CHAPTER 1: Color Basics & Painting Concepts
To have a meaningful discussion about color, we must be familiar with its scientific origins and the vocabulary used to describe its characteristics. Then we can build on this knowledge to discuss color as it is used in art to craft a message—from directing the viewer’s eye to hinting at a particular mood and accurately suggesting a sense of time and place. This broad chapter covers the following topics:
WHAT IS COLOR?
Color is a phenomenon of perception and reaches our eyes in a way you may not expect. Colors are actually wavelengths of light; when an object is red, it is reflecting red wavelengths and absorbing all other colors. In other words, you could say that a rose isn’t red—it’s reflecting red.
The first person to present this idea was Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) in the late 1600s. He conducted and published a series of experiments involving prisms, light, and color, which form the basis of our current understanding of color. These experiments involved refracting white light through a prism—a simple triangular glass object that separated light waves into individual colors. The results revealed that light could actually be broken down into seven individual colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Until this discovery, it was assumed that a prism somehow “colored” the light passing through it. To prove this wrong, Newton reversed the process: He projected the colors back into the prism, which resulted in pure white light. Artists and scientists alike were amazed by this breakthrough discovery that light is the source of all color.
Scientist Sir Isaac Newton provided the foundation for color theory as we understand it today.
As white light hits a prism, the light refracts and separates into the colors of the rainbow.
Light is made of electromagnetic waves produced by a light source, such as a candle, an electric light bulb, or the sun. These waves exist in varying lengths, which correspond to the different colors we see. For example, red is the longest wavelength, and violet is the shortest. The colors that we see when light strikes an object are the result of certain wavelengths (individual colors) being absorbed by the object while other wavelengths are being reflected back to us. Those reflected back to us are the colors that we see. They are focused by the lens of our eye and projected onto our retina. Because physiology differs from one person to the next, we each perceive color slightly differently. This makes our perception of color somewhat subjective, adding to the fascinating nature of color theory.
COLOR TERMS & PROPERTIES
THE COLOR WHEEL
Now that we know a little about the science behind color, how do we use our knowledge of light and color to organize a visual system that we can use to achieve our artistic goals? Fortunately, much of this organization has been done for us. The easiest way to view color relationships is through a circular diagram called the “color wheel”—a visual organization of color hues that follow a logical order around a circle. Seeing the colors organized in this fashion is helpful for color mixing and choosing color schemes. Many accomplished colorists throughout history, such as Wilhelm Ostwald, Dr. Herbert Ives, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert H. Munsell, developed their own variations of color charting, but the 12-hue wheel pictured here is the most common model used by artists today.
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Colors
The color wheel helps us see relationships between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The wheel’s three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue, which are positioned at three evenly spaced points around the circle. The three primary colors are so named because they can’t be created by mixing any other colors on the wheel. We can create a multitude of other colors by combining red, yellow, and blue in various proportions, but we can’t create the three primaries by mixing other colors.
This color wheel is further broken down into three secondary colors: orange, green, and violet. You can create these colors by combining two of the primaries. For example, red and yellow produce orange, blue and red produce violet, and yellow and blue produce green. Also shown in the color wheel are six tertiary colors, which are created by mixing each primary color with its neighboring secondary color. These colors include red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.
Complementary Colors
Complements sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel. For example, red sits opposite green, blue sits opposite orange, and yellow sits opposite violet. These colors are considered “opposites” in their hues and hold the maximum amount of color contrast possible. Just as white is considered the opposite of black, red is the opposite of green. When mixed together, they form a dull gray, brown, or neutral color. Below are a few tips for effectively using complementary colors in painting.
Analogous Colors
Analogous colors are adjacent (or close) to each other on the color wheel. When used together in a painting, analogous colors create unity because the colors are already related. They can also be used in color mixing to brighten or darken each other. For example, add yellow to brighten a yellow-green, or add green to darken a yellow-green.
THE QUALITIES OF COLOR
Hue, saturation (or intensity), and value are the three characteristics that help us describe and categorize a color. For instance, if we say an object is red, we can more specifically describe the color by answering the following questions: Is it an orangey red or a crimson red? Is it brilliant or muted? Is it light or dark? With an understanding of these common properties, you can identify and describe any color.
