Mixing greys
Posted: October 1, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 14 CommentsThere was some discussion in the comments of yesterday’s post about mixing greys so I thought I’d do a little test today.
In the first little sketch (this is done on a 5″ x 7″ sheet of Fabriano cold press) I mixed my sky colour starting with Payne’s gray and then added some other colours to tint the wash. Payne’s grey is very dark and has to be diluted quite a bit to lighten it. I added some ultramarine because the clouds are very blue/purple today, and then a little bit of Alizarin. The mix of cool colours is pretty flat, I find.
This second test is on the same paper but this time the sky mix is one of my usual grey recipes: ultramarine and burnt sienna, with a bit of alizarin. A mix of the warm and cool colour makes a more interesting grey, in my opinion, one with more modulations in it and much more complexity. There are probably at least a dozen more ways I could mix greys with the colours I currently have on my travel palette so this is just one little experiment to do on a cloudy day with not much time to spend painting.
Hi Shari,
thank you for sharing this… I agree with you, the bottom one has much deeper and richer greys than the top one. However, the top one looks clean, so for some situations, it might be better?
I painted the bottom one much wetter so it is messier. I mixed the pigment for the top one more on the palette and the bottom one more on the paper. The top one was painted with a drier brush. Of course if I were doing a smaller area, some driftwood perhaps, then I would mix the gray more homogeneously before applying it but since this is a sky a let a bit of it mix on the paper.
Painting sky’s are to me a huge challenge. This could surely make an interesting
workshop all by itself. Clouds are everchanging, full of mood and emotion. I thought
that your experiment with different combinations of colors was so interesting.
We look up and see the warning signs of huge thunderheads that are magnificent
with all the shades of gray and at other times, puffy whie summer clouds which are
constantly moving and and creating magical images. It will often set the tone for
a painting. I have on so many occasions, and different times of the day observed
colors ranging from ochre to pnk to orange and crimson. Would love to see more
cloud studies. Great work Shari!
Thank you Ruth for your great feedback on this post. I have been thinking about offering different types of workshops next summer and I think I can add skies to my list.
You are right about how many interesting types of skies we have throughout our seasons. I love experimenting and there will be more studies like this in the coming months.
i love this experiment in mixing greys Shari, and it really shows the big difference in using the complements to give volume and life to your skies. Your studies are so educational
and greatly appreciated 🙂
Thanks Mary. Yes, the complements really make interesting mixes.
Today’s post may result in a long discussion/debate on the merits of the different approaches to grey, but I think I will stay out of that.
I just wanted to say that these are two brilliant little paintings! The subject was just one step above nothing but you have made both of them so interesting… the broken shapes in the foreground, the merging colours, the ribbon on the horizon… and of course the stunning sky. It would be worth going to a workshop just to see how you do this!
Thanks Ross!! Not that you are asking about paper but this couldn’t have been done in a Moleskine. You could never get this kind of gradation on the Moleskine paper.
And, in English, that means?
The word gradation? A minute change from one shade, tone, or color to another…
Oh, sorry, I thought I was talking to the helpful Shari Blaukopf. : )
If she returns, could you please ask her what she means… because I thought that I had seen lots of “gradations” (yes… I do know what that word means) like these in her Moleskine paintings.
Oh, I thought I was being helpful by giving you the definition. I just thought you didn’t use the word gradation in Australia : )
Maybe it doesn’t come across on the screen but the Moleskine paper would never get a beautiful gradation like this. And that is probably because you can’t get it as wet as you can a real sheet of watercolour paper. There is so much more tooth to the Fabriano paper.
Oh, oh Ross, now i might be in big trouble for whispering in class but do you know what the
“tooth” is in Fabriano paper?
And by the way, you’re not related to Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) by any chance, are you?Because….. you’re almost as funny 🙂
From now on i may be totally ignored and it’s all because of YOU!
Yes, I know what tooth is… searched it on Google.