Are your Landscapes too GREEN? Painting & Drawing Tips

I live in a GREEN, GREEN world, here on the West Coast. 

When you are outdoors painting did you notice how GREEN it was out there?  The trees. The shrubs. The moss.  Everything is GREEN. 

BIRCH TREES BY THE STREAM - sketchbook page

I am not complaining. I like GREEN.  Here on the west coast there is lots of GREEN.  We have a temporal climate,  mild winters and mild summers.  I love it.  (I am a 25 C  person, any hotter is too hot for me) All this means we have lots of rain and very rich, lush GREENS that are often here year round.  

But all GREEN landscapes are boring to paint. . .  They need COLOUR. 

As many of my readers know, I did a lot of outdoor sketching and painting this summer.  When I encountered my lush GREEN landscapes I did the usual.  Blue greens, yellow greens, light greens, dark greens.  But I realized this was not enough. There was no colour. No drama. I decided this summer I was going to do something about it. I devised a challenge for myself.

My Summer Challenge: infuse colour into my green landscapes that was believable and interesting.  With colours that reflected me.

Birch Tree with a little stream - Lots of GREEN

Did you see this scene this summer? 

Pretty little spot in the park.  Birch Trees (my favourite with their white bark) they even have a few sun and shadow spots on them.  A little stream with interesting rocks in and around it.  Ferns and shrubs giving an interesting frame for the trees and stream.  Trees and foliage in the distance.  Pretty, meditative spot.  But so much GREEN.  

How I Infused my GREENS with Colour:

1.  I looked for other colours, no matter how small to include: dead leaves had rust, tans, browns. 

 2.  I pushed into new colours: red (Quinacridone Red) - hidden in the darks of the foilage; and pure blues (Ultramarine and Phalo Blue) -  Patches in the water, the background and darks on the birches.  

3.  I used a deep purple as my darkest dark.  This meant my transition colours were pinks and mauve from the same family.  (I mixed my purple with Ultramarine and Permanent Rose.  This meant I could make a variation of my purple learning to blue, mauve or pink)

Sound logical, right. . . .

Really #1 feels easy to do and a logical extension to what you see.  But #2 and #3, they really require you to step out of your box.  Red.  There is no Red in my reference picture.  But actually it looks kind of nice and adds a sparkle to the picture.  The purples and pinks.  More Sparkle.  I really enjoy looking at this little picture.  

A few Secrets from my Colour infusion . . .

a. This was not my first picture.  I started off slowly.  Added red.  Robert Genn said to add a bit of red to jazz things up. So I started dropping in red.  Reluctantly.  Quietly. Then got louder.  I liked it. 

b.  One drop of a new colour draws too much attention.  Put it in 3 different places, it blends in. Can be all the same tone or variations.  It seems to settle in. 

c.  I got braver.  I started playing with the purples.  Started adding them. Tried different values.  Tried different hues. Moved to a bit of pink. Some mauve.  

d.  I got even braver.  I added more and more colour.  This little picture brought it all together for me.  It sparkles.  It speaks to me.  

e.  Ok.  I know you might feel it does not look EXACTLY like the spot I was painting at.  But it reflects more than that.  It reflects how I felt about that spot in the kind of colour (language) that is unique to me.  When you chose your colours for your painting whether it is a green, blue, red or yellow, your chose is based on your preference.

Try a little colour in your life.  Don't let those GREENS run the whole show.  

Other posts on colour mixing:

Fighting that Horrifying Crazy Battle of Colour Mixing
Have some fun with Colour Mixing Theory
Is that Really the Right Blue?


Looking to move your Drawing Skills to the Next Level?

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Upcoming Drawing Classes: 

Sunday, September 22 & 29, Beecher Place, Crescent Beach, S Surrey. 1-3pm. $40 ea.
Part 1: Get that Line Drawing Right - Sept 22 Full
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Beginners to Advanced Welcome.  Come to one or both.      