ALTERING HUE, SATURATION & VALUE
In these two diagrams, observe simple ways to change the qualities of a pure color (central square).
• Add white paint—or water, if using watercolor—to lighten the value (moving up).
• Add black paint to darken the value (moving down).
• Add another color, such as an analogous color, to alter the hue (moving right).
• Add gray—or the central color’s complement—to desaturate the color (moving left).
HUE
For the purpose of simplification and logical organization, the color wheel features 12 basic hues.
The beauty of the color wheel is that it shows us the relationships between the various hues. The term “hue,” which is often used interchangeably with the word “color,” refers to the family to which a particular color belongs. Rose, burgundy, magenta, and candy apple are all in the red hue family. Chartreuse, leaf green, and seafoam are all in the green hue family, and so on. In essence, when one uses the word “color,” one is referring to its hue.
Common Hues of Blue
Below are five swatches of blue watercolor paints that show different hues within the same color family. When building your palette of paint colors, it’s a good idea to have a few hues of each primary color on hand.
Phthalo blue: a greenish blue
Cobalt turquoise light: a bright, greenish blue
Cerulean blue: a bright, grayish blue
Ultramarine blue: a cool, reddish blue
Cobalt blue: a pure blue
SATURATION & INTENSITY
A color’s saturation, also called its “intensity” or “chroma,” refers to its level of brilliance or dullness. A highly saturated color is very vibrant. Many beginners who strive to create brilliant, colorful paintings work with a palette of only—or mostly—highly saturated colors. This can defeat their purpose, however, because when too many brilliant colors are placed together in the same painting, each color competes for the viewer’s attention. An effective way to use saturated color is in conjunction with unsaturated color (or neutrals), so that some parts of the painting demand the attention while others fade back and play supportive roles.
Brilliantly saturated colors (A) and muted tones (B) can be lovely on their own, but often the key to a successful work is a balance of the two (C).
Neutral Colors
Neutral colors are low in saturation. Although they are not on the color wheel, these beautiful tones appear frequently in nature and can have a calming effect in art. Neutrals include browns and grays, both of which contain all three primary colors in varying proportions. Neutral colors are often dulled with white or black. Artists also use the word neutralize to describe the act of dulling a color by adding its complement.
In this painting, acrylic artist Varvara Harmon employs mostly neutrals within the composition to keep the viewer’s focus on the more colorful macarons.
VALUE
Within each hue, you can achieve a range of values—from dark shades to light tints. However, each hue has a value relative to others on the color wheel. For example, yellow is the lightest color and violet is the darkest. To see this clearly, photograph or scan a color wheel and use computer-editing software to view it in grayscale. It is also very helpful to create a grayscale chart of all the paints in your palette so you know how their values relate to one another.
Besides a color’s inherent value on the wheel, a hue itself can vary in value. The simplest way to explore a color’s range of value is to create a value scale. In this example, work from left to right in watercolor, starting with a very strong wash and adding more water for successively lighter values.
Color & Value Patterns
For most paintings to be successful, there should be a good value pattern across the painting, which means a clear and definite arrangement of dark, middle, and light values. This will create an effective design, which appeals to our innate sense of aesthetics and what is pleasing to the eye. It also helps communicate the point of your painting in a clear and uncluttered manner. Keep in mind that these values should not be equal in a painting but rather predominantly light or dark. Equal amounts of light and dark result in a static image that lacks movement, drama, and interest.
Predominantly light painting
Predominantly dark painting
Color vs. Value
To understand the importance of value, try this exercise. Re-create a painting or a photograph using an unconventional color palette while staying true to the pattern of values. The final image will still “read” well, despite the inaccurate colors.
Shown here is the original painted scene featuring a dynamic value pattern and realistic hues. Now we’ll paint the same scene using different colors that match the value sketch.
Above is a three-value sketch of the scene using black, white, and gray. This will help you keep your values in check as you choose and mix colors for the painting.
Step 1
Use a large brush to cover your canvas with strokes of a bright, warm pink. Once dry, sketch the scene on top and block in the darkest values with variations of blue.
Step 2
Add greens and browns to block in the midtone field and hills. Keep your brushwork loose as you stroke in the direction of grass growth.
Step 3
Then paint the midtone sky with a purple mix, allowing some of the pink from step 1 to show through for interest.
