A Hiking Connection

Many years ago I did a backpacking trip to a place called Bearpaw Meadow in the Sequoia National Park. It’s 11.5 miles of hiking to a 7,800 ft. base camp in the High Sierra Mountain of California. From there you hike to 10,000 ft. arriving at a beautiful mountain lake that still had an iceberg on it in a warm mid September. It was the highest point I’d ever experience on earth.

I can’t remember walking as much in a single day since that time until I experienced High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina. The largest Home Decor trade show for interior designers, or anyone who deals in home decor furnishings and want to know the latest trends of the industry. It was an opportunity to gather information as to whether the Home Decor industry could be a venue for my artwork. I wanted to learn how it works to get art in, hopefully connect with designers, and see what the trends are for art.

The High Point, Sightseeing

The market experience had both a “High Point’ and a “Low Point”. The “WOW” factor was the amount of showrooms in several blocks of walking. Claiming 10 million square feet, about 2000 exhibitors throughout 180 buildings. It was eye candy for anyone in the Decor industry or even if you love window shopping, seeing beautiful craftsmanship within Home Decor. There were inspiring ways to set up a storefront if you were only looking at that. Truth be told, you must pick and choose where to go because you can’t see it all. It’s the beauty and variety of Decor in one area.

The Low Point Encounter

As much as I enjoyed being there to see the exhibits, I was disappointed with my ability to get information and my lack of skill for connecting with designers.

There are four types of passes required for entry into the conference. Exhibitor, Buyer, Industry, and Press. Buyers and Press had access to everything. To my dismay Industry Pass was almost the reject, the outcast to Exhibitors. There were exhibitors who would not allow us into their showrooms.

Now I understand it when there is a Buyer on the floor, they are to have priority above all. But to disallow someone because of an Industry Pass makes no sense to me. I also get that there may be concerns of industry persons knocking off ideas before designs go on the market. I understand this first hand. As a background supervisor for Rich Animation, I once had an artist show me his portfolio hoping to get hired to work in my department. To my amazement, this artist was showing copies of my artwork in his portfolio. That was the ultimate “Gotcha”. This comes as a risk in every industry. One of the showrooms we entered, with the question of whether they would allow us entry had it right. The owner said your money is as good as anyone else’s. He recognized the potential of an Industry person becoming a buyer. If ever I have the opportunity to attend this market as a buyer, I would again receive an industry pass and purchase only from exhibitors who treated the pass with equality.

Naturally the art exhibitors were the places where I desired to spend most of my time. This is where I expected to gain the larger portion of information. I recognize in a competitive environment, there is a tendency not to share information. But the avoidance of my inquiries was beyond amazing to me.

A High Point Revival

My resurgence to the namesake [High Point], came the last day of the market. The crowds dropped off 90%, the exhibitors were starting to pack up, the offer of grandeur deals were tossed before us as we passed by. Perhaps one less item to pack and ship home. It alone appeared to be the motive to spend some talking time with us. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I assumed it to be the down time. No more rush to catch that next buyer.

This is when I got more insight regarding the how too’s of the industry. A sense of personal interest toward a seeker of knowledge. A willingness to give someone with an “Industry Pass” the time of day. It gladden my heart to have those few moments with those full of sincerity in sharing.

High Point Takeaways

Exhibitors who were willing to share, viewed their products as originals, one of a kind and different from all other works. This may be true in one aspect. In another vantage point, I found the majority of the art as appearing the same. Some variety in subject, but similar in look, style, mood and color. Mostly Abstract, a few traditional painting. Truly a trend. Which begs the question, Do I want to look like a trend or myself.

I believe every artist wants to be themselves. To be recognize for those traits that are distinct to them which distinguishes them from others in style, subject, color usage, etc. Having said that, I can see using touches of mood or color here and there to appear somewhat trendy. But not the whole of what I do. It still needs to distinguish my artist flare as my own.

The larger distribution of art was by way of an Art Publisher. A few are used directly by the designers. Meaning designer to artist or a gallery representing the artist(s). Publishers license artwork from the artist for a very small percentage (pennies on the dollar) to the artist. This keeps cost down at the designers level. Not very profitable for the artist but a little money on the side. This would be one of several avenues to make up the total income for an artist.

