How do we know what colours to use and which ones match well, putting aside (for now) all that color theory?
Today, I would like to answer two questions that many students ask me frequently:
How can I know which colors to use?
and
How do you know which colors match well?
We all know someone who excellently blends colors. It's not just the shade that goes well; it's also the amount of paint applied. That little touch of yellow (or blue or red) is often the magic touch the painting needed.
So how do you know? More importantly, how do we do this when we are newbies?
Here, I return to my theory of applying the scientific method to art: identifying and defining our primary elements in advance.
Breaking the problem down into small steps always helps.
That's why when we want to paint something, once we've already decided on the theme: a landscape, a still life, a portrait, or even something abstract, we must choose and position the elements that make up our painting. To find the most exciting composition, we have to try out several options, and the best way to visualize it is with a pencil and a small piece of paper through the thumbnails.
After that, we also should choose our color palette, before we start our artwork.
So let's start with this simple exercise to learn how to use and combine colours in our artworks: how to create and develop our personal colours` palette.
I'm not going to start talking about color theory just yet (leaving it for a later post), but ask you to start looking around for images, photos, and other kinds of paper that you like and collect them. Choose pages from magazines and newspapers or others that you can rip and cut.
Next step is to organize them based on the colors you see—shades of blue, warm colors, neutrals, etc.
He will use these papers as the basis to create an abstract composition. Do not try to make sense of it. Just combine colors, shapes, and marks.
Try to restrict the number of colors from three to five. No more. Please choose one of them to be the dominant color and use the rest for appearing in smaller amounts.
I generally use a neutral color to be dominant: grey, beige, or a pastel color. But I already saw great artworks with cadmium yellow or ultramarine blue as the dominant color: just use your good sense.
On the other hand, using a limited range of colours, to start, would be wise.
Use your sketchbook pages as a base to keep the color study handy and easy to follow.
On the odd page, place your composition made of cutouts and collages: and on the pair page, paint your color study, following the exact color tone on the collage. Having them facing each other is quite interesting to observe. Also, don't make one study, only. Try different combinations. Check on the examples.
Having an idea of the colours you'll be using (along with composition, etc.) will avoid confusion and hesitation and help your brain to focus on the main task: painting your final artwork.
At some point, you'll know what colors to use without having to look in your sketchbook.
However, I strongly advise you to repeat this exercise annually. It's always good to remember that even an exercise we consider for "beginners" can help us refresh our work and update our colours.
In my case, I do it before starting a new series of artworks, always.
-- This post is based by Inga Buive and Laura Horn, combined with my art teaching practice.
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