Step 4
Now add the lightest areas using cool yellow tints. Finish by defining a few details, such as the window sills.
Above are alternative color schemes that adhere to the same general value pattern.
Tints, Tones & Shades
The 12-hue color wheel shows us basic color relationships, but it does not show the various levels of color saturation and values that are possible. We need to know how to make a color lighter or darker without changing its hue, as well as how to desaturate a color while maintaining its value. This leads us to tints, shades, and tones. A tint is a color plus white; when painting with opaque pigments such as oils or acrylics, simply add white paint to any color to create a tint. A shade is a color that has been darkened with black paint. A tone is a color that has been mixed with black and white (or gray). Most colors we see in nature are tones; very few are full-intensity hues.
Alternative Color Wheel The 12-hue color wheel we have referred to thus far shows colors in their pure forms, but it neglects to show the many possible variations within a color. This alternative color wheel incorporates tints, shades, and tones.
TEMPERATURE
Color temperature refers to the feeling one gets when viewing a color or set of colors. Generally, yellows, oranges, and reds are considered warm, whereas greens, blues, and purples are considered cool. When used within a work of art, warm colors seem to advance toward the viewer, and cool colors appear to recede into the distance. This dynamic is important to remember when suggesting depth or creating an area of focus.
Divide your color wheel in half by drawing a line from a point between red and red-violet to a point between yellow-green and green. This makes a visual distinction between the warm and cool colors. Granted, red-violet is a bit warm and yellow-green is a bit cool, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere—and you’ll get the general idea from this.
Relative Temperature Within individual colors, you will find warm and cool varieties. If a color leans toward red on the color wheel, it is considered warmer than a version of the color that leans blue. Relative to each other, cadmium yellow leans red and lemon yellow leans blue; therefore, cadmium yellow (far left) is warmer than lemon yellow (near left).
Combining Warm & Cool Temperatures
A painting should be primarily one temperature—either warm or cool. There should be a clear, simple message in each painting with a minimum number of variables. Also, you don’t want to confuse the viewer with uncertainty. However, warm accents in a cool painting—and cool accents in a warm painting—are certainly acceptable and encouraged. Remember, you want your statement to be exciting but clear.
Accenting Warm and Cool Palettes These two examples show either warm or cool colors almost exclusively. The warm painting (left) suggests a hot summer day with energy in the air, and the cool painting (right) recedes into quiet and suggests a winter afternoon. In each painting, complementary accents emphasize the color theme with contrast.
The above paintings by artist Robert Moore illustrate warm and cool palettes. Compare the energy and glow of the yellow and orange autumn scene to the soothing blues and purples of the tea still life. However, notice hints of contrasting temperatures in the scenes that create effective accents, such as the patches of cool blue sky and the warm teacup.
COLOR, LIGHT & SHADOW
The interplay of light and shadow is a common area of focus for artists, as this can heavily influence the mood, drama, and realism of a painting. To begin understanding how light affects an object, think of it as though it is made up of three basic parts: lights, local color, and shadows. The local color of an object refers to its actual or natural color, without taking lights and shadows into account. The lights are illuminated by a light source, whether it’s the sun, moon, artificial light, or candlelight. A bright, sunny day warms an object with a yellow cast, while creating cool areas of shadow. In contrast, a gray, wintery day illuminates the lights with cool tones, and its shadows appear warmer. Simply stated, the general rule is this: Warm light yields cool shadows; cool light yields warm shadows.
This pear is painted in warm light coming from the upper left, which produces cool shadows.
This pear is painted in cool light coming from the upper left, which produces warm shadows.
Visual Interest with Light & Shadow
Besides creating the illusion of form and dimension, the interplay between light and shadow also can be used to pique a viewer’s interest in a scene. Because contrasting values attract the eye, incorporating subtle, natural contrasts between light and dark can add vitality and drama to a painting. For example, sunlight filtering through the leaves of a tree forms a variety of fascinating shapes that engage the viewer’s interest. And sometimes patterns of light and shadow can be so compelling that they become the focus of the painting in lieu of the physical elements of the scene!
Engaging the Viewer The irregular patches of sun and a range of warm values make this scene compelling and inviting.
Focusing on Shadows This snapshot captures the natural, delicate balance between light and shadow. For the painting, simplify the shadows but try to retain the delicate lace-like quality that makes them so interesting.
