The eighth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, March 7 and Sunday, March 25. The surface and volume color homework was critiqued, and a review covered the whole course. All of the visual phenomena and principles covered in the course are tools you, as an artist, can choose to use, or not, depending on your goals. All have the potential to integrate and contribute to visual harmony, because they behave as nature does. Understanding them will allow you to create visual magic, whether working from nature or your own imagination.
Artist Kit Gentry joined the group by Skype for a question-and-answer session and discussion of artistic concerns.
A ninth, “Do-over” session was held on Wednesday, March 28, for people from both groups to bring reworked studies for critique. Much of the time was spent on the surface reflection exercise, and we have video of Dick illustrating and explaining how to plot reflections and shadows.
The eighth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, March 7 and Sunday, March 25. The surface and volume color homework was critiqued, and a review covered the whole course. All of the visual phenomena and principles covered in the course are tools you, as an artist, can choose to use, or not, depending on your goals. All have the potential to integrate and contribute to visual harmony, because they behave as nature does. Understanding them will allow you to create visual magic, whether working from nature or your own imagination.
Artist Kit Gentry joined the group by Skype for a question-and-answer session and discussion of artistic concerns.
A ninth, “Do-over” session was held on Wednesday, March 28, for people from both groups to bring reworked studies for critique. Much of the time was spent on the surface reflection exercise, and we have video of Dick illustrating and explaining how to plot reflections and shadows.
Videos – Q&A with Kit Gentry
Netherworld by Kit Gentry (pastel)
Kit Gentry is an artist who took Dick’s Color Relationships course several years ago. In almost every class since, Dick has raved about how Kit has applied those lessons to his painting. Kit no longer lives on Maui, but they stay in touch, and Dick asked him to join this class via Skype for some discussion.
They started by talking about Netherworld, the pastel pictured above.
In the video below, Kit Gentry describes how he prepares his paper for a pastel painting. (2:42) For more detail, see this page on his website. He has separate discussions on his website for each medium he uses.
In the second video, Kit Gentry describes some influences, talks about viewing distance, and chasing fog. (8:21)
In the third video, Kit provides some words of wisdom regarding color. (5:18)
Kit aims for the ring of truth in color relationships, to approach the luminosity of nature. (3:32)
Wednesday class photos
Homework critique
Homework – Gradated veil, surface & volume color
Sunday class photos
To review and solidify some fundamental concepts, the group answered the Color Pretest from the first week. During the review, Dick asked Carleton to mix some colors to match those on the sheet, which helped clarify understanding of tones and shades.
Week 9: “Do-over” session
Dick held an extra session, for people to bring reworked studies for critique. Much of the time was spent on the surface exercise, which was a very challenging illusion of how water can be both transparent and reflective.
During the critique, Dick drew attention to the value of the water’s reflective surface. In the distance, it is reflecting the sky, which is generally the lightest area in the painting, so it should also be light. The surface in the foreground is generally darker. He also explained how to plot the height of reflected objects. Reflections depend on the position of the viewer. Dawn Jernaill sent the three photos below, which she took with a drone at three different altitudes, which illustrate both points.
Plotting reflections & shadows, then observing them
Dick Nelson illustrates how to plot reflections and shadows, describes how they behave differently, and provides an opportunity to observe them. (5:10)
Why bother learning to paint reflections?
Being able to pull off an illusion as challenging as reflection and transparency allows you to create visual magic. Careful observation is essential, combined with understanding. (3:15)
You will see when you understand
More on plotting reflections. Understanding the phenomenon intellectually will help you copy or create more accurately and convincingly. (6:13)
Never leave well enough alone
Cropping and playing. Painting demo, experimenting on “playgrounds”. (15:26)
Photos
Cropping
Cropping
Cropping
Susan and her study
Susan’s study of a rain squall in Maui’s central valley
Dick’s watercolor of a rain squall in Maui’s central valley
Rain squall (atmospheric veiling) in Maui’s central valley, from week 7 handout on Volume Color
Surface reflection and transparency in shallow water (from week 7 Surface Demo handout)
Playgrounds
Playgrounds
Mahalo to Valérie Richter for Wednesday photos and videos, and to Holly Duane for Sunday photos.
