This is excerpted from Gouache For Illustration by Rob Howard - Watson-Guptill, NY
______COLOR THEORIES____
The Good, the Bad and the Useless
Although the use of color is not without pitfalls, unlike
drawing or pictorial composition, it is the most flexible and
tolerant of individual taste of all the aspects of painting. While
many of us a seem to born with the ability to draw, few of us are
born colorists simply because good color can be achieved only
through an intelligent approach born of proper study.
No other element of Art has more mystery surrounding it than
the study of color. From that mystery have arisen countless color
theories. Some theories have strong foundations built on proven
and observable fact. Other of these theories are, well---frankly,
they are bizarre. In the beginning of this chapter we'll discuss a
bit of the history surrounding a few of the more bizarre and,
unfortunately, influential theories which continue to bring new
terrors to students of color. My opinions may fly in the face of
what you've learnt at university, but please give them a hearing.
In the chaos following the First World War, the ashes of
Germany became the breeding ground for a new social order.
Socialism took firm root in the fertile ground of post-war
discontent. Socialist thought crept into everything, even unlikely
areas like the arts, and it gave birth to the artistic
manifesto.
With their many manifestos, the new men of the New
Society shouted down figurative painting as merely "illustrating
the myths of the intellectual bourgeois." These new anti-
intellectuals set about to create art forms which would become
illustrations of their social and political manifestos.
Out of that curious period came this call to arms of the
Novembergruppe; "Painters, Architects, Sculptors, you whom the
bourgeoisie pays with high rewards for your work---out of vanity,
snobbery, and boredom---Hear! To this money clings the sweat and
blood and nervous energy of thousands of poor hounded human
beings---Hear! It is unclean profit . . . we must be true
socialists--- we must kindle the highest socialist virtue: the
brotherhood of man."
Pretty heady stuff.
Walter Gropius, apart from founding the Bauhaus, was also
chairman of the Novembergruppe's Arbeitsrat fur Kunst (Working
Council for Art). He sought to join all of the arts together
"under the wing of a great architecture." Appointing himself Great
Architect and sounding much like the jackbooted men who would soon
follow, he wrote "the intellectual bourgeois has proved himself
unfit to be the bearer of a German culture." He predicted a
Bauhaus/Socialist New World Order arising from unsuspected
quarters when he wrote, "New, intellectually undeveloped levels
of our people are rising from the depths. They are our chief
hope." Unfortunately, he got his wish . . . and the world got Hitler.
A common thread joined those art forms spawned by the new
anti-intellectualism. Artistic movements like Futurism, Vorticism,
Orphism, Purism and Surrealism, were distinguished not so much as
aesthetic movements but as esoteric codes designed to baffle the
hated bourgeoisie (never mind that later Socialists would reject
these incomprehensibly coded aesthetic messages to seek comfort in
the most puerile and saccharine of bourgeois art, and never mind
that the artists themselves became the prototypes of the
successful capitalist). It was only natural that, in those giddy
early years, The Movement would produce its own peculiar theories
concerning politically correct ways of seeing. Rising out of this
yeasty mix of aesthetics and politics and armed with correct new
color theories and a reformer's zeal, sprung Josef Albers and
Johannes Itten.
Albers and Itten's color theories had little to do with the
practical problems encountered by the figurative artist. To their way of
thinking, that was all to the better. But when World Socialism finally
rejected their ideas as counter- revolutionary, they, along with Gropius, beat a
hasty retreat to those places still cordial to arcane and unprovable
theories...the universities. The sheltered hot house atmosphere of the
university provided a congenial rallying place where countless students
journeyed forth to kneel at the feet of their idols. The trouble was, those
students never got up off their knees--- they went on to teach those
unworkable coded theories to the next generation of easily gulled students.
Itten's book, The Art of Color, attempted to validate his
theories through a clever technique well known in advertising
agencies. By juxtaposing his color charts next to the work of
great painters he hoped to add credence to his theories.