COLOR RELATIVITY
While colors are generally classified as warm or cool, they can also be relatively warm or cool within their hue. Although red is considered the warmest color, there are cool reds and warm reds. A cool red contains more blue (such as magenta), and a warm red contains more yellow (such as coral). By virtue of the relative warmness or coolness of a color, artists can manipulate space and influence how the viewer perceives a color. This leads us to the importance of color relationships. The way we perceive a color’s characteristics is relative to its surroundings. By using contrasts in temperature, value, and chroma, we can make colors appear warmer or cooler, lighter or darker, and brighter or duller simply by the colors we place next to them.
Relative Temperature A color’s temperature is influenced by surrounding colors. Note how the same pink circle appears cooler set against orange (A) than blue (B).
Relative Value Our perception of a color’s value depends on its surrounding color. Note how the same pink circle appears lighter in example C than in example D.
Relative Chroma A color’s chroma can appear different depending on nearby colors. Note how the same pink circle appears dull against yellow (E) and bright against gray (F).
COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
HUE |
SYMBOLISM |
FUN FACTS |
YELLOW |
• Happiness • Joy • Intellect • Enlightenment • Wisdom • Warmth • Spring • Cowardice • Hazard • Illness |
• The eye processes yellow first. It’s often used in cautionary signage, such as a yield sign. • The yellow in a stoplight cautions us to slow down. • A “yellow card” in soccer is a warning. |
ORANGE |
• Extroverted • Energy • Optimism • Spontaneity • Adventure • Youthfulness • Inexpensive • Superficiality • Loudness |
• Orange takes the heat and vitality of red and combines it with the sunshine of yellow. • Orange is known to stimulate the appetite. Restaurants often use orange—from a peach color to earth tones—in their décor. The color orange encourages people to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. |
RED |
• Energy • Passion • Action • Love • Anger • Aggression • Danger • War |
• Red calls attention. It is highly visible. Think of a stop sign. It’s interesting to note that many countries’ flags feature red as one of their colors. • A “red-letter day” is a special day. • To “see red” means that one is furious. |
VIOLET |
• Royalty • Rich • Ceremony • Creativity • Courage • Magic • Death • Mourning • Unrest |
• Violet is the most difficult color for the eye to pick up, because it has the shortest wavelength in the light spectrum. • Richard Wagner surrounded himself with violet when composing operas. • Violet is said to be an appetite suppressant. It’s a rare color in natural foods. |
BLUE |
• Depth • Stability • Calm • Trust • Serenity • Loyalty • Sadness • Coldness |
• Blue is nature’s color for water and the sky. • Blue, like violet, is said to be an appetite suppressant. It’s also a rare color in natural foods. • Blue ranks high as a favorite color and is often used in business communications and logos. |
GREEN |
• Life • Nature • Renewal • Soothing • Healing • Greed • Jealousy |
• Green is a dominant color in nature and a relaxing color to view. • Green symbolizes ecology and the environment. It is used to advertise “green” products. |
COLOR & MOOD
A basic understanding of color psychology allows you to better select a palette or dominant color scheme that conveys your desired mood. Let’s take a look at some common colors and their corresponding psychological values as they appear in the context of paintings by artist Patti Mollica.
YELLOW
Yellow Rose by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
Yellow is the cheerful color of sunshine. It conveys warmth, happiness, hope, and positivity. It also exudes childlike simplicity and innocence.
PINK
Pink Brigade by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
Pink is a psychologically powerful color that represents the feminine principle and is associated with love and romance. Pink is thought to have a calming effect, although too much of it is physically draining and can be emasculating.
RED
Red Macs by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
A color commonly associated with fire and blood, red conveys energy, power, passion, and love. It stimulates excitement and has been shown to raise blood pressure and heart rate. It is used often in restaurants because it is considered an appetite stimulant.
BLUE
Rainy Day, Times Square by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
When used in light, airy pastel tints, blue is associated with the sky, water, and feelings of serenity, relaxation, and calm. Deeper shades, however, are related to sadness and despair.
PURPLE
Purple Imperial by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
Purple has long been associated with royalty because only aristocrats could afford the expensive pigment. During Roman times, it took 4 million crushed mollusk shells to produce one pound of purple pigment. This royal color conveys elegance, dignity, and sophistication.