Designer to artist may be better per piece of artwork but still needs to be cost effective for the designers to make their bottom line. As for me, I’m open to working with designers directly, along with all other avenues I must pursue to build my brand. Overall, I enjoyed my High Point experience. I gained a few insights. It was a good reminder, just like that backing trip to Bearpaw Meadow. Up is a slow and steady climb. Therefore I’ll keep stepping one step higher until I reach my own High Point in the Market.

By the way; since we are coming into the Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday holiday period, here’s a chance to get a 15% discount off our art prints. Just enter the code: givethanks15 on our shop page and bring home your favorite art image.

Thank you for your support and Happy Thanksgiving!

Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones who has found a particular style you admire, emulate, and have mastered. If not, don’t worry you aren’t alone.

More often an artist goes through a period of experimentation, and even those who have found their signature painting style must make an effort to step outside of their comfort zone and grow their skills as an artist.

For those of us that struggle to find their signature style, there is hope…

Today I’m sharing the struggles you encounter along the way, and the journey to finding yourself as an artist.

Do I Really Need a Signature Style?

Moving from the animation industry into fine arts has had its challenges. In animation you are commissioned to execute a specific style, a scene, and a mood. You don’t get to choose what that is, your job is to be so fluid you could execute any style your client/company requires.

In the world of fine arts it is opposite.  Even if it is a commissioned piece you are required to have one signature style that brands you in the eye of the public. When a client buys one of your pieces, they are a fan because they love your style and execution in the piece. They commission you because they see a consistent style they gravitate toward, so they want a unique original piece that follows your signature style.

Observe some of the most successful artists…those who no longer struggle for every sale. They typically have something, or a set of somethings that are similar throughout their entire collection. Whether that is a subject matter, a color palette, or a style of painting.

This is called branding. You don’t find successful artists painting abstract art one day and renaissance another. Instead of broadening your audience by carrying a variety of styles, you make it harder to market yourself to the right niche of people. Even galleries know to niche their market.

Would you follow someone on social media who only produced things in the style or philosophy you enjoy once in a blue moon? Or do you follow people who more consistently speak to your taste?

As frustrating as it might be for some of us to limit ourselves to a particular style. Finding your look as an artist will help your client niche find you. It is pivotal to the success of your business.

The Effects of Marketing & Trends On Your Style

In my attempts to discover myself as an artist, I realize I naturally fall into a certain look. My painting style tends to lean tighter, more representational and less impressionistic.

But what happens when the market is trending opposite of where you lean as an artist? Do we need to adjust to meet the current trend in the market? And where does your signature style fall into this?

Whether you have already discovered your signature style, or you are in the process of discovering it, this can be a frustrating paradox for the artist. While there are trends that will be here today and gone tomorrow, there are also overarching trends that can last for decades. Most of us would rather not be successful after our deaths in the future but be able to keep a roof over our heads today.

The question of will our artwork sell if our signature style isn’t trending, can motivate us to pivot into whatever IS trending. The real question is whether we are being true to who we are as an artist while pivoting. This is a question we can only answer individually…

So my question to you as you consider your signature style is this:

1. Is there room for small changes you can embrace as an artist, and a certain amount of wiggle room to incorporate more popular elements out there without sacrificing your signature style?
2. Is the current overarching market trend affecting your taste and things you gravitate towards when seeking your signature style?
3. Can you leverage your own uniqueness to become a trend within a smaller niche?

Learning What You Like Vs. Who You Are

I have met artists who have a strong sense of what they like and who they desire to emulate. One talented artist I met at Masters of American West art exhibition was thrilled when I said his artwork reminded me of the work of Dean Cornwell.

It turns out this was his favorite artist, one he desired to emulate…and yet while accomplishing that goal he managed to maintain his own distinct look. He had a strong sense of the style he wanted to capture in all of his artwork.

I’m not one of those people. I can look at one artist within a niche and love it, then another in an opposite niche and love their work too. Sometimes the biggest battle in finding your signature style as an artist is having broad and inclusive taste. Other times, it is the struggle not to be swayed by another artists work at the abandonment of our own distinct look. We want to emulate, not be an exact replica.

Designers have a fantastic little trick to help clients hone in on what their style should be. They create a set of boards on Pinterest and ask clients to pin several images they love. Then they have to choose only the top 10 pins they love most from among all of their pins. They have to select the images they want to describe who they are as a person. That becomes the board they are to reference for inspiration when they feel distracted by other styles.