Strangely, Itten chose painters who died well before the advent of
the modern pigments and colors shown in his charts. Those great
master's pictures have as little bearing on his color theories as
are the trim young models in beer commercials a result of drinking
the advertiser's product.
To appear original, Itten abandoned the ten-color
wheel of the Munsell System in order to create his idiosyncratic
Twelve Color Star and a seven value Color Sphere. The dilemma was;
how was the artist to apply rigidly circumscribed charts, blocks,
stars and spheres of color to painting the delicate passages
inherent in figurative painting? Those uncompromising Bauhaus
precepts have proved to be coarse, clumsy tools ill suited to
producing that grace and finesse we associate with figurative
painting. Thus far, the only application of Alber's and Itten's
theories have been in short-lived art fads like Color Field
painting and Op Art.
I don't want to leave you with the impression that all formal color
theories are useless to the illustrator and painter. Quite the contrary.
Unlike Albers and Itten (both of whose theories are never mentioned in
serious writings on color), a few well grounded color theorists like Faber
Birren, concentrated on practical color effects of use to the artist and
craftsman. Birren's book, Creative Color should be required reading for any
illustrator or painter. The color effects shown in Creative Color are as
extraordinary as they are useful. Birren was not the only one to develop
practical color theories with the artist in mind. Far ahead of its time was
the fundamental work from which much practical color theory grows
--- M.E.Chevreul's 1839 book, The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of
Color. It was from within this book that the color theories of the
Impressionists took root. Although approaching color from a more scientific
standpoint Ogden Rood, Albert Munsell, Wilhelm Ostwald and Denman Ross all
produced work of lasting value to the artist.
The Munsell Color System:
A decade before the Novembergruppe issued its first artistic
manifesto in the city of Weimar, Albert H. Munsell had developed
an elegant system of color notation in the city of Boston. That
system has become the universal standard by which colors are
judged. It should be the standard by which color theories are
judged. Professor Munsell sought to bring color description away
from whimsical and confusing names like 'Firecracker Red' and
'Chinese Red' into a standardized language by which color could be
accurately specified. He succeeded in doing much more than that.
Munsell separated color into three fundamental components.
The first dimension was HUE, "The quality by which we distinguish
one color from another, as a red from a yellow, a green, a blue or
a purple." He divided the hues into ten equal steps on a band. The
band was bent around to form a hoop---the Color Wheel. In naming
the Hues, he did not use names like Orange. What is commonly
called orange, for example, he called yellow-red because it is a
mixture of those two primary hues.
The second dimension of color is the easiest one to
understand. VALUE is "The quality by which we distinguish a light
color from a dark one." The scale used to depict value is a
vertical pole divided into nine increments of neutral grey. A pure
black was added at the bottom and pure white added to the top.
CHROMA describes the brilliancy or strength of a specific Hue
at any given Value. By extending a scale horizontally from the
neutral pole of the Value scale, an easily understood graphic
representation of Chroma Strength can be made. Red is at its most
brilliant (has its highest Chroma Strength) at Value 5 on the
neutral pole, it extends on the horizontal scale to its maximum
Chroma Strength of 10. As the horizontal scale approaches the
pole, the colors become more and more grey until, at a Chroma
Strength of 1, at become almost a pure grey. Shorthand notations
are used which first list an abbreviation of the Hue followed by
the Value and the Chroma Strength separated by a slash and stated
numerically.
The scientific principles upon which this system is based
are beyond question. Since the inception of the Munsell Color System,
hundreds of new colors and pigments have been introduced. Without exception,
all of them conform to the system's principles. That is; no color can be
higher in Value than white or below the Value of black. Every new color has a
Hue name which can be precisely located on the Color Wheel. The variable
scale of Chroma Strength can be logically extended to accommodate more
brilliant pigments as they become available. As an example, when Professor
Munsell designed his system, the Red Hue at Value 5 attained its highest
Chroma Strength of 10 (the Munsell notation is R 5/10). How can the Munsell
system accommodate the fluorescent pigments which were undreamt of in the
beginning of the century? Quite easily. The complete collection of Holbein
Designer Gouache has a fluorescent color called 'Opera." Its Hue is described
as a 7RP, meaning a Red with a cool overtone. The Value is described as 5.5.
