Celebrate Color

I believe that color (or its absence) is probably the most exciting and influential element in artworks. Though it is second to design in its importance, it exerts an immediate and spontaneous influence on us as we look at a work on art.

Basic Color Wheel

And, I have always loved the color wheel, in all its many manifestations. But, I hardly ever use it! From the time I first began to paint I have always used color instinctively, knowing what colors to mix to get what I needed. Studying color theory when I reached college only served to reinforce what I was already doing, and explained why what I was doing worked.

But if color doesn't come easy for you, you can learn how color works and how to utilize that knowledge.

Here's a good place to go, if you want to learn more about color.

Color possesses four qualities :

Hue - what we usually just call "color"

Value - the lightness (a tint) or darkness (a shade) of a color.

Intensity or saturation - emerald is more intense than olive, but they are both green

Temperature - there are warm reds (cadmium red) and cool reds (alizarine crimson), etc. This is true for all colors. In the watercolor below, can you see warm blues and cool blues?

Honey Jars in GA - Dottie Hoeschen

In a future post I will talk more about colors that I use and why......