The sixth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 21 and Sunday, March 11. The white light homework was critiqued. The new topic for this week is colored light. Dick gave a demo of colored light shining on white paper and on an arrangement of different colors and values. Colored light and shadow work to unify a scene, because all colors are affected equally. Shadow colors are the complement of the light color, plus black (because all light contains a lot of white light) and any ambient light (outside, the blue of the sky). Sunset provides an opportunity to observe this phenomenon, with amber light and rich blue-green shadows. For more detail, be sure to read the post linked to in the “Other resources” section.
The sixth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 21 and Sunday, March 11. The white light homework was critiqued. The new topic for this week is colored light. Dick gave a demo of colored light shining on white paper and on an arrangement of different colors and values. Colored light and shadow work to unify a scene, because all colors are affected equally. Shadow colors are the complement of the light color, plus black (because all light contains a lot of white light) and any ambient light (outside, the blue of the sky). Sunset provides an opportunity to observe this phenomenon, with amber light and rich blue-green shadows. For more detail, be sure to read the post linked to in the “Other resources” section.
The handout below is displaying strangely, but should display correctly after downloading.
[gview file=”https://dicknelsoncolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/PaintLightPiecesAA.pdf”]
Notice the colors at sunset, in the light and in the shade
Upcountry at sunset. Photo by Kit Gentry
Colored light and shadow demo photos
It’s good to understand the rules for how light behaves, but it’s even more important to observe them for oneself. Dick gave a demo of light and shade, and colored light and shade, on white paper and on a varied set of colors.
Wednesday class
Sunday class
Videos
Critique: Illusion of white light
What is good Gestalt?
An image with “good Gestalt” communicates your intended message without ambiguity. It is often characterized by a casual arrangement which avoids formal symmetry and unintended coincidence or overlap of points or edges. (2:18)
A cast shadow is a film
Every brushstroke of transparent watercolor is laying down a film, making it easier for a watercolorist to convey consistent shadows than it is for an artist using an opaque medium. (0:38)
Assessing shadow value contrasts
Dick Nelson critiques white light and shadow watercolor homework. Look for value relationships between colors in light to be maintained in the shade: “This is to this, as this is to this.” To keep the shadow saturation consistent, mix up plenty of your shadow color, and be sure to wet the entire contiguous shadow area and paint the shadow color in quickly while it is still wet (but not puddly). Remember: a shadow is a film, and unifies, because it treats all colors under it equally. (7:26)
Shadows in a perspective drawing
Dick Nelson examines shadow values in a 3D perspective watercolor study. (2:03)
White and colored light demos
Paper – white or gray?
Looking closely at light and shade and our own perceptions. (0:48)
How different values are affected by light and shade
Noticing the value contrast of a shadow cast across two colors of very different value. (0:50)
Colored light and its complementary shadow color on white
Dick Nelson demonstrates the appearance of lit and shaded areas of white paper under different colors of light: red, pink, green, and blue. (1:59)
How colored light and shade affect different colors
Dick Nelson demonstrates how different colors are enhanced or dulled by colored light and its complementary-colored shadow. Pink light, blue light, and amber/sunset color light are shown. (3:45)
Homework critique – Illusion of white light
Wednesday class
Sunday class
Other resources
Colored light sessions held during past Color Relationships classes are documented on this website, which provide additional commentary and photos for the serious student. Susan recommends this 2016 Color Relationships post dealing with colored light, and it contains links to earlier sessions.
A demo on creating the illusion of a red spotlight, and of an amber light on a flat arrangement of colors.
A tutorial on how to create the illusion of a cast shadow from a colored light source on a form and colors.
Mahalo to Valérie Richter for Wednesday photos and videos, and to Holly Duane for Sunday photos.
The fifth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 14 and Sunday, March 4. The film and veil homework was critiqued. The new topic is white light and shadow. You need shade to create the illusion of light. In white light, a cast shadow is a gray (transparent black) film. To paint shadows in watercolor, paint the local colors first, then apply the shadow wash over them. Or, since watercolors are transparent, lay down the shadows first and paint the local colors over.
The fifth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 14 and Sunday, March 4. The film and veil homework was critiqued. The new topic is white light and shadow. You need shade to create the illusion of light. In white light, a cast shadow is a gray (transparent black) film. To paint shadows in watercolor, paint the local colors first, then apply the shadow wash over them. Or, since watercolors are transparent, lay down the shadows first and paint the local colors over.
The template below can be used for a three-dimensional spotlight illusion. Cut out the hole, fold it up along the dashed line, shine a light from behind, and trace the cast shadow onto the horizontal area.