Because of Opera's fluorescent pigment, its Chroma Strength is a whopping
18.5, almost twice that of the original Value 5 Red. Opera's Munsell notation
is the rather longish 7RP 5.5/18.5.
Earlier, I stated that Professor Munsell achieved a great
deal more than creating a neat system for cataloguing colors.
Residing within his system is a well conceived plan for achieving
color balance. In comparing the Chroma Strength of Value 5 Red
with the Chroma Strength of its visual complement, Value 5 Blue
Green, we can see that although the Chroma paths touch at the
neutral pole, the Chroma Strength of Red extends to twice that of
Blue Green. If we mixed equal parts of Red with Blue Green we
won't get a perfectly neutral grey, but one in which the Red
predominates very decidedly. It would be like a tug-of-war with
ten men on one side, each representing a step of Chroma, and only
five on the other side.
Visualize a bar representing the five steps
of Chroma for Blue Green and the ten steps of Chroma for Red. If the
bar rests upon a fulcrum at the neutral point it obviously will
not balance. But if we cut off steps 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 from the
Red side of the bar, it will balance upon the fulcrum, or neutral grey. It is
this simplicity which is characteristic of the Munsell System
throughout.
Of course, as artists, we don't want to be limited to using
half-strength reds in order to balance its complement. We must
have other means at our disposal for attaining balance. If our
purpose was merely to make a neutral grey, we would use a greater
amount of the weaker color. If we wish to produce a balanced and
harmonious color design, we can employ a larger area of the weaker
color. If we do this in the correct proportions, relative to the
Chroma Strength of each color, we will attain balance. It's as
though we used ten blocks of the weaker Blue Green (BG 5/5) to
balance five blocks of Red (R 5/10).
For the artist, all of these color theories have a major
shortcoming---they do not deal with artist's paints, especially
opaque paints. Chevreul's admirable work was created primarily as
an aid to the weavers at the Gobelin tapestry works. By laying
small dots of color next to each other, like stitches of colored
thread, the Pointillists were able to make full use of his
theories. On the other hand, mixing pigments on a palette does not
produce the same results. Thus, not all of Chevreul's theories
were applicable to the pictorial painter.
While it lies at the foundation of modern color theory,
Munsell's color system does not easily accomodate itself to making
accurate mixtures with artist's colors. Early in the 20th century,
attempts were made to locate the complements of various artist's
pigments. The Dudeen Color Triangle was one of those early
attempts. The Dudeen Color Triangle was not widely accepted
because it was, to be frank...poorly designed. The Modular Color
System was another system designed to be used by artists. It was
an elegant and useful system designed by Nathaniel Jacobson and
introduced in 1975 by Liquitex. It consisted of a set of acrylics
formulated to have the highest Chroma Strength according to their
particular Value. A set of Reds would range through the Value
scale from pale pink down to deep maroon. Aside from Red, the
Modular System included various values of Neutral Grey, Yellow,
Green, Purple and Blue, all arranged according to their position
on the Value scale. It was very easy to use. Sadly, it was not
greeted with the success it deserved. Perhaps we artists need
poetic sounding color names, like Cadmium Red Light and Light
Portrait Pink rather than R5 and R8.
Color mixing was made much more understandable in 1989 with
the publication of Stephen Quiller's Color Choices. Quiller is an
accomplished landscape painter whose work is distinguished by his
excellent use of color. He mixes color with his brains---and a
color wheel of his own invention. The Quiller Wheel is created
from actual artist's paints, not printer's inks. Thus, Cadmium
Orange lies opposite Ultramarine Violet rather than the Munsell
notations of a 4 Yellow Red across from a 9 Purple Blue. Although
there are variations between manufactures, the true complements of
artist's paints are located on the opposite side of the wheel---no
more color shifts resulting in 'mystery mud'. Quiller's color
wheel is the foundation for an easy-to-understand color course.