BLACK
53rd and Third by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
The color black (or lack thereof) is associated with fear, death, evil, negativity, formality, and solemnity. Black can be used alongside other colors to make them stand out, and it contrasts well with bright colors.
WHITE
Mimi’s Bouquet by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
As the color of snow, white symbolizes cleanliness, goodness, innocence, and purity. It is considered the color of perfection.
GREEN
End the War by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
The color of nature, green symbolizes freshness, fertility, and harmony. It is considered the most restful color to the eye and imbibes the cheeriness of yellow with the calmness of blue.
ORANGE
Red Hot Jazz by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
The human eye perceives orange as the warmest color. Orange mimics the heat of a flame and combines the vibrance of yellow with the intensity of red. It represents enthusiasm, creativity, and invigoration.
COLOR SCHEMES
Over time, certain color combinations have been established as especially agreeable to viewers. These combinations consist of two or more colors that have a fixed relationship on the color wheel and are pleasing when viewed together (creating “color harmony”). This includes tints, tones, and shades of the colors within a scheme; simply be aware of the balance of warm to cool hues, as well as saturated to neutral colors. In this section, explore the most commonly used color schemes through a selection of paintings by artist Patti Mollica.
MONOCHROMATIC SCHEME
The monochromatic color scheme uses a single color throughout, along with variations of the color’s shades, tints, and tones. While it’s not known to be the most exciting color scheme, a monochromatic palette is elegant, easy on the eyes, and soothing. This is the easiest color scheme to create; all you need is your color of choice, black, and white paints.
Chrysler Building by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
ANALOGOUS SCHEME
The analogous scheme is made of colors that sit adjacent to one another on the color wheel. Most often, one color serves as the dominant color, with others used to accent and enhance the overall scheme. Although the lack of contrasting colors yields a simplistic look, this scheme—like the monochromatic—has a simple elegance that is pleasing to the eye.
Orange on Pink by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
TRIADIC SCHEME
The triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel (for example, red-orange, blue-violet, and yellow-green). Many artists enjoy using this scheme because, unlike the previous two, there is ample color contrast and a natural color balance. One color serves as the dominant color, while the other two act as subordinate hues.
Deli & Pizza by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
COMPLEMENTARY SCHEME
The complementary scheme offers the most visual contrast because it is made up of two colors that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. It is most successfully used when one color acts as the dominant color with the other in a supporting role. The two colors should not be of the same saturation intensity and must be visually balanced. For example, in the painting at left, the subdued purple takes up the most space of the painting but is balanced by the more saturated yellow of the flower.
Daffy by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY SCHEME
The split complementary scheme uses a color and the two colors adjacent to its complement (for example, red, yellow-green, and blue-green). This scheme still features good color contrast, but it conveys less tension than the complementary scheme.
Moonshine Mama by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
ANALOGOUS COMPLEMENTARY SCHEME
This scheme combines the analogous and complementary schemes, incorporating three side-by-side hues plus the complement of the center color (for example, red, blue-green, green, and yellow-green).
Vernazza Colors by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
TETRAD SCHEME
The tetrad color scheme uses two hues that are separated by one color on the wheel, plus the complement of each hue (for example, red, green, orange, and blue). Because this scheme can overwhelm with visual tension, it’s a good idea to choose one dominant color and accent with the rest.
Field and Sky by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
SATURATED SCHEME
The saturated scheme uses the brightest colors possible, with very few neutrals or grays. While yielding a very lively painting, the scheme makes creating a focal point (or area of interest) a challenge, as all the colors compete for attention.
North Carolina Fields by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
NEUTRAL SCHEME
As the opposite of the saturated scheme, the neutral scheme uses colors that have been grayed down. This diffused palette is perfect for foggy landscapes, white-on-white subjects, and scenes with a soft, mellow mood.
White Teapot by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
SATURATED & NEUTRAL SCHEME
A scheme of this nature pairs highly saturated colors with various shades of gray. Because much of what we see in life is actually some form of gray, this scheme is often the most accurate way to depict color.
Blues Brothers by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
COLOR & COMPOSITION
Color plays an integral role in how the eye moves throughout a painting. On the following pages, learn how to use it to guide the eye to a focal point and minimize visual competition to create an effective composition.