Our brains perceive objects maintaining a “local color”, though objectively, the color varies a lot depending on the light conditions.
Videos – Class demos
Painting strategies to avoid hard edges and provide depth cues
Avoid hard edges by painting large adjacent areas that have a common color, not isolating individual shapes. Layering color for more and less intensity provides depth cues in landscapes, also referred to as aerial perspective or volume color. (6:14)
Watercolor acts like these transparent films
Have fun arranging transparent watercolor shapes on your paper. (1:49)
Plotting a 3D cast shadow
Dick explains how to construct a cast shadow for this week’s assignment of simulating a shadow in watercolor. Choose a simpler format if you’re not familiar with perspective drawing. (5:48)
Three-dimensional shadow illusion example
Dick demonstrates how to create a 3D illusion of a cast shadow in watercolor, one of the options for this week’s homework assignment (example #3). (0:30)
Drawing & painting example #4
Dick demonstrates how to construct a 2D representation of a 3D scene, and the painting strategy to use, for this week’s homework assignment simulating light and shadow on a variety of colors. (1:38)
Observing shadows as films outdoors
Dick demonstrates how shadows behave as films over a variety of colors in the sun outdoors. Changing light allows observation of resulting changes in shadows. (2:15)
White Light Tutorial
An understanding of how colors change under light and shadow allows the artist to create illusions. Dick demonstrates how. (9:01)
Vimeo references
White Light: An Illusion
A tutorial for artists who wish to incorporate the illusion of a light on a variety of hues and values.
Plot White Light
Constructing shadow lines for a simple, imagined 3D scene and applying shadows, ambient light, and reflected light.
Wednesday class photos
Early morning films and veils
45 minutes later
Susan’s watercolor inspired by Valerie’s photo
Sunday class photos
Homework critique
Homework – Films & Veils
White light demo
Observing light & shadow
White spotlight & shadow over several colors
Mahalo to Valérie Richter for Wednesday photos and videos, and to Holly Duane for Sunday photos.
The fourth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 7 and Sunday, February 25. We critiqued the edges and gradations homework assignments. Transparency illusions, in the form of films and veils, were the new topic for the week. Dick showed transparency illusions from Albers’ Interaction of Color, pointing out ones that succeed, and some that fail because they are inconsistent with the actual phenomenon. Painting film illusions in watercolor is easy; painting veil illusions requires a painting strategy.
The fourth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 7 and Sunday, February 25. We critiqued the edges and gradations homework assignments. Transparency illusions, in the form of films and veils, were the new topic for the week. Dick showed transparency illusions from Albers’ Interaction of Color, pointing out ones that succeed, and some that fail because they are inconsistent with the actual phenomenon. Painting film illusions in watercolor is easy; painting veil illusions requires a painting strategy.
Critiquing transparency illusions in the Albers book – 1
Film illusions. If it’s transparent, you can see through it – over all surfaces it covers. Recognizing opaque vs. transparent appearances. A casual arrangement provides good Gestalt. Films, veils, and false films. (17:01)
Critiquing transparency illusions in the Albers book – 2
Painting strategy for veils. Films darken, veils lighten. (4:53)
Critiquing transparency illusions in the Albers book – 3
Recognizing false/impossible transparency. (3:08)
Painting demo – film and veil
Film illusion. Every single cast shadow is a film. Veil illusion. Veil painting strategy: build up layers. Tactic: to avoid brushstrokes caused by paint drying when covering a large area, wet the area first. (20:02)
Painting demo – Transparency illusion and painting strategy for films
Films are easy in watercolor: every layer of paint is a film. (2:33)
Painting demo – Transparency illusion and painting strategy for veils
Creating the illusion of a veil takes advance planning and careful observation of values. (4:33)
Opaque or transparent?
Why study films and veils? Mastering these illusions allows you to create visual magic. Changing background colors change your perception of which shape is opaque and which is transparent.
Wednesday class photos
Sunday class photos
Homework critique
Films & veils discussion
Mahalo to Valérie Richter for Wednesday photos and videos, and to Holly Duane for Sunday photos and videos.