Drop-In and Draw
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Contact Wendy to Register and for more information.  

OR Book a 3 Pack of Private Lessons with Me - 3 Lessons 2.5 hr each $225
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September 19-30 I will be at Beecher Place with Art Theo featuring Art by myself, Doris Biddle and Donna Schipfel.  During our stay we will be offering classes and showing/selling our work. I have Drawing Classes on the Sundays (Sept 22 & 29)  and a Drop-In Session (Sept 30)  for those that want to practice more from the classes or would like help in their own projects or starting new ones.

Doris will be offering a 2 Day class working with Acrylics $80 and a Ceramic Painting class $45.  Donna will be offering 2 classes on Watercolour on Rice paper $40 ea.

FYI

I am scheduled for a Demo at Opus this fall: 

 Drawing: Values, Light & Shadows - Saturday, Oct 19, 11-12:30 or 2-3:30 Free 

Contact Langley Opus to Register  604.533.0601

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Is that Really the Right Blue? - Painting and Drawing Tips

Having trouble with your colour choices?

Feeling like there is 'no right' colour to paint with?

I know what it is like. . .
Sometimes my painting flows, my colour choices seem to roll with ease.

Mushrooms in the Leaves - ink and coloured pencil

Then trouble starts. . . .

You add that trim colour, or move into the shadow colour and nothing seems to work.  So annoying.
Working with colour has become my focus this year.  I am back re-reading some of my books, trying different combos.  Researching.  And playing.

One of my favourite ways to play with colour is with coloured pencils. . .

Funny eh?  Not sure why, but when I use coloured pencils and my sketchbook I seem to be freer. No fear.  Dropping in a new colour, mixing a weird combination, just seems to be easier.  I think too the fact that I am not making mud with my watercolours helps too.  Regardless, it works for me.

Mushrooms in the Leaves - WIP 1-  note the delicate look of the mushrooms. They are outlined with Sepia not Black

So here's my latest neat way to play . . .

I decided to try a different colour ink to layout my drawing.  I grabbed a sepia coloured one.  I thought I would use other colours too.   But when I added some  green I decided it was too garish and stopped. So I just used the sepia for the rest.  Then took my coloured pencils and had fun.  Mixing my colours to create new colour. 

Ways to layer with coloured pencils . . .

1. One light layer of a colour then put a heavier layer on top of another colour

2. Double up, light layer one colour, light layer another colour then heavier layer of the first colour (watch you don't end up with too many layers or you can get a waxy bloom. Prismacolor.com: "Wax bloom is a natural oxidation process of wax-based materials, just like rust is an oxidation of iron. It appears as a cloudy white film over a drawing or color lay down. If you are plagued with wax bloom, simply wipe your drawing with a clean, dry cloth and spray it with a final fixative to seal out air.")

3.  Heavy layer one colour and then a light layer over top of another colour

See what I mean, with heavy and light layers you can mix things up.  The big thing though, is to look carefully at what you are doing.  See what you like and don't like.

Mushrooms in the Leaves - WIP 2 - Note how the shadows make the leaves look really fluffy 

Things I really liked . . .

1.  The stems of the mushrooms.  I liked the effect of the light pink at the transition point between the white light and the purple to blue shadow. 

2.  The yellow leave on the bottom left.  It was looking way too bright, see WIP 2 above, I glazed part of it with purple and part with a terra cotta. - see finished picture below

3.  I love how many ways I was able to integrate the red into the leaves on the ground.  Red is a colour I don't use a lot.  But I needed it there because of the red in the mushroom caps.

4.  The deep, dark shadows. Those were made with black, blue and purple.  They look really dark but don't seem to be a flat black. The purple seems to give them a new life.

Just a 24 pack of Coloured Pencils and two Micron pens  - neat stuff awaits.  

Easy Supplies . . .

