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Color Usage

Color Schemes in Painting:

  1. The Color Key approach

    1. pick a color scheme or harmony from the color wheel
    2. use variety to make the scheme interesting i.e. vary value & saturation of chosen colors
    3. avoid too many colors in a composition as they will cancel each other out in terms of final effect.
    4. avoid strong value contrast with strong saturation of color

    Applications:

    1. one of the most popular keys is the split complement: red + greens, orange + blues, yellow + violet or the reverse of any combinations
    2. also the British split-complements (mentioned in the Simon & Schuster pocket guide to Painting in Oils): greens + orange, blues + reds, violets + orange
    3. analogous colors with touches of one of their compliments
    4. large areas of chromatic greys offset by touches of pure saturated color

  2. Color temperature

    1. sunlight & incandescent light accentuate the warm tones of objects
    2. north daylight and fluorescent gives a cool feeling to red and an overall silvery quality
    3. cast shadows are not simply a mixture of black & white rather shadows contain warm and cool colors ranging in deep hue

  3. The Three fundamental Earth Colors

    1. Red Earth: violet & orange
    2. Yellow Earth: orange & green
    3. Green Earth: green & violet
    Earth colors are regarded as colors in their own right. They can be mixed from the three primaries in varying proportions or more easily by mixing two secondaries. The tendency of earth colors toward red, yellow or green depends on the primary common to both secondaries. The three basic earth hues are opaque but warm and golden brown, unlike the opaque and greyish combinations obtained from mixing two complements.

Drying Times of colors:

Fast-drying: approx. 2days medium-drying: approx. 5 days
raw sienna
burnt umber
raw umber
flake white
prussian blue
cobalt blue		 mars colors
pthalocyanine colors
burnt sienna
cerulean blue
viridian
green earth
cobalt blue
Slow-drying: 5 to 8 days  
alizarin crimson
zinc white
ultramarine blue
lamp black		 titanium white
yellow ochre
cadmium colors
ivory black

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