though I love Quin gold I often decide I prefer raw sienna when I actually try them out in a planet. I use both perm rose and Aliz crimson and a host of blues though I probably use UB the most.... I have a much bigger selection of the cooler blues and use a variety of them but UB is the main warm blue I use. However I really love using the other colours and am not terribly loyal to any... I use what I think will create something a bit different while still capturing the essence of something. . I then try and  concentrate on painting the right tones using the colours I have chosen and that is what seems to work for me... well some of the time!!



Speaking of tones, I have heard people talk about whether painters are colourists or tonalists and the more I think about it the more I think it is not at all useful to put labels on people......colour is a very important part of my work (it is what most people comment on and seems to be part of my style) and I would feel quite paralysed if I had to rely on just a few colours, but I always choose colours which will give me a good tonal range so that both areas are equally important in my work and am not sure my paintings would work as well if I didn't also have the right tonal values.

As I reflect on the time I have been trying to improve my skills in painting I have spent a lot of time learning about colour. I used to use a more basic palette with the more realistic colours but I also knew that if I wanted to create something a bit more individual I had to choose attractive colour schemes which may or may not represent real life but would create a pleasing piece with colour harmonising around the painting,  I realised that it is form,shape and tone which will describe a subject not it's colour and so colour can be just what I want it to be, does that make me a colour flirt? I think so......and am delighted to be one!!!  To be able to choose whatever colour I like whenever I like is how I like to paint...... I do think you need to have done a bit of the ground work with colour first as Lorraine's tutor was advising and I am quite certain there is such a lot to be learned from doing that so that you have an understanding of what you are looking for......brings me back to my first question as to whether I should actually try doing it, and I think I probably have done it without maybe realising it at the time.... I worked for a long time with my 6 or 8 primaries, maybe because that was all I had but I also knew that it helped to stick to a limited palette for lots of reasons and something I still do now albeit with a much wider range of options.

So how many of you out there are colour flirts and what do you think about using a limited palette? Would be interested to hear your views......



11 comments:

  1. I think you are a colour flirt Judith but hay - this works very well for you. I may flirt a bit as I might get bored with my limited palette but for now it is giving me enough fun. Well this week anyway LOL

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  2. Very interesting article. It is interesting to hear your thoughts. I have many colours but use just a few in one painting like you, when I am at home. But I also have my restricted travel palette and am quite happy using those colours too. But it is practice and playing with colour that is fun, when some think it is boring. So can I join you as a colour flirt.

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  3. I'm someone who many colors used in quite a different way but also painting with aqua paint as you guys but I find it very nice hugs Danielle

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  4. I have just read your blog interesting and insightful and thought provoking as usual. I think that what ever you are doing right now is working very well for you and your work. I guess sometimes limited palette works wonders, because thats what I use as I get swamped with too many to choose from. Bit like a box of chocolates when you can only pick one or two, when you really want one of each lol, and then sometimes colour just screams out and says pick me pick me. I think we all have a love affair with certain colours and combinations and they become like old friends your go to colours. so long as you just keep on doing what you are doing that should make us all happy -

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  5. Great reading as always Judith - I too have quite a few colours but only use a limited palette in a particular painting, just 2, 3 or 4, occasionally more but not often and I do have my favourites as we all do. I'm starting to experiment more with the colours I don't use so often rather than sticking to those I do, the 30 paintings in 30 days will hopefully give me the opportunity to do that more. I agree with what you say about whether people are colourists or tonalists, although I think a tonal painting works whatever the colour but I don't think a painting full of colour would work without the use of tone. I'd say I was more a tonal painter at the moment as I feel I understand tone more than colour. It's probably best to learn about tone first then you can go to town on colour if you want to, does that make sense, so maybe that's the next step for me, is to experiment with colour, but I'd probably still stick to a limited palette within each painting!

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  6. Thank you for all the lovely responses... yes I will carry on experimenting with all the juicy options I have and yes I will also no doubt carry on buying all the new colours which tempt me when I frequent KB's which is all too often... am going tomorrow and have a feeling some Daniel Moonstone might jump into my basket... life's tough!!

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  7. I am most definitely a colour flirt , colour is my passion . Great blog long may you be a flirty colour painter . My favourite

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    1. Takes one to know one Bev!!! Glad you are enjoying the blog!!

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  8. This is a very helpful blog...thank you for that! I do have a question though, if you don't mind. I prefer paints that are easy to "lift off" "soften off", what wording or terms eg: staining,transparent do I look for when ordering. Doesn't staining mean just that, that its hard to remove or lift? So confusing..I would just like to know which words to look for..lol. Thanks so much!

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    1. Yes staining does mean that and it will be harder to lift...however some of the best colours are quite staining, the jewel colours so don't discount them as you are depriving your palette of some brilliant colours. They can be lifted while still wet... just not as easy once dry but magic sponge will do the trick even woth very staining colours. I use the softening off technique a lot and don't have a problem as I am usually working when the paint is wet and that is the secret to softening edges... soften more than you want while the paint is wet, eave to dry then bring them back with small areas of detail.

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  9. Great advice once again! Thank you Judith..and yes, of course it would be the jewel colors that are my favorites. I will keep the magic sponge in my reach if needed :)

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