COLOUR TIPS & TRICKS WITH DI ALEXANDER IN JULY

July's meeting looked at how colour works. 

 Di gave everyone a factsheet, a paper plate and a reference picture.The factsheet had a hole for isolating colour in a reference picture and comparing it with colour on the brush!

 A colour wheel can help us to understand how colours work with each other and the best way to mix them. There are three primary colours: red, blue and yellow.

Complimentary colours are opposite e.g. orange and blue. They appear vibrant when placed next to each other, but make a desaturated 'neutral' dark when mixed.

 June asked was how to know whether a colour is 'warm' or 'cool'. This can be useful in mixing two or more colours and in placing two or more colours in a painting. 

Di's tip in comparing two colours was to imagine both colours in their positions on a colour wheel.  The one nearest to primary red would be warmer than the other one. If two reds were compared, then the one nearest to primary blue would be the cool one.

  Many artists like to use a versatile 'limited palette' with a warm and cool red, warm and cool blue and warm and cool yellow. This is because warm colours mix well together and cool colours mix well together. A warm colour mixed with a cool colour results in a desaturated, 'muddier' colour. 

Everyone painted leaf shapes and flower shapes in yellow and then painted shadows on them using one of the other primary colours i.e. blue over yellow and red over yellow. Shadow are usually desaturated colours. 

Transparency of the paint is variable and Di suggested testing the transparency of our paints by painting over newsprint. 

Sometimes a glazing medium can be useful in layering two colours for a more vibrant colour.

 Di also recommended suggesting distance by using the rainbow: warm colours in the foreground and cooler, less saturated colours in the background. 

Di's favourite trick is to use a dark neutral colour next to the most vibrant colours in a painting. 

Finally members could continue painting from their reference pictures.

A workshop with Di on Expressive Colour is planned for September.