The third sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, January 31, and Sunday, February 18. The stripes homework was critiqued, with an emphasis on recognizing halation and vanishing boundaries, and knowing how to create them at will in a watercolor by understanding the necessary relationships. Cropping was used to focus on areas which exhibited harmonious relationships. Dick demonstrated halation with several arrays of Color-Aid paper. The new assignment has to do with discovering watercolor techniques, including various types of edges and gradations. This week, we have over an hour of demos captured on video.
The third sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, January 31, and Sunday, February 18. The stripes homework was critiqued, with an emphasis on recognizing halation and vanishing boundaries, and knowing how to create them at will in a watercolor by understanding the necessary relationships. Cropping was used to focus on areas which exhibited harmonious relationships. Dick demonstrated halation with several arrays of Color-Aid paper. The new assignment has to do with discovering watercolor techniques, including various types of edges and gradations. This week, we have over an hour of demos captured on video.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships 2 class for Fall 2016 was held on Wednesday, September 28. We critiqued the homework (White light and shadow), which is always a trickier assignment than it initially seems. The class was introduced to the bizarre phenomenon of colored light and shadows, which often defies what your mind tells you to be true! Seeing it happen in real time is key to this lesson, and Dick provided a great demonstration to prove the effects. Please see the full post for photos, class materials, and this week’s new homework assignment, Colored light and shadow.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships 2 class for Fall 2016 was held on Wednesday, September 28. We critiqued the homework (White light and shadow), which is always a trickier assignment than it initially seems. The class was introduced to the bizarre phenomenon of colored light and shadows, which often defies what your mind tells you to be true! Seeing it happen in real time is key to this lesson, and Dick provided a great demonstration to prove the effects. Please see the full post for photos, class materials, and this week’s new homework assignment, Colored light and shadow.
Homework assignment
The homework is at the very bottom of this PDF. Re-create your white light composition in colored light, or create a new study of colored light and shade.
The homework showed a variety of studies seeking to convey an impression of a white spotlight. One of the keys to a convincing illusion was to show multiple colors and shapes both in the light and in the shade; another key element was the overall Gestalt. As Dick loves to say, “Everything comes back to RELATIONSHIPS.”
Dick’s main comments on the homework:
Gestalt plays a large part in conveying your intentions correctly – the audience can’t understand your message if the Gestalt is not clear. The most common problem was a formal or symmetrical composition. To “sell” the viewer on your illusion, the arrangement should be casual, askew, jaunty. Informal positioning, overlaps and angles will be more convincing, because it’s rare for objects to be perfectly centered or aligned in the real world.
We are making visual statements, and we want the viewer to read it correctly … the viewer has to see it immediately – you don’t want to have to write it out.
Make sure the connection between what is in the light, and what is in the shade, is consistent and uniform; remember, light will treat everything in its path EQUALLY.
This is what’s so important about light and shadow: it unifies the painting.
When you start thinking [as you’re painting], that ‘This is separate from this, and this is separate from this’, you’re not thinking like nature anymore.
Susan built her own “spotlight” to observe what the light and shadow would do across different colors
Colored light demo and slide show
Satisfied that the class understood the principles of white light and shadow, Dick moved on the next topic: colored light and shadows. This interesting phenomenon has been observed for many centuries (the first methodical account on the color of shadows was written in 1672, by Otto von Guericke), yet it is still one that defies our rational expectations. Shadows are always the complement of the light source: if you shine a red light on an object, its shadow will be green. Shine a green light on it, and the shadow is red. Weird, but true!
The best example of colored light and shadow seen in nature is viewed at sunrise or sunset, when the light is very orange or amber-colored. This time of day is a favorite with photographers and painters, for it infuses skin tones with a beautiful rosy glow, and warms up all the colors in a scene. However, a colored light source will affect various colors in different ways, either enhancing its dominant parent color (thus becoming more saturated), or working against its dominant parent color (and thus toning it towards a neutral gray). As Karen wrote in the 2013 Color Relationships post: “Colors could be either enhanced or dulled by the light and by the shadow. A warm-colored light (yellow or pink) enhanced colors containing yellow or magenta, and dulled cooler colors, those containing cyan. The cool blue or green shadow, respectively, of those warm lights, enhanced cool colors and dulled warm ones.”
Noticing the correct color of the shadows is imperative for this assignment, as it is the hue of the shadows which tells the viewer what color the light source is. We cannot identify the color of the light source by the highlights alone, since as the light falls across all objects of varying colors, it will modify these colors equally and make it difficult to distinguish the original hue separately from the colored influence (ex: a purple hue will not change to orange under an amber light, it will still appear purple to our eyes). This is described by the term ‘color constancy‘, which loosely means you can see the same colors in context to each other, no matter what color light is shining on them.
