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Color Choices...
an easy choice
A Demonstration in Oil Using a Limited Palette
by Vicki McMurry
Few things in the life of an artist are more exhilarating than recognizing a worthwhile subject, but you can't always stop to paint it. Fortunately, we have cameras to help us gather as many of those missed painting opportunities as possible.
I rummaged through my pile of photos and found a few with potential. I decided to use a sunset at the beach; it has very strong design possibilities, nice patterns of light and dark, and rich colors.
A warm opaque red was the dominant color in the photograph. This color, along with the supporting colors, inspired me to paint this scene. I was able to cover the full range of value and temperatures with only six colors. This limited palette kept the color notes related.
Keep in mind, though, that photos are a resouorce. Painting an exact duplicate of the photograph robs us of our personal expression. I keep my photograph handy while blocking in a painting, then I set it aside and refer to it only if a problem occurs. Otherwise, I would be tempted to paint the photograph as is.
Rapture
14" x 18" (36cm x 46cm)
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Colors Used
Ultramarine Blue -- Cadmium Red Light
Cadmium Orange -- Cadmium Yellow Light
Titanium White -- Alizarin Crimson
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I had several choices with the horizontal layout. The sun could have been placed on any of the four dynamic points. The vertical format had as many options. That's eight different choices before I even started painting. When you consider the range of color choices available, you could probably paint an entire exhibition's worth of paintings based on a single photograph.
I finally made a choice and cropped the photo to place the sun on the upper-right dynamic point. I preferred that positioning so that I could include the wonderful dark foreground. Generally, I use drafting tape to crop my photos. It has less adhesive than other tapes and removes easily. Here, I've cut this photo for an easy visual reference.
With a strong design such as this, the painting process is spelled out. All I have to do is mix colors and then paint.
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I toned the canvas with a thin wash of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Red Light, wiping off any excess turpentine. I used a darker version of that mixture to sketch. There is very little to sketch for this painting, but it's important to place the sun on a dynamic point. Using a no. 2 bright bristle brush, I sketched in some values. I always try to take extr time to get the drawing righ at this point. The surface was still wet with turpentine, so erasing was easy--I simply rubbed with a cloth or paper towel.
At this point in the process, check the design and don't move forward until you're completely satisfied. The design is the foundation; the rest of the painting depends on the strength of this foundation.
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I will struggle less with a painting if I make decisions now. During this phase, I'm already aware of how I'll handle the corners. For this painting, I chose to have one dark corner in the lower right. To make the lower left corner light, I eliminated the dark beach, replacing it with water. This painting already had three strong horizontal lines, and the reshaped beach will pull the eyes into the point of interest, the sun. Because I was drawn to the wonderful, amorphous cloud shape in the sky, I decided to use it as a minor point of interest.
At this point, I've also decided where to place my values. The lightest lights are the sun (the point of interest), the sun's light reflecting off the water and the backlit wisps of the moisture above the clouds.
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The two predominant primary colors in the scene are red and blue, so I used a basic mixture of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Red Light to block in the painting.
In the darkest dark--the land, in this case--I kept the mixture on the blue end of the spectrum, adding just enough Cadmium Orange and Cadmium Yellow Light to make subtle variations in the land.
For the clouds, I brought the mixture toward a burnt orange by adding Cadmium Red Light + Cadmium Orange + Cadmium Yellow Light. For the gray areas in the clouds, I used a little of the land mixture and add more Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Yellow Light + Titanium White.
At this point, the scene's horizontal lines were very apparent, almost overpowering. To ward off the monotony, I broke up the lines with random curves of the land that stretches into the sea.
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I am exaggerating on the dark side of the values because I like to have lots of room to come up to the light. I also like to scumble lighter values over the dried darks. The watercolor will enhance the lighter values and help avoid the chalky effect. I can illustrate the illusion that clouds are not soid masses, and I can keep the edges soft where needed.
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I used the mixtures from step three separately and mixed together to create additional values and temperatures. I lightened the mixtures with Cadmium Yellow Light or Cadmium Orange + Titanium White, and I darkened them with Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson.