Really can you ask for anything easier.  Just a 24 pack of coloured pencils - Prismacolour and 2 Micron Pens - Sepia and Light Green Size 05.  I like the Micron pens because they are a permanent ink. They dry quickly.  You never have to worry about the colour running.

The Take-Away . . .

1. New medium combo - I love the softer sepia line with the coloured pencil.  The crisp sharpness is there but blends softly with the coloured pencils.

2. Experimented with different colours and their effect in the transition zone - area where light and shadow meet.  This is an area I do not give enough attention to in my colour works.  I understand its value but didn't understand the colour changes that work there.

3.  Played with the two colour compliments - Visual Compliments and Mixing Compliments. (see post on this here. ) 

Looking for more on drawing with coloured inks. You might be interested in: 

Using Tonal Values in Ink 
Getting Loose and Free
Building Patterns with Your Mark

Have fun with your playing - love to see what you do with ink and coloured pencils.
I have been on another colour trip, which I will share with you next week - Oil Stiks.  I am really playing in a new playground, eh!?

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May 1 - Workshop Day for Spring Show - South Burnaby

Want to experience the joy of watercolour?  Learn about the supplies? See paint in action as you create your first Masterpiece?  - Join Audrey and Myself on May 1, 10-12pm for a Beginner Watercolour Class - $40 all supplies incld. 

Itching to create but want some direction? Want to make exciting cards and notes for the special people in your life? Add design to your sketchbooks and journals? - Join Myself and Audrey on May 1, 1-3pm for a Creative Card Class - $40 all supplies incld.  This year's theme: Flowers and Ladybugs.  

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 Thursday, May 2  to Saturday,  May 4 

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Using Glazes to Finish the Background - Painting and Drawing Tips

Do you play the slot machines?  

Drop in the money, pull the handle, Bing! Bang! Boom! you win or lose.  You're Done! No second chance, everything happens in that one pull.

Golden Finch & Apple Blossoms - 10 x 8 watercolour on wood cradle $200 

Of course you are going to tell me that you can always pull again. But, that is with new money.  Things are different.  

Glazing with watercolour is just like your Slot Machine . . .

You only get one chance.  One pull with the brush, then you have to leave it.  That is the hardest thing because believe me.  It. Is. So. Easy. To. Fiddle.  You know what I mean.  Run over it again with the brush.  Dab a bit.  You know, Fiddle.  

What is glazing with watercolour?

Glazing is putting an overlay of watercolour onto colour that is already dry on the paper.  Thus allowing the colour underneath to show through.  

Why would you want to glaze over a colour?

There are many reasons:

1. to adjust the value by making the area darker

2. to modify the colour of an area

3. to give richness to an area as both the top colour and the colour underneath will show. 
4. to build on the illusion of depth (very useful in backgrounds)

Things to think about as you glaze
1.  The painted surface must be dry and paint set so you do not mix it into the new layer you are adding.  If you do, you lose that transparency look you're looking for. And worst you might end up with mud.
2.  To get a true transparent look you need to use transparent watercolours.
3.  Your glazing layer should be thin to keep it transparent so you will be doing multiple layers. Each layer must be dry before adding the next layer.  (see note #1)  Check for dryness by touching paper, if cool it is still wet.  I generally use 3 or 4 layers but some places may take more. 
4. Use soft brushes as a stiff brush many lift colour and leave brush lines
5.  The colour layer you are adding will change the colour layer underneath so you may want to have a test sheet handy to see what will happen. 
6. Watercolour dries lighter than it looks when applied. 

Want to see what glazing can do? . . .
Below is my Golden Finch & Apple Blossoms.  At the left is my picture at the starting point. I used frisket to protect my mid-ground and foreground areas as I applied the background wash.  (see post of Saving Whites )  I then removed the frisket and painted the mid-ground and foreground.  This is where the glazing happened as I made changes to the background.  In some areas I wanted to darken it alot, as you can see with the leafy area in the bottom right hand corner. That took several layers.  Can't say how many as I lost count.  I just kept letting it dry, checking the value and adding more.  

