Artist Essay: Mixing Summer Greens On Your Palette Today an artist/student who was in my 2013 Umbria, Italy workshop emailed me saying that she had trouble with mixing greens this summer and asked if I would send her information regarding my demonstration on mixing greens. Mixing greens can be a challenge for many of us, but eventually we find our own methods of achieving those plein air summer greens. Still, I thought Id share my response to her with you. For your greens...in the summer greens can appear so similar and thats when to consider the time of day...temperature of the sun (where it is in the sky...cooler in morning and of course warmer as the afternoon and early evening approaches), whether the blue sky is the main light or whether the sky is overcast. Also considering depth and atmosphere...on which ground plane a tree, bush, or field of grass is in. This is where exaggeration can happen to push things back in space with grayed cooler greens or bring them closer with warmer bright greens. Using a palette of a warm and a cool of the three primaries helps in making greens....lemon yellow and yellow medium or dark; alizarin crimson and red light; phthalo blue and ultramarine blue. The first in each pair of primaries listed is the cooler of the two and the second is the warmer color. Now think of red as your modifier for green mixtures since red is the compliment of green. The second color listed in the yellow and blue primary pairs has red in it...yellow medium or dark, and ultramarine. When added to a green mixture they will gray it with the red content and warm it as well. Lemon yellow has green in it and phthalo blue has yellow in it. When mixed together they make a bright, intense, clear cool green. Mixing yellow medium or dark with phthalo blue will be slightly warmer and start to gray because of the red content in the yellow. Mixing lemon yellow with ultramarine blue (which contains red) will produce a warmer and somewhat dull green because of the blues red content. And in considering which red to use to dull or warm a green...red light contains yellow, alizarin crimson contains blue. Also, always have a violet mixture on your palette as violet contains red and will gray and mute a green. White, being cool, will cool most mixtures. Suggestion for mixing greens: DESIRED..a cool, bright green ~ Yellow w/green & blue w/yellow: lemon yellow & phthalo blue. To make it a bit duller and still cool add red w/blue: lemon yellow, phthalo blue & alizarin crimson. To make it a bit duller and warm add red w/yellow: lemon yellow, phthalo blue & red light. Also, try a violet to the original mixture or to one of the other mixtures made with red. DESIRED..a bright but slightly warmer green ~ Yellow w/red & blue w/yellow: yellow medium or dark & phthalo blue. Try adding either of the reds or violet to the mix. DESIRED..a warm green ~ Yellow w/red & blue w/red: yellow medium or dark & ultramarine blue. Try adding either of the reds to the mix or violet. DESIRED..a cool/warmish green ~ Yellow w/green & blue w/red: lemon yellow & ultramarine blue. Try adding either of the reds to the mix or violet. DESIRED..a pure, clean violet ~ Red w/blue & blue w/red: alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. DESIRED..a duller, muted violet ~ Red w/yellow & blue w/yellow: red light & phthalo blue. NOTE: Have several values of violet on the palette to keep or change the value of a green mixture. NOTE: In mixing greens, make enough to separate in piles and increase the amount of white used in each pile. The resulting greens change significantly and supply many and unexpected greens. NOTE: Experiment with various green mixtures and make charts noting which colors were used. These can be used for reference in the studio or in painting plein air. Its important to note that the debate over which blue is warm and which is cool...ultramarine and phthalo blue...continues to this day after centuries of discussion. Although phthalo blue contains yellow and would be thought of as the warmer blue, it makes cooler mixtures of the two blues. You be the judge...after your own experimenting and in what works for you. Most of all....have fun finding your summer greens! © Charlotte Wharton, author, The Language of Energy in Art: Finding Your Vision charlottewhartonstudio/Language/book.htm
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 17:56:36 +0000