VALUE CONTRAST
An area of dark value next to a passage of light value commands the viewer’s attention. Many painters will place the lightest color next to the darkest color within the focal point, such as the white highlight on the dark blue bottle.
Blue Bottles by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
EDGE CONTRAST
The edges between subjects (or shapes of color) in your painting can range from hard and crisp to soft and blurry. Because the eye is drawn to crisp edges, you can guide the viewer to your focal point by strategically softening and hardening your edges. In this non-representational piece, the focal point is in the lower right quadrant, where the crisp circular edges contrast the softer color changes and strokes of the rest of the painting.
Delta by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
CHROMA CONTRAST
An area of bright, saturated color will naturally demand the viewer’s attention when surrounded by less intense colors. In this painting, the high-chroma red and green of the ornaments “pop” against the gray background.
Shirley’s Bulb by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
TEMPERATURE CONTRAST
Maximum color contrast occurs when you place complementary colors next to each other within a painting. Because complements involve two colors opposite each other on the color wheel (one from the cool half and one from the warm half), the colors contrast in temperature. You can easily create a focal point by applying a warm color in a painting that is predominantly cool, or vice versa. Note that complementary colors of the same intensity will compete and vibrate, therefore it’s best to desaturate one of them. In this painting, the warm, bright red contrasts effectively against the cooler, more muted greens.
Red Spot by Patti Mollica. Acrylic.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE
As artists, we are magicians and deceivers; at least that’s what we should be. We are trying to convince the viewer that a two-dimensional image (our painting) is three-dimensional (our subject). To achieve this goal, we need to simulate depth and distance in our paintings. Generally speaking, the farther away things are, the more the effects of the atmosphere become apparent. Particles in the air interfere with our perception, which causes loss of contrast, detail, and focus. Referred to by Leonardo DaVinci as the “perspective of disappearance,” this phenomenon is known today as “atmospheric (or aerial) perspective.” According to this principle, objects take on a cooler, blue-gray middle value as they recede into the distance. What does that mean to us as watercolor artists? Here are a few color notes to remember in planning a painting:
Distant Objects
1. Colors are muted and less intense.
2. Colors are cooler.
3. Colors tend to be bluer, grayer, and have more middle values.
4. There is less contrast.
5. Shadows are paler.
6. Detail is minimized.
Close Objects
1. Colors are brighter and more intense.
2. Colors are warmer.
3. Colors have lighter lights and darker darks.
4. There is more contrast.
5. Shadows are deeper, richer, and have more color.
6. Detail is maximized.
In addition to using color, we can enhance and even force this perception of space and distance by paying particular attention to the following visual cues:
Size Objects in the distance appear smaller than objects in the foreground.
One-Point Perspective Vertical and horizontal lines appear closer together as they move toward the horizon.
Overlapping Placing objects in front of other objects will help produce the illusion of distance.
Detail Objects in the distance have less detail and appear subtler than closer objects.
Focus Objects that are far away appear slightly out of focus.
Temperature Foreground objects are warmer in tone. As objects recede, they become cooler.
In this coastal painting, artist Tom Swimm gives the elements in the foreground (the sunlit building and the rocks along the shore) the brightest, warmest colors, keeping them sharp in focus with more detail. He uses increasingly less detail for the hills and rocks along the distant shore, also applying more subtle, cooler colors as he moves into the background.
Artist Frank Serrano creates a sense of depth in this oil painting by using muted colors for the most distant areas while accenting the closer foreground areas with bright orange and blue-violet wildflowers.
INFUSING COLOR
A scene or photo reference may have an interesting composition or value pattern but uninteresting colors. As an artist, you can take matters into your own hands and infuse color where it does not (yet) exist. In the two examples on this page, see how an artist brings life into a scene with some improvised color. As discussed shown here to here, establishing the correct values is the most important factor in creating a readable subject—then you are free to colorize as you please!
Artist Joseph Stoddard uses a palette of playful colors to turn a distant urban scene into a lively cityscape in watercolor.
Rye Marina Boat by Patti Mollica. Acrylic
Artist Patti Mollica uses a beautiful acrylic palette of pinks, purples, and blue-greens to bring color into a gray-dominated boat scene.