Not the difference in the background areas when I made adjustments with glazes.  

In other areas I added only a light glaze.  Note the suggested flowers in the background.  One is just to the left of the bird.  Those suggested blooms did not look like they were in the distance, they were too bright.  A thin glaze of purple set them back.  

Glazes can make a Big Change  . . 

There were two areas where I made the big changes in my picture.  One was the areas glazed with Winsor Blue - Green Shade (WB).  That was not one of my original colours.  I was just going to use Ultramarine however, I found that did not add enough zip to my picture.  (Remember that post last month on Visual Complements)  I tried glazing with a bit of WB and really liked how my yellow started to sparkle.  You can see in the picture how much it not only darkened but added life to the greens.  

The other change was in the bottom left corner where I used Permanent Rose as a glaze.  Here I created a leaf shadow.  I left the edge a bit rough to really make it 'leaf like'.  This seemed to subtly add another layer to my background. I really liked that. 

Interested in playing with glazes a bit more? 
Next post is glazing with hard and soft edges - step by step.  Are you a glazer too?  I love the mix of glazing and opaque colour to create my wildlife paintings.  

This little paint is a watercolour painting which I have mounted on a wood cradle .  Here is a side view.  (To see mounting watercolour paper on a wood cradle and paint techniques )

GOLDEN FINCH & APPLE BLOSSOMS - 10 X 8 inch watercolour on wood cradle $200

My Etsy Store is always OPEN: Etsy - WendyMouldsArt

Originals, prints and Instant Printable Cards for all Seasons available.

Special Opportunity Coming Up:    1 Spot Left

Marketing Workshop - Let's Get Your Art Out There!!  

Sunday, Feb 24, 2019  10-3pm with Wendy Mould, AFCA

Need a focus for your Marketing Strategy?  Unsure where to start, where to head next? Marketing takes so much of your time away from the Studio, learn where to focus your energy and ways to maximize your time.  At the end of the day you will have plans and be ready for Action. 

 Cost $84 Tx Incl  

Working with Wildlife Artist Wendy Mould, AFCA bridges the gap between the Entrepreneur and the Artist in the Marketing World.  Contact Wendy to Register. 

Artists reading this post also find the following valuable:

Matching Colours to Values here
Playing with a Very Limited Watercolour Palette here
3 Ways to Turn Drawing Despair into Action here

How to Find your Starting Point here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.

You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy

Putting Sparkle into Your Colours - Painting & Drawing Tips

Planning Finished. . . .       Decisions Made. . . .    Ready to begin.  . .   

Flushed with excitement I started mixing paint, I was confident success would be mine.  Do you feel that way with each new project? Engulfed in that glow of inspiration, the goal shining over you.

Then suddenly at some point in the process it dims. . . . . 

Petunias & Hummingbird - 14 x 11, matted unframed $225 

That's what happened to me.

I know, you are saying but look, there is your nice picture, and it looks great.  BTW, thanks for those thoughts, I glad you like it.  In the end I am happy too but there was a moment in the process when I was very unhappy.  

Cropped Picture: WIP  Note the lack of sparkle in my petunias

My pretty pink petunias did not have a sparkle.  I had painted my hummingbird, some leaves and decided to try one of the flowers.  I tried shadowing with a red purple.  I used my compliment of permanent rose to gray it and make the petals bend.  I even tried a bit of red to bend the petals. Yes, they are bending but no sparkle.  Not looking good. I didn't panic, I fiddle more with leaves and their shadows thinking the neigbouring colours needed some work.

Still no sparkle . . .

In a last effort for success,  I lifted some colour to get a brighter highlight. (at the same time knowing I didn't want it so bright)  It helped but still not there.  Disappointing. Time for RESEARCH!!!

I found some helpful info . . .