We don’t always perceive these colors accurately, however, due to an effect called “color constancy.” If we “know” from past experience that objects have a certain color – a red apple, a white house – we will tend to interpret them as that color, even when the color is strongly modified by colored light or shade. But if we paint them as the color we “know” they will look wrong, as seen in some local paintings depicting white surf at sunset. This is the idea of “local color.” Local color exists only in our minds. Color is never absolute; it is always relative to the lighting conditions and surrounding colors. Colors at sunset are different than “in the light of day,” which is why it evokes such a different mood. If you understand these concepts, you are more likely to notice these phenomena, and perceive them more accurately. – Karen, Color Relationships 2, 2015
Dick listed the three things to ask when painting shadows:
What is the color of the light? (think in terms of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow)
What is its complement?
Is there any ambient or reflected light? How will that affect the shadows?
And again, why teach us about colored lights and shadows? Because it unifies and creates RELATIONSHIP in a piece: “That’s why I’m teaching film and light: it unites, it brings things together.” Just look to the many examples of Baroque paintings (especially Caravaggio and Rembrandt) to see what using a colored light source will do for your work.
Class photos
The amber hue of the light adds more yellow and orange to the colors it touches, while the shadow cast adds more violet and blue.
Note the cool cast of the shadows in contrast to the warm cast of the light.
Look at the yellow area on the board. Under the amber light, what color is the yellow where the light hits it? What color is the shadow area?
Now look at the same yellow area when a green filter is placed over the amber bulb. What changes have taken place?
Here is the same experiment with the pink area of the board. The light and shadow areas are all being affected by the amber bulb, leading the pink to become more yellow, while the shadow becomes more violet and blue.
Look at the same pink area with the green filter in front of the amber bulb. The intensity of the light has dropped, which means both the highlights and shadows are less intense. The color of the pink in the light has changed to become more neutral (working towards neutral gray), while the shadow has become much more pink, since the shadow has changed towards red.
See if you can spot the changes as they occur on green and purple. Here, what are the effects of an amber light on both the highlights and the shadows?
And what are the effects when a green filter is added in front of the amber bulb? Note the change in the highlights on the green, and the dulling down of the purple.
Dick asked if anyone had ever seen an orange shadow before. The orange shadow effect is more clearly seen over the yellow and pink colors, producing a more vivid pink color, and a warm orange shadow on the yellow.
Here we can clearly see the orange cast of the shadow from the blue bulb. Why is the shadow orange instead of yellow? The bulb is really a mixture of cyan + blue (along with white), which means the shadow becomes a mixture of red + yellow (along with black).
By placing the white paper on the floor, and reducing the ambient light, the orange shadow and blue highlights became more obvious. (The edge of yellow seen on the upper part of the paper may be due to a yellow filter that was not tucked away.)
Class materials
Videos
These videos were part of the slide presentation.
Colored spotlight
Analyzing Kit Gentry’s upcountry sunset photo
Color constancy
Watercolor painting strategy for colored light
3D Illusion of colored light in Illustrator
Same class, different year
View the corresponding class post from 2015 or 2013.
The fourth session of the Color Relationships class for Spring 2016 was held on Wednesday, April 27. We critiqued the color transposition assignment, discussed the two ways to create luminosity in artwork, and enjoyed a watercolor demonstration that showed the effects of equal values, vanishing boundaries and halation. See the full post for class materials, photos, and videos to supplement our class time.
The fourth session of the Color Relationships class for Spring 2016 was held on Wednesday, April 27. We critiqued the color transposition assignment, discussed the two ways to create luminosity in artwork, and enjoyed a watercolor demonstration that showed the effects of equal values, vanishing boundaries and halation. See the full post for class materials, photos, and videos to supplement our class time.
Critiquing the homework – Transpose colors of equal value
Much of class time was spent sharing the results of this last assignment, and even in a week Dick could tell how much student’s value perception had sharpened. Value is very hard to discern when competing hues are seen together; however this particular format provides a way to compare many colors and values all at once, for which Dick still praises Albers’ ingenuity for designing color exercises.