I started with the sky. Near the sun, I kept the color on the yellow side. On either side of this, I leaned the color toward orange. I used a soft red version as the sky approaches the edge of the canvas. As I painted upward in the sky, I cooled the colors to indicate distance from the sun. I darkened the sky values to make an intense reddish orange glow for the clouds. I feathered my brush over the grays to soften any harsh lines in this area. Then I mixed Ultramarine Blue + a little Titaniium White back into this red-orange mixture to mute it. I used this muted mixture to repaint the grays of the clouds, feathering again into the red-orange glow.
For the water, I added more Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White to the original Cadmium Red Light + Ultramarine Blue mixture. I painted this over the water, but left untouched areas where the sun will reflect off the water.
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I scraped all of the dark mixtures on my palette together and used this as a base for the land. I darkened this mud further with Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson to paint the land. As I painted over already painted parts, I let some of the underlying color show through to create a few abstract areas.
I scraped together the light mixtures and created two mixtures for highlights, adding Cadmium Yellow Light + Titanium White to one and Cadmium Orange + Cadmium Yellow Light + Titanium White to the other.
For the sun, I painted a big dab of Titanium White and then gingrly glazed some thinned Cadmium Yellow Light + Cadmium Orange over the white dab.
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When you've reached this stage, it's critical to make a list of areas you intend to adjust. Otherwise, you'll find yourself repainting everything.
In this case, I wished to add more glow to the underside of the clouds. I did this by adding more Cadmium Yellow Light + Cadmium Orange to the cloud mixture and scrumbling it over the prior paint. I softened the line at the glow by scumbling over it.
I varied the values and shapes in the land by painting it with some of the red cloud mixture from step four. I moved the color around, darkening the mixture for contoured areas.
I popped up the sun and darkened the reflections. I dabbed the sun again using very thin Cadmium Yellow Light. I also scumbled a lighter version of the clouds and a darker version of the sun in the water for the reflections.
Everything interesting is happening on the right side of the painting, which weighs the image to that side. To counter this, I added a very minor point of interest in the water on the lower left. While it isn't in the photograph, this light encourages the eye to move through the painting.
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| I decided to keep a harder edge by the center of interest, but softened the water's horizon line away from the sun. My clouds became more orange than red, so I used a mixture of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Orange + Titanium White to soften the horizon. Naturally, this color needs to be moved around the painting, so I used it for the reflected light on the waves. Artistic license grants me the right to manipulate the image to maximize the effect. |
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The colors, design and treatment of the corners, lights and darks all have appeal. My color mixtures are all based in the primary colors of my palette. Because every color can be create from the primary colors, I could have taken this painting to read yellow, orange, red, purple, blue or green. In Rapture the only color that is truly absent is green. The mood is definitely subdued by incorporating Ultramarine Blue in areas. Adding Ultramarine Blue to the cloud mixtures soothed the temperatures so the sky seemed warm rather than hot.
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Corner Theory
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The odd corner works. The eye enters at the lower right, follows the light reflection of the sun to the center of interest (the sun) and then travels to the backlit clouds. |
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Broken Color
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The sun's reflection provides broken color and the sense of movement.
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Hard Edges
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The design places the harder edges along the horizon by the center of interest. |
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Contrast
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There are a variety of values and temperatures in the clouds and land. Value and temperature contrast between the water and the sky also focuses the point of interest. Purer, more saturated colors are located around the center of interest too. The muted colors suport the center. The light of the setting sun really dominates this painting; its warm rays flavor the entire scene. |
| I am a firm believer that the block-in will dictate each decision thereafter. The painting will talk to you and tell you what to do next. The colors I chose to block in this painting determined the entire theme. I could have easily chosen different dominant colors in the block-in, but the result would have been entirely different.
If you feel lost in a painting, the problem or problems probably surfaced in the very beginning. You can force a painting off its initial path, but that involves some struggle. I let the photograph and color choices set the stage for an easy painting. I challenged only the design and made it work.
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Rapture
14" x 18" (36cm x 46cm)
A Demonstration-Tutorial in Oil Using a Limited Palette
by Vicki McMurry
Visit her website
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