Friday, December 28, 2012

Limited Palettes in Watercolor

 

 

The Standard Triad 
Saturation:  Very vivid in saturation strength. This is the most vivid of all the limited palettes.
Pigment personalities: Not well matched Yellow is New Gamboge a transparent characteristic.
Red is Cadmium Red Medium which is a very opaque characteristic.
Blue is Ultramarine Blue which has a Semi Transparent and Granulating characteristic.
...
The Delicate Triad
Saturation: Vivid. Values: High Key or Light on the value scale. 
Pigment Personalities: Pigments are all transparent. Yellow is Aureolin.
Red is Quinacridone Rose, which is slightly staining. A better match is Rose Madder Genuine.
Blue is Cobalt, which is granulating and very transparent depending on the company you buy it from.
This is a cool undertone Triad. Compare this Triad to the warm Standard Triad. 
Note also the difference in the mixture of violet to the Standard Triad.
...


Intense  Triad  (Stains)
The tinting strength of this Triad is very powerful. 
Meaning simply that a little dab goes a long way especially the Phthalo Blue. 
This Triad is especially useful for creating dark's. 
Each pigment is very transparent and highly staining. 
Some of my students use Azo Yellow in place of Winsor Yellow. Azo Yellow is not as staining and has a haze of opacity to it. 
Pigments used are: 
Winsor Yellow or Azo Yellow 
Alizarin Crimson
and 
Phthalo Blue.  

...
The Bright Unsaturated Triad
A rich color harmony of the Earth
Saturation: Saturation can be explained in terms of Vivid Range, Mid Range and Dull Range. 
The Bright Unsaturated Triad is in the Mid or Intermediate range of Saturation strength.
Pigment Personalities: Pigments are all transparent.
...
  
Opaque or Desert Triad
These wonderful pigments are Earth tone pigments. 
This Triad is very opaque in quality and personality.
Pigments are: 
Yellow Ochre (how ever I switch it out with Raw Sienna on many occasions).
Indian Red which is very dense and heavy 
and 
Cerulean Blue


Old Master Triad
This limited palette has a very low range of saturation, using earthy pigments. 
This palette has a mixture of opaque and transparent pigments.
Pigments used: 
Yellow Ochre  which is very opaque. 
Burnt Sienna, transparent and
Payne's Gray very opaque. This pigment is a blend
 of pigments made by the manufacturer and put in a tube for your convenience.
You may also use Black in its place.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Gallery


Sandpoint Idaho
Wonderful location
Plein Air Painting  
 Raining and cloudy. 
Great day, I met a part of the family that live in the home it was delightful.





Sandpoint Idaho 
Plein Air  Painting
46 degrees outside, fog, and a little rain. 
Makes it hard to do watercolor.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Standard Triad 
Saturation: Very vivid in saturation strength. This is the most vivid of all the limited palettes.
Pigment personalities: Not well matched Yellow is New Gamboge a transparent characteristic.
Red is Cadmium Red Medium which is a very opaque characteristic.
Blue is Ultramarine Blue which has a Semi Transparent and Granulating characteristic.
...

The Delicate Triad
Saturation: Vivid. Values: High Key or Light on the value scale. 
Pigment Personalities: Pigments are all transparent. Yellow is Aureolin.
Red is Quinacridone Rose, which is slightly staining. A better match is Rose Madder Genuine.
Blue is Cobalt, which is granulating and very transparent depending on the company you buy it from.
This is a cool undertone Triad. Compare this Triad to the warm Standard Triad. 
Note also the difference in the mixture of violet to the Standard Triad. 
...


The Bright Unsaturated Triad
A rich color harmony of the Earth
Saturation: Saturation can be explained in terms of Vivid Range, Mid Range and Dull Range. 
The Bright Unsaturated Triad is in the Mid or Intermediate range of Saturation strength.
Pigment Personalities: Pigments are all transparent.
...

 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Glazing Charts

Glazing Charts and Tips
These charts are examples of ways in which you can learn how different color and different pigment personalities respond to glazing.
Note that some pigments are opaque, transparent and staining pigments.
Transparent pigments always make the best glazing or layering of color.
Its important in the chart that you experience the difference between red being on the bottom and  blue glazed or layered on the top. Then be sure the reverse occurs blue on the bottom and red glazed or layered on the top. The response or order in which pigments are glazed is good knowledge to have as a watercolorists.

Chart option 1 



 Chart option 2



Chart option 3

Note that this chart is very dark. Keep glazes of layer colors light and darken in gradual steps.
Tips on Glazing
 * The magic of glazing is letting the paper dry, bone dry between each each glaze. By using the back of your hand if you feel the paper and its cool or cold, its not dry.
 * Use pigments that are the lightest in value first. Yellow, Yellow Orange, Orange, Red Orange, Red. Blue Then Green.
 * Always use a chart to add new colors so color variations are known before you proceed.
 * Be very careful if you use a staining pigment on your glazes it stains every color you previously used and will create a value rather than beautiful delicate change in color.
 * Transparent work best in glazing.
 * Refer to your pigment quality chart to remember what stained and which pigment was transparent. 



Monday, March 19, 2012

Sabel Brush direct watercolor wash. The Rooster, from Kauai

This piece was painted with a sable brush. The rooster was laid in using contour drawing, a must for successful watercolors. The light blue pigment came from Daniel Smiths Iridescent Blue. This pigment brings light and life to the Phthalo Blue which it was added to. The dark wash was  created by using a direct continuous wash throughout the entire dark's on the chicken. The wet in wet background was placed in by splattering water on the white paper and quickly moving color behind the Rooster. Because Phthalo Blue is such a bleeder or spreading pigment just a touch of water created a soft edge which other wise would have been hard and pushing the viewer visually out of the pictorial adventure. 
 A fun day in Kauai, Hawaii.
As you travel along the Waimea Canyon there are parking lots filled with roosters and chickens.
This particular rooster had a white head. I am sure many visitors have seen this rooster it is very striking.

The Vacation Waikiki Beach, Watercolor Process


This piece was painted with a direct wash using a round sable brush. 
Care must be taken in varying value and color for interest. 
Shapes are repeated and varied through out the design. 
When painting yellow use a nice mix of violet to lower the chroma, 
this way you will not make the color go green or yellow orange.
Blues in the towels are a variety of Cobalt Blue, Ultra Marine Blue, Cerulean and Cobalt Turquoise. Be sure to make one of the blue hues dominate.
A fun painting.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Compliment Painting Sandpoint Marina

Composing: Here is a marina photo. Take the photo and recompose the format if you wish.
Some examples: The compliment colors I will paint this piece in will be Blue Green and Red Orange.