After watching Mark's wonderful videos, and getting my paints ready to paint, I sat down yesterday and.....failed..
I set a still life in my garage, its a green apple on a black table, black back drop and one source of light. I've mixed and mixed and mixed, but my greens become muddy or they become yellow-green, and that's what happens after 45 minutes of mixing. Please help! Its becoming discouraging.. What am I doing wrong? I've watched the color mixing video, but i can't achieve the right green-apple green..
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Also, make it a habit to consult this color chart. It is very simple. Pick any color and ask yourself - What is the color that you see on your painting? is your apple too red? if yes, then you have to add its opposite - green to tone it down. Now is it more yellow? If no, then don't do anything. Is it more blue? if yes, then you need to add red + yellow i.e. orange to tone it down.
@Kaustav, Thanks, i'm trying to make it a habit to use the color wheel, so i'll be printing it out today.
@davidwwilson , I believe i'm using winsor & newton brand oils, I mixed them with a medium as best as i could while following Mark's mixing video. Once I'm out, i'll be purchasing Mark's Geneva brand paints. Also, I'll be posting a pic of my still life tonight. Thanks!
@Ronna , Thanks for the reply. Any advice on how you over came the color matching struggles?
Flatty , Thanks, how long did it take you to get it down to a science?
For my first DMP painting... All my colors looked completely off and muddy.i soon realised that was because there was no neighboring color to compare the colors I had freshly mixed on my palette. That was after nearly one hour of color mixing.
Concentrate only on value. Your colors might be off. But you will definitely retain the character of your still life.
You need to trust everyone here.. Take the leap.. And slowly start painting. I'm sure you'll be surprised how different your painting will look once the entire(and I mean entire, infact I'll be posting my second DMP to highlight this point) canvas. Then start asking yourself if you have messed something up.
Good luck
H.M
I still struggle sometimes. I just don't stress out over it anymore. The real problem comes when you finally get the right color mixed and you didn't make enough
1.You have to figure out the darkest value in the apple- here the bottom and lowest corners. You have to mix a green which has more blue to it and check the value I.e. how dark are they. As soon as the value is determined add a slight amount of burnt umber as the color is of darker orangy green and check the color if it looks right. If it becomes a little darker then you hv to add a little yellow (make it lighter) again to match the value.
2.Now the funny thing is the rest of the apple has more or less only one value (a step higher than the lowest corners and bottom). Only the colors are different.
3.But before doing the big middle portion you will notice that the sides of the whole apple has a faint brown line. So you do that.
4.Now lower middle portion has a green with more blue but slightly more yellow than the first step you mixed for the bottom corners as it is a step lighter than that. Check it until u reach there. This time no burnt umber.
5.Now the upper green portion is within same value range but has more yellow to it. While mixing more yellow if u feel that value is getting very light then u have to add a slight amount of reddish purple to it to kill the yellow slightly so that the value remains the same.
6.The top right corner has same value but of slightly orangy color. So add red to your previous pile and check if that became slightly darker. If yes then add small amount of yellow.
7.There are slight transitions between values which you will blend only after putting down all the colors you have mixed in their required spots, not before that.
The instructions look longish but follow them thoroughly. I think this will help you. Colors may appear different to you slightly because I am looking at a photo.
Just make sure you're getting the same intensity of light on both your canvas and palette as well.
It is also important that you are working in a studio where you have a source of light that has a constant temperature.
For eg. I've found on a hot sunny day.. When I paint inside my studio(bedroom
I hope I'm being clear?
If you've already set up your studio properly.. Then please disregard my comment.
Regards
H.M
As to your comment this is a frequent question for newcomers and there is really only one good answer. That is START OVER on your pallete. Some folks video their mixing process but the colors may be inaccurate due to the video equipment and playback devices. Don't worry the mixing gets easier with each painting.