There are also quite a few students trying these assignments in alternate media (Color-Aid paper, pastel, and watercolors), which presents different challenges than the ones encountered in Illustrator. Some of the difficulties arise simply from the nature of the medium itself, and there was a brief discussion on the importance of working with the materials in a way that keeps the focus on the color. Dick mentioned that the only material Albers let his students use was the Color-Aid paper, as it was one way to minimize the distractions inherent in art making. Albers wanted to concentrate on color, not shapes or design or mediums: “Albers had students coming from all different backgrounds – oil painting, pastels, printmaking – so he didn’t want us to get caught up in craftsmanship or subject matter. He wanted [the focus to be on] the direct relationship of color, and that’s why he had his students work with the Color-Aid papers. He didn’t want us to get cute with the design or show how clever we could be [with shapes]: the focus was on color.”
Two ways to create luminosity in artwork: vanishing boundaries and halation
After the critique, we discussed why recognizing value is such an important skill for visual artists to learn: to create luminosity in their art. There are two ways to create luminosity: vanishing boundaries and halation, and when an artist employs both of these effects, the result can be breathtaking. As Dick said: “If there aren’t relationships, things fall apart. And that’s what is so beautiful about nature: everything relates.”
Which is another reason why Dick is confounded by the lack of these effects in his previous students’ artwork; he has taught thousands of students over his lifetime, and yet only a handful of them use these techniques in their work: “I’ve been wrestling with this for years. Why can people understand vanishing boundaries and halation in class, and then they leave class and they don’t use it in their work? How do I prepare you to use this as your own so that you can take this knowledge and find a way to plug it in? How long does it take before it becomes a part of what you’re doing? How many of you will learn to use it as Kit did, and plug it into your own work?”
One student said, “So you’re saying this is a way of making it glow.” She recognized that she’d created this effect in one area of a past painting, but didn’t know how to recreate it. She was eager to get back to the studio and try out some new ideas!
For the last assignment, the challenge is to make these lessons your own, and find ways to combine a halation and vanishing boundaries to create luminosity. Students can make a simple composition of their own, which could be as basic as a single repeating shape; or a ‘Challenge to the Professional’ which would involve re-doing a previous art piece to employ these effects. As we approach the last class, Dick’s ultimate goal is to foster independence: “I want you to make a transition from being in class and having student assignments, to making this knowledge your own. I want to see that you can take these principles and apply them in your own way.”
Dick has this hint for working with your vanishing boundaries assignment:
If you are using arrays or matrixes, you need all anchor colors (parents or corners) to be of the same value, or very close.
He made this matrix as an example, and says “Note the color luminosity in this sample matrix which combines both halation and vanishing boundaries.”
(And remember that for true vanishing boundaries, the hues also need to be close!)
Dick showed one of his own works as an example of using halation and vanishing boundaries to create luminosity. The effect is best seen in both the clouds and the water reflections.
Watercolor demonstration
To finish the class, Dick led a watercolor demonstration which illustrated the amazing effect of vanishing boundaries and halation. Karen described it well in her post from the 2014 Color Relationships 1 class:
“Dick demonstrated how to achieve equal value, vanishing boundaries, and halation in watercolor. He started with strips of solid and mottled yellow, then laid in stripes of magenta and cyan over it. Because the yellow is so light – so close in value to the white of the paper – neighboring values of cyan and green, and magenta and red, are also nearly identical, creating a luminous, sparkling effect, much more engaging because of the optical mixing than areas of solid color would be. No matter how many further layers are added, this relationship remains.”
Class photos
Students gathered in small groups to share their homework.
One student’s attempt to do the assignment in watercolor.
Two small groups downstairs turned into one larger group to share their discoveries.
Some students have been doing the homework in different mediums other than Adobe Illustrator.
Everyone gathered in the living room for the full class critique.
There are different kinds of challenges experienced when students use different media.
Demo for how one can use Illustrator to practice value matching.
Dick used watercolors to demonstrate the powerful visual effects of luminosity.
Watercolor will continue to darken as you add more layers, so starting with yellow can help you plan your highlights (you can always darken a watercolor, but lightening it is very difficult).
By using just the three primaries, you can achieve a range of colors.
By layering watercolors (a transparent medium), an artist can achieve beautiful color harmonies.
Combining all three primaries leads to spectacular results.
Notice how the thin green line to the left “pops” out of its’ surroundings. This is due to the relationship between neighboring values, hues, and the relative size of the stripes.
