Can you guess what these three excerpts from a painting might be describing?
What if I told you they are all describing a white wall in shadow. No way? Well, take a look at this:
The painting is by Colin Page, a painter adroit at working with temperatures of color. In this painting, it is the alternation of warm and
cool that creates the vibrancy and rhythm we feel in the piece. Here's a brief analysis of what we are seeing:
And THAT is alternating warm and cool.
Alternation is somewhat a forgotten tool, but a principle long used by master artists to give life and rhythm to their works. It's a way of
switching gears in between thoughts, of staggering where the temptation might be to repeat. We can use it with any of the visual elements as well as with our brushstrokes. It's an exciting principle that can add vigor in the most unexpected ways.
If you have a white mug or cup, us it for your reference. If not, find a photo of a white cup.
- Do a preliminary drawing
- Lay out a palette of black, gray and white.
- Add to the palette either ultramarine or cobalt blue and either burnt sienna or cadmium orange
- Get ready to paint
- As you stroke in the values, alternate each stroke between warm and cool by adding a bit of blue to one stroke, followed by a bit of orange to the other, keeping the alternations the within same value areas
- Look how Colin did that sort of alternation in his painting above as a sort of guide.
- HAVE FUN!
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms, and the rest of you, too. Think about it! (No mom, no you!)
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