Landscape painting offers great latitude for demonstrating
a variety of spectacular color effects. Landscape offers far greater latitude than
that is allowed by the subject matter of most illustrations---
people and products. Still, Quiller's sensible approach to color
mixing makes this book one of the most useful books the painter or
illustrator can own.
During Hans Holbein's day, color theory was a moot point. You
just couldn't build much of a theory around a palette with only
half-a-dozen colors. As more colors became available and the use
of color became more than merely tinting monochrome pictures,
color became the subject of serious study. But that study was
always done by the practitioners---the artists. Rubens certainly
didn't need a theorist to tell him that blue was calming, red was
enervating and yellow could be cheerful.
Over the centuries new colors were slowly added to the
palette. But with the discovery of aniline dyes in the 1850's a
rainbow of brilliant colors exploded onto the market---colors
which found their first use in women's fashions. What followed was
a demand for portraits of women wearing those brightly hued
dresses. That in turn, created a demand for paint manufacturers to
produce the brighter pigments needed to adequately depict those
new fashions. It was this bright palette of colors that the
Impressionists and the Pre-Raphaelites inherited.
Fortunately, techniques for the practical employment of color
in pictorial (not abstract) paintings has been passed on to us by
numerous illustrators and painters. Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn,
Norman Rockwell, Andrew Loomis and Frank Reilly are a few of the
working artists who wrote extensively concerning the effective use
of color in painting. Their approach to pictorial painting was
based on the observations we all make when observing nature. They
believed that, if in looking out a window you saw an area of green
situated below a large expanse of blue, you'd be right in assuming
the green represented grass and the blue was that of the sky. If
you looked out the same window and saw blue on the bottom and
green on top, you might suspect that someone had turned your house
upside-down. Despite newer theories, we still hold those truths to be self-evident.
The use of color in pictorial paintings derives from equally
simple observations of nature. The information resulting from
those observations is known to everyone, not only artists. If you
drew a picture of a person with one too many fingers, the mistake
would be obvious to anyone. Like the odd products of Bauhaus color
theories, drawings of six-fingered people just won't convince most
humans. Of course there will always be a self-proclaimed elite who
can persuade themselves into seeing The Emperor's New Clothes, but
the rest of us still remain unconvinced and, like Queen Victoria, not amused.
I won't try to persuade you that learning to use color is
easy. It's not---but following these suggestions will help keep
your paint clean and bright.
First: always keep your brushes clean. Use copious amounts of
water or solvent to clean your brushes. Dirty brushes (and dirty water or solvent)
will turn the brightest color mousy and dull.
Second: do not allow the colors on your palette to run into
each other. Be especially careful that you do not dip into a
color with a brush which contains another color.
Third: Keep your eye on the white paint on your palette. If
your brush is contaminated, it will show up here first.
Fourth: use your grey card to compare the values of your
color mixtures. The grey card helps you to get it right the
first time, thus avoiding an overworked picture. Properly
chosen values are the key to convincing color.
Fifth: get a color wheel. It will make order out of the
chaos. Grumbacher's Color Computer is handy because it helps
you to find direct, split and triadic complementary
harmonies. It also shows tints (colors mixed with white),
tones (colors mixed with grey), and shades (colors mixed with
black). Far and away the artist's most useful color wheel is
the Quiller Wheel, of which we spoke earlier.
Sixth: your palette is one of your most important tools. 90%
of an artist's work is done on the palette; tones and colors
are tried out, as well as the thickness or thinness of the
paint. The palette must be kept clean and organized because
it is where you do your thinking. Your painting can be no
better than your palette.