I know this may not be profound for you and I am sure I have heard it many times but this time it resonated with me. There is the Mixing Complement of a colour, this is one we all know.  Mixing Green with Red, its complement, neutralizes the colours and results in a black or dark gray. Other examples of mixing compliments are yellow/purple and orange/blue.  I thought about them all the time as I worked on my picture.  

However, my pinks weren't happy.  Nor was I.  

As I read further, I began to understand there were Visual Complements.  A Visual Complement  enhances the colour.  They make a pair of colours more vibrant when they are painted together. When they are mixed together they will produce a colourless gray.   Now you have new pairs to think of.  These are Visual complements like red/turquoise, cyan/orange, yellow/blue.  This mean that my pink needed a more turquoisey colour, Winsor Green.  I found Hilary Page's Explanation really spoke to me and the light finally came on.  I know this is something I will have to work with more but for now I jumped on it.  Note the change in my final picture with the cropped one.  My greens are definitely different.   (See Hilary's Article here)

Note the Yellow with its Mixing Complement Purple and with its Visual Complement Blue.  Quite a difference, eh?! The yellow really sparkles more with the blue. 

Hilary has put together a visual chart showing how the Visual Complements look together. I have included it here for you to get a feel of what it is about.  I can see even on the chart that there is a real sparkle between the colour pairs.  

A Visual Complements Charts by Hilary Page 

Visual Complements in Action . . .

I was very much reminded of these visual colour complements in action when I attended Guo Pei Show at the Vancouver Art Gallery this week.  Her fashion show for MAC Cosmetics was Sparkling.  (of course her use of colour was only one reason for the sparkle)  It had a Garden theme, her yellows and blues weaved through the clothing certainly played a roll in making everything sparkle. 

Note the bright blues and yellows connecting the pieces

Her style is distinctive but her purpose was to capture you, to make you feel excitement in the product, its sparkle: fresh, clean, bright, new, exciting, and much more. 

Don't you just love it. 

She definitely caught my eye with her fashion.  I know, nothing I would ever wear but ooooo. . . so interesting.  

Art in a different form but still very much Art. 

It was exciting to see how she used the same kind techniques I use in my paintings to draw attention to my subject.  But seeing the visual complements in action was a definite "A..ha Moment" for me.  

This post is a follow up post to my previous one: "Make Those Pictures Count" .  See it to read more on the planning progress of this painting.  

Next up: Build a Background, from abstract to realism. 

My Etsy Store is always OPEN: Etsy - WendyMouldsArt

Originals, prints and Instant Printable Cards for all Seasons available. Special Note:  Instant Digital Valentine Cards are now Ready - Print, Fold and Give.  They are great for Pet Lovers, featuring Cats and Dogs - of course Max was my inspiration for the dog drawing!

Special Opportunity Coming Up:

Marketing Workshop - Let's Get Your Art Out There!!  

Sunday, Feb 24, 2019  10-3pm with Wendy Mould, AFCA

Need a focus for your Marketing Strategy?  Unsure where to start, where to head next? Marketing takes so much of your time away from the Studio, learn where to focus your energy and ways to maximize your time.  At the end of the day you will have plans and be ready for Action. 

 Cost $84 Tx Incl  

Working with Wildlife Artist Wendy Mould, AFCA bridges the gap between the Entrepreneur and the Artist in the Marketing World.  Contact Wendy to Register. 

Artists reading this post also find the following valuable:

Matching Colours to Values here
Playing with a Very Limited Watercolour Palette here
3 Ways to Turn Drawing Despair into Action here

How to Find your Starting Point here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.

You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy

Matching Colours to Values - Painting & Drawing Type

Have you ever decorated a Christmas tree with kids? Magical Moments!

THE FAMILY GATHERING - Coloured Inks - Nearly Finished

When our kids were very little we got the tree ready in the evening and enjoyed the joy and excitement as they added the decorations the next day.

 Then they got older.