Vibrating boundaries begin to occur where colors have different hues yet similar values.
Halation also creates the effect of luminosity (seen here in the middle stripes of red-orange going towards a bluish-purple).
A step-by-step tutorial on building a color matrix in Adobe Illustrator.
The Color Matrix
Following the ARRAY concept of color relationships, I have expanded Josef Albers’ two-parent relationship to a broader spectrum of color possibilities. The results are startling and a new tool for those who seek color harmony.
Color Luminosity
Here are two ways color luminosity can be achieved. This should dispel the notion that the French Impressionists achieved color luminosity by way of full chroma color application. See the truth with your own eyes.
Same post, different year
Read the corresponding class posts from 2014 and 2015.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships class for Fall 2014 was held on Friday, November 7. We tried to find Color-Aid swatches of equal value; discussed real-world observations of luminosity through equal value in an autumn forest scene with Kit Gentry; critiqued the warm-cool color transposition exercises and free color studies; and had a demonstration of creating luminosity in watercolors. This was the final session of the course so there was no new homework assignment. A six-week follow-on class will be offered beginning in January, covering the visual phenomena of films, veils, volume color, white light, and colored light.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships class for Fall 2014 was held on Friday, November 7. We tried to find Color-Aid swatches of equal value; discussed real-world observations of luminosity through equal value in an autumn forest scene with Kit Gentry; critiqued the warm-cool color transposition exercises and free color studies; and had a demonstration of creating luminosity in watercolors. This was the final session of the course so there was no new homework assignment. A six-week follow-on class will be offered beginning in January, covering the visual phenomena of films, veils, volume color, white light, and colored light.
Class recap – some key ideas
In-class exercise: Find two color chips of equal value
Judging the value of different colors is very difficult. When the hues are different, we have trouble telling which is lighter or darker. Working with swatches of Color-Aid paper, Dick gave the class a couple tries, to start to build skill at value discrimination. After each person had selected a pair of swatches that they thought were equal value, the whole class compared them all, weeding out those that obviously weren’t equal value and discussing close calls, until finally three sets were left that were close.
Kit Gentry: Equal value and vanishing boundaries
Kit Gentry joined us by Skype. He is an artist who used to live on Maui, and now lives near Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, where he finds dramatic and inspiring scenery. He took Dick’s color class a few years ago, and recognized that incorporating vanishing boundaries into his oils and pastels would enhance their luminosity. Discussing the photo below, of Kit photographing trees in an autumn forest, he talked about how the brightly colored leaves were all close in value, and nearly the same value as the gray tree trunks. He described working on a painting of such a scene and feeling that the colors were overplayed. In Photoshop, he sampled colors from his reference photo and put them on a white background, where every one seemed almost gray, but when interacting with each other, they seemed vibrant and much more saturated. “Nature is essentially gray,” he said.
Kit’s website has detailed descriptions and close-up photos of many of his paintings, and some are for sale through Village Gallery in Lahaina and Viewpoints Gallery in Makawao. Kit frequently adds new photos to his Facebook page.
Critique
Transposing warm and cool colors of equal value
Everyone reported that this was a hard exercise. On most of the homework samples, the cool inside squares were too dark. Dick advised not to choose a pale yellow for an outer warm color; it’s too hard to find a cool color to match it, because they tend to be darker. One person noticed that sticking with one hue each for outer and inner (as in 11, 13, and 14 below) made matching easier than having four different hues for each (as in 12).
Free color studies
The main critique of the free color studies was that they were more about subject matter than color. Free color studies should be about color, and only incidentally about shape. Dick advised staying away from recognizable subject matter, so the critique could focus on color and not be distracted with meaning and interpretation.
Watercolor demonstration: Equal value, vanishing boundaries, and halation
Dick demonstrated how to achieve equal value, vanishing boundaries, and halation in watercolor. He started with strips of solid and mottled yellow, then laid in stripes of magenta and cyan over it. Because the yellow is so light – so close in value to the white of the paper – neighboring values of cyan and green, and magenta and red, are also nearly identical, creating a luminous, sparkling effect, much more engaging because of the optical mixing than areas of solid color would be. No matter how many further layers are added, this relationship remains.
A six-week follow-on class will be offered beginning in January, covering the visual phenomena of films, veils, volume color, white light, and colored light.
Collage by Elen of images from Dick’s video of the equal-value exercise, “To win just once”
