Thank you for the feedback on my last post and your thoughts/comments on other platforms. It is great talking to you and I've based this post solely on comments I've received. As always, I hope this might be helpful as you solve your own artistic obstacles.
Question #1-How do you create a warm
and cool for each color?
Creating a warm and a cool for each
color first and foremost is directly affected by my painting's color
scheme. Everything is relative to THIS particular piece I'm working
on. The decisions I make here may or may not work for another. This
emphasizes the importance of the block in even more.
This is the foundation for any good
painting. It is literally the underpainting and much of it will still
show through in the final product.
The block in from this lilly pad
painting is labeled (3); it shows my local color. Local color can be
described as the hue under neutral light. For the water, I had to
choose a reflected color showing sky and the underside of a tree. I
know water is clear but I'm just painting what I see not what I know.
The lilly pads are a cooler green RELATIVE to the warmer blue and
brown of the water. I keep this in mind moving forward.
From here, I can start dropping things
into light and shadow, painting strokes right over my block in.
(Remember, the block in will be your starting point for each color
now. Anywhere you want to take the painting needs to start from your
block in colors; it will likewise create cohesiveness in your piece)
To drop something into shadow I start
with my local color. I lower the value and increase the saturation.
To cool it down, I take my hue toward a cooler color slightly. This
will give me a nice subtle shift. You can see this in action with the
lower right lilly pads in shadow(3)-(4). When something needs to be
hit with light, I simply raise the value (from my local color) but
don't touch the saturation or hue. Then I lay down a stroke over my
original block in. You can see this with the lilly pads in light (4).
There is no universal rule to creating warm and cool but when you've
done it, you'll feel the vibration in your eyes.
I've enlarged (4) so you can see the
color bars on A, B, & C. These are local colors. D & E, show
local color with color in light.
Question #2-What is your workflow
like in one of these studies?
There are so many great artists out
there and different approaches to accomplishing the same thing.
Personally, I pull up a new canvas and select US Paper. I choose 8 x
10 in. (300 dpi/CMYK in case I ever want to print) and change the
canvas color to a neutral grey. Depending on my subject, I crop the
canvas to support my composition.
With a bristle brush at full opacity
and pen pressure enabled (default PS4 12 pixel brush), I lay in some
quick lines and loosely layout the design for my composition. Because
these are color studies, I spend very little time worrying about a
perfect design. I work on one layer to keep things moving along and
encourage my confidence.
Initially, I'm looking to get some big,
medium, and small shapes incorporated into the composition. My
co-worker Jason Sadler has created some nice thoughts on this here.
Sometimes, if my subject is simple enough, I will immediately block
in color without any line work. Once again, the purpose of the study
is color and not so much design so I'll proportion most of my time
for the painting.
The block in is a crucial part of the
painting. If I don't see an immediate read, I've got to modify colors
or value until it works; it's usually value. Like I mentioned
earlier, if it's not working here then it won't work bigger. It only
gets more complicated and frustrating if I enlarge to begin
detailing. I could paint it till an asteroid hits my mailbox (which
surprisingly may be soon) and I'd still be working things out. Once
the block in excites me, I begin working out light design. I ask
myself where the light is coming from. I ask what temperature the
light is. I think about properties of light on the surfaces within my
canvas. I lay in bold strokes to experiment. At this stage I usually
see some happy accidents but there are lots of sad ones too. The
canvas is still thumbnail size.
The painting is now at a place where it
needs to be enlarged. Depending on its purpose, I expand it and work
on rendering my shapes. I'm thinking about surfaces again. I'm
looking to keep it simple. I wait till the end to add highlights and
my darkest darks.
When I think its done, I walk away from
my computer/tablet/easel and get something to eat. I don't want to be
hungry while I paint and the food is stimulating for the mind. When I
come back and see it anew, I find it really easy to spot problems. I
take a couple minutes and fix them or pat myself on the back. There
is nothing more gratifying than nailing my block in and later the
detailing.
These studies I've been posting usually
last between 30-50 min. depending on my snack break. Peanut butter
and jelly is highly recommended (crunchy...not smooth)!
Question #3-Can you expand on “color
relationships” and “designing light”?
All that a color relationship means is
that one of your colors is cooler than the other. So, it also means
one color is warmer. My painting will feel flat and washed out if I
can't get my relationships working. When I started designing light in
this painting (4), I started with the center of attention, the
flower. I chose the local color to be a warm white. When I “designed”
or chose the color next to it, I made it cooler. My lilly pads and
the water (two colors touching the flower) are RELATIVELY cooler than
the white. And the pattern continues. As I work my way out to the
rest of the subject matter, I look for a way to put a cool and a warm
side by side. I am designing the color relationships to work against
one another in light. I am designing the color relationships to work
with each other in the shadows.
Joaquín
Sorolla
is a master of designing color relationships.
Often, I've pulled up his paintings to analyze how he treated shadows
and lights. This has been to my utmost benefit and inspired me to try
new things.
I hope you find this helpful. I learned a lot writing my thoughts down as I tried to explain what I'm thinking. Also, thank you so much for sharing these things virally with your friends. I've met so many great new artists since the last post!