No more surprises of a ready to decorate tree.  They wanted to help with everything. Right, you say,  as it should be.  But the first time didn’t work so well.  There was tears and frustration.   You see, there are moments in decorating that only 1 person can really do it- fitting the tree into the stand.  Putting on the lights. 

And the worst of it is, they must happen first . . . . when all the excitement is bubbling in the air.  Practical stuff, boring stuff. 

I realized what was happening, who wouldn’t, tears were falling because they ‘couldn’t touch the tree till dad was done’. Anyone could see things needed to change.  I quickly redirected. “Let’s make popcorn for the chains”. A bit corny now in this day and age, but it was kind of fun.  Making chains with popcorn and cranberries was fun and if you had lots of chains they looked kind of neat on the tree.  It became a family traditions for a few years. 

Starting a new drawing/painting is exciting. . . .

But of course there is some boring stuff to do first.  Karina, my student and I, wanted to do a bit more with our pens so we started a new project.  Of course we had a challenge: Limited pallet and using dark blue as our dark.  (The one colour in our limited set of pens we hadn’t used yet.  Read more starting here  . . .)

THE FAMILY GATHERING - Reference Picture

Our first task - match colour to our Values

Sounds analytic, eh?! But really isn’t that what you are doing  in your painting.  Picking your colours, deciding what colour you will paint your flower, tree, sky . . .  Considering the value of the colour, and the colours of your shadows?  Working with a limited pallet, as we were with our pens, really forced us to confront some boring stuff, before we started in. 

First we grouped our Values

Pitcher & Pears - I grouped the values into only 3 values

In my mind, everything falls into a value range.  For example check out this jug with the pears.  It can be broken down into 3 groups: white, black, mid tone.  The marks to make the value are solid black, black stripes and white space. 

Pitcher & Pears using only 3 values to complete 

“The Family Gathering” needed breaking down. . .

  

To meet our challenge, the dark was blue.  It was also the local colour for the log. This meant our sepia was the mid value and provided the local colour of the mushrooms and the green was the light value and local colour for the moss.  Transition points were lightened by mixing strokes with two colours and also spacing the lines.  Very analytic, I know, but what I needed to internalize before I began. 

I hate doing the boring stuff. . .

No, I didn’t make a careful chart as to everything I was thinking.  I know you probably expected that but really . . . Where’s the fun in that!?  I thought about how things should be then I jumped in . . . 

THE FAMILY GATHERING - Under construction - Getting a feel for my pens and the drawing

Well, I did proceed cautiously but I did jump.

Actually my official term is ‘felt my way into the drawing’.  I tested my colour system to see how it would work on a bit of the moss, the log and one little mushroom.  Probably shouldn’t have used the mushroom front and center but it really caught my eye. 

Once I was happy with my colour/value match things happened fast and furious.  Kind of like painting when you are totally in the flow. 

Detail of THE FAMILY GATHERING - note the hierarchy of the values and their colours within the drawing. 

Well for pen work it was fast and furious.  Once I knew how my pallet works with my subject I could relax and draw.  Sure there is tweaking and refining on the way but I have an overall plan in place.  The boring stuff.  Taking that time, you know, like putting the lights on the tree before the decorations rather than after, can make a big difference to pleasure and success. 

Am I the only one that analyzes things like this?  How do you attack this issue?  Starting a new project this week so moving away from my ink for a bit.  see you next week. 

Special Opportunities Coming Up:

Marketing Workshop - Let's Get Your Art Out There!! Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019 10-3pm with Wendy Mould, AFCA.  

Need a focus for your Marketing Strategy?  Unsure where to start, where to head next?  Marketing takes so much of your time away from the Studio, learn where to focus your energy and ways to maximize your time.  At the end of the day you will have plans and be ready for Action.  Cost $84 Working with Wildlife Artist Wendy Mould, AFCA bridges the gap between the Entrepreneur and the Artist in the Marketing World. Contact Wendy to Register. 

