Tag Archives: Color Mixing

But I Don’t Need Any Paint!

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I’m a paint snob! I only like quality brands and Golden is the only acrylic paint I use. Their fluid acrylics are the best and I can’t do without the Acrylic Glazing Liquid. Depending on the look I want: I paint it on the canvas before I add color, I mix it into the pigment to make it more transparent or to create a glaze, and I use it on top of the paint to blend it. These paints are easy to use and create consistent results and I recommend them to my adult students.

Going to the art supply store is one of the fun things we do on the weekend. It’s a toy store for artists but because my favorite store is 50 miles away, I make sure that my inventory of both acrylic paint and watercolor doesn’t get low. I don’t need paint but Golden has a new line of watercolors called QOR, and I couldn’t resist!  I purchased the High Chroma Set of 6 colors which contained Green Gold, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Pyrrole Orange, Cobalt Teal, Dioxazine Purple and Quinacridone Magenta, in 5 ml tubes. The advertising copy says they are “amazingly brilliant” and its true! I’ve used most of the major brands of watercolors and these react in a different way and the colors glow!

For my basic palette, my favorite brand is DaVinci, the paint is high quality and the tubes are large, 37mL, and like Golden, they have always been helpful when I’ve had questions about a product.  Lately, I’ve been using Daniel Smith Watercolors because of all their unusual colors. I’m an artist who prefers to use 5 tubes of paint or less in a painting, so it’s fun to add in colors like Indanthrone Blue and Perylene Maroon.

Most quality brands of paint handle in a similar way, but QOR moves differently on the paper. Gum Arabic is the binder for watercolors but QOR uses a unique product.  There is a nice introductory video on the QOR site that explains the difference.   I needed to make a couple of adjustments to my technique to get the colors to flow one into another without hard edges. With the QOR colors it took more effort to accomplish the fluid look I want, but once I got used to the way it applied I didn’t have a problem. Watercolors come in transparent, opaque, and granulating which look uneven on the surface of the paper, these qualities give a painting its  character. I didn’t use any granulating pigments in the painting below, but the Cobalt Teal (included in the set) is  granulating and Semi-Opaque.  All the pigments I used were transparent, except Dioxazine Purple, which is semitransparent.  The colors are bright and clear and mix well with each other and they all have a similar intensity which gives the painting a contemporary look.

All the Stars int the Universe, Watercolor, 9" x 12", © 2014

Pamela Atkinson, “All the Stars int the Universe”, Watercolor, 9″ x 12″, © 2015,  Print available in Pamela’s Etsy shop.

I’m looking forward to trying some of the other QOR colors. I like the clean, bright quality of the paint. But I need to remember, that I don’t need any more paint!  

What’s your favorite paint?  Have you tried QOR?  What do you think?

What Gets Your Creativity Flowing?

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Moon Moss Season Set

Pamela Atkinson, Set of “Moon Moss” prints, digital prints of original watercolors, each image measures 7″ x 9″. Original watercolors and prints available in Pamela’s Etsy shop.

What gets your creativity flowing? For me, it might be the weather. I’m a California girl by choice, not birth. Originally from Illinois, I came here after hearing talk of not one more snowy winter! My parents had had it! Since I was a child, I had no say in the matter and off we went to sunnier climes. But I’ve always felt the loss of the seasons; flowers blooming, leaves falling, and even the snow (or the romantic idea of snow).  A feeling that the passage of time means something more than people changing the strings of holiday lights around their houses from pumpkins to icicles. Now, in the ever sunny and hot environment in which we live, I long for a change that doesn’t come.  Yes, it gets cooler but not cool enough. And so, every year, I strain to feel the crispness of autumn in the air and watch for the pattern of the light to change. It signifies for me a chance to dig deeper into myself and create.

What sparks or inhibits your creative output? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Creativity Versus Formula

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Aiden, is in the 7th grade and created this unique silhouette portrait.

Aiden, is in the 7th grade and created this unique silhouette portrait.

Gavin, a 5th grader incorporated his interests in building and Legos into his background. By personalizing his portrait he adds interest and meaning to the final design.

Gavin, a 5th grader incorporated his interests in building and Legos into his background. Personalizing his portrait  adds interest and meaning to the final design.

Discovery and growth are an important part of the art making process. I want my young students to use their imaginations and develop good visual problem solving strategies. One of my strengths is being able to analyze and make suggestions that can enhance a painting or drawing while helping a student to see more deeply and evaluate their own work.

Technique is important, but it usually develops with time and experience.  I find I need to repeat specific techniques or principles several times to get people to try something new. One of my adult students told me it took her hearing and seeing a new concept three times before she began to incorporate this knowledge into her own work. I don’t know if this is the case for all, but my observations tell me it’s true.

Skye is six and has developed an unusual brushstroke technique. She puts a brush in both hands and dips each in a different color. She is able to blend and layer the pigments using her unique physical abilities to amazing results.

Skye is six and has developed an unusual brushstroke technique. She puts a brush in both hands and dips each in a different color. She is able to blend and layer the pigments using her unique physical abilities to amazing results.

Today, I wanted the kids to layer tempera paint so that the first color applied shines through the subsequent layers of pigment. It’s a tough concept but its fun to work on mixing the paint on the paper and not on a palette, and the results are a more complex color story. It saddened me to see that several of the paintings had a formulaic background. I don’t teach to a recipe, so they learned this elsewhere.  These paintings lacked spontaneity and personal style. I like to look at a student’s work and know who the painter is without looking at the name. The children are all unique personalities and that should come through in their choice of color, their brushstrokes, and even in what they leave out of the finished work. It’s a lot easier to have students follow directions and make a painting that looks just like the example, but what are they really learning?

To view more of my student’s work, visit http://creativekidshavefun.com.

Vibrant Color

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Lush, vibrant, bold pigments; a tube of paint is magic!

Color Wheel

Color Wheel

But, when I’m teaching, I like my students to use a limited palette of six colors, (see the color wheel to the right). If they’re using acrylics, they also need white and if they’re really, really insistent, black. I don’t use black in my work because I like the challenge of mixing rich, deep colors. To deepen the value of a hue I use its complement (the opposite color on the color wheel; yellow and violet, red and Green, and orange and blue).  The more complex the color the better!

Tulips in Shadow, 22″ x 30″, Watercolor, ©2014

Pamela Atkinson, “Tulips in Shadow”, 22″ x 30″, Watercolor, ©2015

When I created most of my early watercolors (see painting on the left), I used only four tubes of paint; Cadmium Yellow Medium, Permanent Rose, Ultramarine Blue, and Sap Green. The work I made with this color scheme had unity and a distinctive look and sometimes I still use them.

 

 

Reflections Triad

Reflections Triad

But I don’t like rules in art and new colors delights me, so lately, I’ve been having fun using the watercolor triad sets sold by Daniel Smith. The Reflections Triad* came today. I’ll mix and match these paints with colors I already own. I’ll keep the selection to 4 or 5 pigments per painting and make sure I have a clear bright hue in the mix. I can’t wait to try the Blue Apatite Genuine and I’ll be sure to post the results. Do you have a favorite paint color? I’d love to hear your comments.

*Update, Daniel Smith now sells only the primary and secondary triad set. Still a great deal, you can check them out at Daniel Smith sets.