Latest Posts
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My Palette Formula
Over the years as I’ve build different seasonal and situational palettes, I’ve gradually converged on a formula. These are the color slots that I find most useful in a small-to-medium palette of 10 to 18 wells.
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Colorful Shadows Update: Sometimes it’s a struggle!
Since announcing Colorful Shadows Month, I’ve not had a lot of opportunity to paint. I have only done one shadows-y piece from a reference, and I hesitated whether to share the process because it was so messy and awkward. However, I am a believer in showing that painting doesn’t always magically go right, so I’m…
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Mix Your Own: Quinacridone Violet Lookalike
Today I’ll try to mix the hue of Quinacridone Violet, the moody pinky-purpley shade typically made from PV19. Granted, my example of a Quinacridone Violet is itself a mix – Da Vinci’s Thioindigo Violet, which is theoretically a mix Quinacridone Violet (PV19) with PR88 (largely discontinued Thioindigo Violet pigment). But I think the PR88 is…
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Twelve Shapes: Making Color Sing Chapter 21
The basic idea of this chapter is to limit the number of shapes when planning your scene. This is pretty common composition advice, similar to what Hanna explored with Uma Kelkar at USK Symposium in Toulouse, Day One.
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Dispersion Tests: Da Vinci vs Schmincke
Dispersion is the amount that different paints disperse, or flow, into water. Some paints seem to instantly rush off your brush into the nearest available puddle and spread as far as they can, pushing other paints out of the way if need be. Others stand by shyly, waiting for you to nudge them with your…
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Mixing Dark Colors Without Dark Paint
Do you need dark paint to mix dark colors? I no longer think so. One of the magic tricks of color mixing is that you can mix your own dark colors from brights!
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Color Composition: Making Color Sing, Chapter 20
Last time, I talked about how Making Color Sing had taught me that less is more: making a color take up less space in your scene can give it more impact. I had gleaned it from secondary points made in chapters about other things, but I claimed there was no chapter on the topic. I…
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Colorful Shadows
We at the blog have declared August to be Colorful Shadows Month! We’re challenging ourselves to paint shadows more colorfully. Whether you are in the heat and direct sunlight of summer in the northern hemisphere or have the opportunity observe winter snow in the southern, August should be a great month to observe shadows. To…
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How to mix the limited edition Holbein Watermelon Colors
Hanna sent me samples of the Holbein Limited Edition watermelon colors. Unsurprisingly, it’s a red and a green. They are only sold in Asia. Which means: If you don’t live in / travel to Asia and you like the colors, you have to mix them yourself. Watermelon Red The red is made from four pigments…
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Color as Abstract Pattern: Making Color Sing, Chapter 19
I am really in the tall grass on this chapter of Making Color Sing. It’s one of the shortest chapters, and, to me, one of the most incomprehensible.