Just in Time for Christmas - My Dog & Cat Lover Christmas Cards  Instant Download Cards so you can Print and Give, right away.  Etsy - WendyMouldsArt

Max was very happy to see My Dog/Puppy Cards, of course he was my Inspiration!  Esty Store - $12 for the 3 Pack. 

Excited to share my Cat/Kitten Cards as instant digital downloads at my Esty Store - $12 for the 3 Pack.  

Artists reading this post also find the following valuable:

3 Ways to Turn Drawing Despair into Action here

Drawing a Seagull Part 1 and Part 2 Starting here
Playing with a Very Limited Palette here

 Be sure to like and share my posts.

You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email or Like my Facebook Page.

Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy

Using Tonal Values in Ink - Painting and Drawing Tips

Coloured Ink!

As you know, I am a permanent black ink Artist.  Don't play with my pens, black ink only.

Well, it was a surprise to me. . .

Who knew I would try coloured ink.  Now, don't think I have a closed mind.  I did try doing a drawing in a Sepia Coloured Ink. But fought it the whole time.  I just didn't feel I had any darks, my tonal range seemed so limited.  It all felt bland.  I decided then and there, it was black ink for me forever.

Mushroom Village - This large mass of mushrooms reminds me so much of a large apartment complex clinging to the side of mountain.  

Then along came Karina . . .
Karina is one of my young students and an awesome artist.  She brought her coloured pens to class one day and wanted to learn how to use them.  She only had a few colours: Light and dark green, blue, Orange,  Burnt Orange and Black.  I bit the bullet, picked up a pen and went for it.

Micron Pigma pens are my favourite to work with but of course black only.  This pack is their Earth Colours.  They are a fine tip, .45 mm 05 - very nice to work with. 

Of course I started with black first . . .
Turns out that was a good move.  I showed her how to work with her limited pallet of colours using a system of tonal values.  This works whether you are using ink, acrylic or oil.  It is all about assigning your colours to a tonal value.

Usually I talk about 10 tonal values but a 5 value scale may be easier to understand when talking about ink 

My Dark Value was my black . . .

Not just a black line but a dark crosshatched area as well.  When working on the mushrooms, which had an orange glow to them, the medium value became the orange. The Medium-Dark value became the Brunt Orange.   When working on the moss, the medium value was the light green and the Medium-Dark was the Dark Green. 

You wont stay with 5 Tonal Values for long . . .

Once the layout was complete and I dived into the shadows, 5 Values soon became more.  As shadows move from Dark to light there is a soft transition of value.  This happens in ink with crosshatching.  It made sense to combine the colours in that transition as well.

Close up of the mushroom caps.  Note the darks in black.  Then the midtones changes from the black to orange.  Then the orange changing to white. 

Using Your Colours to build  . . . 
Look at the mushroom caps. The darkest part is black but as the shadow lightens, the crosshatching becomes more loose.  Letting in the light.  Moving in with my burnt orange makes that transition softer and moves it from the shadow dark towards the local colour.  Moving further out the Burnt Orange becomes looser as it lightens up and now the Orange moves in.  This then becomes looser to as it moves to the white of the paper.

Working on the detail of the green moss - I first laid a layer of green to create a sense of the local colour.  This was then followed with wavy lines and bits of green outside the edges of the stump to give a sense of the layering and texture of the green.  Of course more work to come.

The same process with the Mushroom Caps also happens with the greens in the moss.  There is the Dark Value of Black then the mix of Dark Green and Black.  This gives way to Dark Green and Light Green.  Then Light Green to white.  All is tempered with tight or loose crosshatching and directional lines.

 MUSHROOM VILLAGE - WIP - This gives a sense of how the layout began in black ink and then I moved in on different areas to bring them to lift.  

One drawback to working with ink, everything takes longer.  So, sorry picture not finished but I tried to finish sections so you could get an idea how the layout and fill come together for a finished piece. 