PAINTING WITH COLOR: The Short Course
Rather than approach color as though it was some sort of
special science, let's approach it with the knowledge we've
already developed as artists.
* We know that, to be successful, all pictorial paintings
must be based upon the structural truths of tone, light and
shadow.
* Color is not only subject to the same pictorial approach
governing tone, light and shadow; but also to the effects of
atmosphere and reflected light.
Colors and their Characteristics:
In order to use color in a pictorial painting we must be able
to carry any color from its lightest value down to complete
darkness. Although nature contains far darker darks and
lighter lights, Black and White represents the extreme value
range of opaque paints. Although any color can be lightened
or darkened with white or black, that method seldom produces
the most brilliant (highest Chroma Strength) color for any
given value.
YELLOW:
Although you can get a wonderful richness by using Black to
lower the value of Purple, using the same Black to lower the
value of Yellow will produce, not a darker yellow but an
Olive Green. However, lowering Yellow's value is easy once
you understand that many of the earth colors like Yellow
Ochre, Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber are just duller, darker
yellows. Because it is located near the top of the Value scale,
the value of Yellow can only be raised with White.
PURPLE:
The various shades of Purple, or Violet are very important in
creating the shadow areas of its complement---Yellow. Don't
forget, Alizarin Crimson is a violet, not a red. Alizarin
Crimson mixed with Pthalocyanine Blue produces a dark purple.
Alizarin Crimson can also be mixed with a small amount of
Pthalocyanine Green to produce a cool violet. Alizarin
Crimson mixed with a Neutral Grey produces a wide range of
very useful violet tones.
RED:
Red can be very difficult to paint with because so many red
pigments have cool overtones which aren't apparent until you
try to mix them with other colors. Cadmium Red Medium and
Cadmium Red Deep turn almost violet when mixed with White.
Until you're really familiar with your colors, use Cadmium
Red Light for your bright red. When raising the value of
Cadmium Red Light, mix a tiny touch of Orange into your white
to keep it from getting cool. You can also use a premixed "Flesh" instead
of White to lighten your reds. In order to maintain the
character of Cadmium Red Light while lowering its value, mix
it with Alizarin Crimson tempered with a bit of Burnt Umber.
ORANGE:
Cadmium Orange is the most useful orange pigment. It can be
darkened with Burnt Sienna and lightened with Flesh or Naples
Yellow mixed with White.
GREEN:
Straight from the tube, Permanent Green Light is the highest
chroma green. It's also difficult to use in pictorial
painting. Pthalocyanine Green is very dark but stays
brilliant when brought up in value with White.
BLUE:
Pthalocyanine Blue has extraordinary tinting strength. It's
very dark as it comes from the tube, but if you need
additional depth to your blue shadows, add Burnt Umber.
Pthalocyanine Blue (Winsor & Newton calls theirs Winsor Blue)
can be lightened with White. Be careful when mixing it with
other colors because a little bit of Pthalocyanine Blue goes
a long way.
WHITE:
Before we go any further, let's discuss the different types
of white paint and their proper uses. Titanium, or Permanent
White should not be mixed with colors unless you want pale,
chalky pastels. Titanium White is useful for creating opaque
white passages against dark backgrounds. To lighten a color
to a clear and bright tint, it must be mixed with Zinc White.
The virtual unavailability of Zinc White in acrylics accounts
for much of the chalkiness seen in pictorial acrylic
paintings when compared to oil and gouache paintings.
Although gouache dries to a matte finish, gouache colors
tinted with Zinc White show far greater brilliancy and depth
than similar tints made with acrylics mixed with Titanium
white.
BLACK:
Just as some white pigments are better mixers, the same can
be said for blacks. Ivory Black is the most transparent of
the blacks. It darkens colors without overwhelming them.
* Pictures which are built on a few basic values---a light,
one or two middle tones, and a dark---seldom go dead.
* Large amounts of pure, bright colors won't produce
brilliant pictures. A patchwork of colors and values placed
against each other, compete for attention and the brilliancy
of the whole picture becomes reduced.
* One primary plus its neighbors, opposed by its
complementary will never go dead. These colors, supported by
neutral and semi-neutral colors, plus black and white, will
always be brilliant...always.
* Mix your colors from as few colors as possible. Every color
added to a mixture reduces its brilliancy.
* Large areas of color should be toned down with a complement
or grey, in order to give other colors a chance. Remember the
axiom, "The larger the area, the softer the color needs to
be."
Here's an interesting fact:
The size of a picture
effects our perception of its color harmony. Bright colors
can be quite pleasant when used in a small color sketch, but
when we use the same colors in the enlarged version, the
colors appear coarse. The reason lies in the limited number
of color cones in our retina. Because we have only so many
color cones to register the different color vibrations, our
eye tires quickly when scanning large areas of color. The
illustrator whose pictures are photographically reduced for
reproduction should understand and exploit this phenomenon.
A common cause of dead pictures is too much raw unrelated
color rather than not enough. Here are some ways to bring your
picture back from the dead.
* Trying greying all but two colors.
* Tie your palette together by mixing a single color into all
but one or two of the other colors.
* Create your pictures with simple tone plans consisting of a
light tone, one or two middle tones, and a dark tone. Keep it
simple.
* Reduce your palette to three or four basic colors from
which you'll mix all the rest. This is a lot easier and more
effective than it sounds.
* Don't put bright colors into your shadows.
* Put your brightest colors into areas of light, especially
transitional areas where light meets shadow.
* Never use all three primaries in their pure state, in the
same picture. If they are there, that's your source of
trouble. Tone two of the primaries with the third one. Only
one primary should dominate.
* Introducing black, white or grey can help restore the
brilliancy of a picture which is too full of color. You have
to sacrifice color in one place to gain brilliancy elsewhere.
* If the picture doesn't respond to any of the above, it
means that the values are wrong. The overall relationship of
light to shadow has gone wrong. A color cannot be right until
its value is right.
I know that much of this goes against what you think comprises good
color, but these aren't my rules...these are nature's rules. Stick your
head out of the window. What do you see? If your studio is in the city,
you'll likely see a lot of greys and dull browns. But if your studio is
in the country, you'll still be looking at lots of greys and browns. Most
of the permanent things in the landscape; earth, tree trunks and rocks
are greyed down colors. Except on golf greens, most grassy areas are
greyed or brownish greens. The bright colors are reserved for rare and
fleeting effects; flowers, sunsets, fruits, feathers and the spectacular
colors of autumn. Those bright colors always appear to be at their
maximum brilliance because they are surrounded and buffered by
neutralized tonalities of themselves. Perhaps there's an important lesson
awaiting on your next walk through the fields.
Light and Shadow:
Outdoor light comes from the sun, not the sky. That's why
sunlit highlights are warm, especially as we approach sunset. The
blue of the sky reflects into the shadows causing shadows to
appear cooler than the lights.
In a studio with a north facing window, the opposite is true.
Because there is never any direct warm light from the sun, the
blue of the sky reflects its cool light through the window.
Because of optical contrast, the shadows appear warm. Your pictures will become lively
and lifelike if you remember to create a warm/cool interplay
between, and within, your shadows and your lights.
Shadows are affected by more than just the warm or cool
reflections of the light source, thus we have the axiom, color is
relative to all surrounding influences. What this means is, the
areas of a warm yellow cube illuminated by a warm light source
will get warmer and more intense, while the color on the cool
shadow side will become neutralized. If we place the cube on a
blue ground, that color will be reflected up into the shadow. Some
of the blue would mix with the yellow causing the shadow to look
greener than the above example. We call the actual color of an
object its "local" color. Yellow is the local color of the cubes
used in our example. This brings us to yet another axiom, local
color should never completely lose its identity in the shadow.
All colors are modified by the conditions surrounding them.