Playing with Limited Pallets gives a greater feel to the role tonal values play in any drawing or painting.  Checking out the following post for more ideas on working with a Limited Pallet .

Opportunities Coming Up: 

1. Heart to Home Art  Show & Sale, Saturday & Sunday, Nov 17 & 18, 12-5pm daily

Surrey Art Center, Bear Creek Park, 13750 88 Ave, Surrey
Looking Forward to seeing you there. Guaranteed to find that perfect One-of-a-Kind Gift - Handmade Arts and Crafts from 30+ local Artists. Free Admission, 

2.  Paints'n Bloom Workshops & Art Show & Sale Thursday, Nov 22-Saturday, Nov 24  in Support of the Alzheimer's Society of BC

Gardenworks at Mandeville Gardens, 4746 Marine Dr, Burnaby   - C U THERE 

3.  Just in Time for Christmas - My Dog & Cat Lover Christmas Cards  Instant Download Cards so you can Print and Give, right away.  Etsy - WendyMouldsArt

Max was very happy to see My Dog/Puppy Cards, of course he was my Inspiration!  Esty Store - $12 for the 3 Pack. 

Excited to share my Cat/Kitten Cards as instant digital downloads at my Esty Store - $12 for the 3 Pack.  

Artists reading this post also find the following valuable:

3 Ways to Turn Drawing Despair into Action here

Drawing a Seagull Part 1 and Part 2 Starting here
Using Edges to Make Soft and Fluffy Birds & Animals Part 1 and Part 2 Starting here 

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Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy

How to have some fun with Colour Mixing Theory

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Working on Theory,

Having Fun,

Should they really be in the same sentence??!!

Are you wanting to learn more about colour but tired of doing colour patches?

I am.

I want to have fun!!

My latest experiments have really got me excited.  As many of you have noticed over the past few months I have been dabbling with coloured pencils.  (Actually, I have spent a fortune on a few large sets of pencils!! Prismacolor and Faber-Castells)

THE SECRET PLACE - Coloured Pencil, 5 x 7 

The problem is I was tired of working with patches of colour.  They told me lots, I agree, but seeing them in isolation did not help me understand how they work in the picture.  You know what happens, you put a colour combination down and it looks awful.  But once you get things happening around it and coordinating with it, things are not so bad.  In fact it often turns out to be the right kind of colour for the spot!!

Well, my coloured pencils have really opened up the Colour World for me.  Using my pencils on Mylar film has been a wonderful boom.  First of all my colours are vibrant, they can be mixed and best of all I can actually erase a mistake without wrecking the picture!!  (Well not completely but lots better than in watercolour and you don't have to wait for it to dry!!)

I have found that I now have "No Fear"!!  I found myself attacking each area with a "hmmmm... let's try this.  What about this?  What if I add that?"  Very exciting! And if I really don't like it, off it comes.

The Secret Place - detail showing the underglazing for the leaves

The Secret Place - detail showing the leaves after adding the greens. 

Take a closer look at the two detail shots of  "A Secret Place".   The leaves are a perfect example of some wild colour mixing.  I laid in some red, indigo blue, ochre, yellow as an underglazing.   Then used my two greens a really dark cold green and a lighter warm green, I coloured on top.  Sometimes varying the pressure and mixing the layers: the greens separately and sometimes a layer of each.  For the really shadowy areas I returned with the indigo blue.  It was very interesting to see how the colours reacted and changed depending on the mixture. Including the reds and yellows really tied my flower colours to the leaves and gave them lots of interesting colour variations.  And the darks really had lots of life. On the detail picture on the left I used a bit of black for the dark.  You can see on the finished one on the right, the black area is really just a boring dark hole.  No exciting colour mixing happening there.

 So have some fun. Learn some Colour Theory.

Let me know how it works for you, I would love to hear your comments.

Have a great day,
Wendy
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