Warm light shining on a warm color will give it greater brilliancy. The
same warm light shining on a cool color will subtract brilliancy.
* When struck by light, all colors become a source of
reflected light and will reflect themselves into adjacent
shadow areas.
* All colors in shadow take on the reflected colors of the
adjacent light struck area.
* Any two colors become harmonious when one (or both) are
mixed with some of the other.
* No color can be more intense in shadow than it is in light.
* Colors at their greatest intensity should be relegated to
the lights and halftones. In shadow, these colors should be
greyed or neutralized---or changed by the influence of the
adjacent colors.
* The most brilliant colors are usually found in the
halftones.
Although the painter's axiom of, greys make the picture has
much to recommend it, too many neutral greys can deaden a picture.
Overly neutralized greys can be fixed by "spiking" them with the
color they lean toward. Although this technique is particularly
effective in the halftones, shadow colors can also be intensified
to good effect. However, to avoid a gaudy and unconvincing
picture, greater delicacy and taste must be used when spiking
shadows.
Pre-mixed greys can be very useful to tone down colors without altering
their value. If we hold a color, let's say Flame Red, next to our
grey card we see that it's between a Value 3 and a Value 4---my
tube of Flame Red is a Value 3.5. By mixing increasing amounts of
grey with the color, we can lower its intensity without changing
its value. If you paint a square with the toned down mixture and
place a square of the pure color in the middle, the color will
appear to be much more brilliant than if just painted on white.
Experiment with varying proportions of grey and red. See how easy
it is to create the effect of a glowing red area. If you squint
your eyes the differences between the pure color and grey will
disappear. Remember, if you photograph this with black and white
film, it will look like the entire square has been painted in a
Value 3.5 grey.
Colors which are direct complements, meaning they appear
directly opposite each other on the color wheel, will usually
neutralize each other if mixed together. The neutral and semi-
neutral tones made by mixing direct complements are called visual
greys. One of the best known combinations is Alizarin Crimson and
Viridian. The chart shows three values of a neutral mix at the
top. The three values in the middle are semi-neutrals favoring
Alizarin Crimson. The three values at the bottom are semi-neutrals
favoring Viridian. The same system applies to the other examples.
Learning to mix and use visual greys is one of the most
useful skills a colorist can develop. I spent more than a year
painting with nothing other than mixtures of Ultramarine and Raw
Sienna. I never exhausted the possibilities offered by those two
colors. Painting with such a limited palette gave me a greater
appreciation of color. Again, this is something which must be
experienced firsthand. Pick two complementary colors and execute a
painting. Although you may use a full range of values, you'll
probably not use the full range of color. This execise is a real
eye-opener. I recommend it.
Like many of the techniques in this chapter, the following
technique was first shown to me by Andrew Loomis in his classic
book Creative Illustration. Although the illustrations in Loomis'
book may appear dated, his solid advice is timeless. In order to
give you the flavor of Loomis' approach, I'll quote him directly.
"Here is one of the best ways in the world to obtain
brilliancy of color: Keep your color most intense on the edges of
the lighted areas, where it merges into shadow. This seems to cast
an aura of additional color over the whole area. Just taking a
local color of the light and rubbing it into a darker color of the
shadow (which most of us do, most of the time) produces no
brilliancy. It is apt to be just color in the light, then mud,
then reduced color in the shadow. This is one of the least known
and least practiced truths." It also is one of the best and most
useful pieces of advice I've ever received.
That wraps up the our abbreviated introduction to color
theory and basic color principles. I hope that the information in
the beginning of this chapter saves you from wasting time with
dead-end color theories that just don't work. Don't expect to
absorb everything after reading it just one time. Let it sink in
for a while. Experiment by applying these principles to little
color sketches. If you run into any trouble, come back to consult
the "bullet points" in this chapter or Stephen Quiller's Color
Choices and Andrew Loomis' Creative Illustration. If I were
limited to owning just two books about color, these would be the
two.
Rob Howard - Boston 1993