In the journey to discover what we like versus who we are as artists we can carefully consider the artwork of those we admire, but ask ourselves these questions along the way as we hone in on what we love , why we love it, and whether it can be part of what makes our own signature style:

1. What draws you about this artist or particular piece of artwork? Is it the style, the mood, the color palette? Is it possible to include some of those elements into your own signature look or does it define your signature look?
2. Is it their style you love, or their craftsmanship in a particular technique you admire? Perhaps you can incorporate that technique and skill set but within your own style of choice. Or is this someone whose overall look you can actually emulate?
3. Do you love this artists entire collection, and would you want it in your home on all your walls long term? Sometimes we like a piece in the gallery, but realize it’s not for us when it doesn’t fit into the style of our home. The same principles apply when considering an artist to emulate.
4. Does this person have similar painting style/traits to your own? If someone is dramatically different from the way or what you already paint, they may not be someone to emulate. Perhaps borrow the subject matter or painting techniques you admire.

Is Your Signature Style Already There, In Plain Sight?

Sometimes others around us already have a sense of our signature style while we think we are floundering to find it. Consider leveraging your audience, friends and family. Ask them what they think your signature style is, and how they would describe you as an artist. If you start to see a trend, they might be on to something.

Sometimes we have a sense of our own signature style without even realizing it. Is there a look you naturally gravitate toward in your painting?

I have experimented with a wide variety of painting styles. I like to challenge myself as an artist and push the limits of what I can do. However, every time I try to step out of my box, I feel like I find myself right back within that very box. No matter how hard I try to accomplish a particular look or feel in a painting, my best work always seems to gravitate back to a particular look. At the end of the day, each painting is just what it becomes.

Here the question is; is this a lack of skill, or is this my unique area of strength? This might be my signature style. Obviously skill must be honed over time, but there is a difference between skill in technique and painting style.

You Won’t Always Get It Just Right, And That’s Okay

Don’t mistake the difference between execution of technique and style of painting.

My good friend Thomas is an incredibly talented and skillful artist. He has found wonderful success as a fine artist. Even he has struggled with the execution of a painting from time-to-time. He once told me about a painting he struggled to get right. He put it aside, and didn’t pull it out for 30 years. Looking at it, most of us wouldn’t see a single flaw in that painting…we would have thought it was great. However there was something about it that bothered him personally.

This is what becomes the distinction of what makes you who you are as an artist. That inner struggle, that particular thing you were going for in that painting that causes you to put it aside for a few years.

Whether you get it 100% right or not, just by seeking to execute that particular ‘thing’ is you infusing your painting with that signature style.

Embracing The Battle, It’s A Process…

It’s okay, struggling is not a negative, it’s just a process. Everybody is trying to find where they belong. To discover how to express yourself in a world with so many people doing the same thing you are doing.

The battle to discover yourself and what makes you special as an individual, as an artist. No one has my exact story, my exact strengths and weaknesses, and all of it contributes to what makes us unique.

Animation may have given me my greatest strengths, but learning how to pivot and grow my business has given me a whole new set of challenges. Ultimately it will become a whole new set of strengths.

What about you? Have you begun to discover what distinguishes you as an artist? What are some of your struggles?

 Working For Others Versus Making Your Own Decisions

I have often concluded that animation was my strength.

In animation, someone else determines the subject, the mood of the scene, etc. They have a vision for what they want to accomplish, and it is my job to execute that. No struggle there!

Now, it certainly requires skill to take someone else’s vision and really bring it to life.

My job is to determine how to give emotion to the scene. To know exactly what it takes to capture the essence of the desired affect, and translate that desired affect with paints, tone, mood, drama!

So moving from ‘I’m good at capturing and translating another persons vision’ to being the one to determine what that scene, subject, and vision should be. Well surprisingly that has thrown me for a loop. I’ve worked for others for so long, that it becomes difficult to determine what I want to do.

Never would I have thought choosing your own subject and emotion could be a challenge. Moving from fulfilling a company’s commission to determining my own direction. Suddenly my income relies on choosing subject matter that captures the interest of potential buyers. It’s a whole new frightening ballgame…

Being Limited In Fine Art

You wouldn’t imagine that fine art could potentially be limiting in any way.

You have the freedom to paint what you like, whatever captures your imagination…right?

Well consider this: I like that animation pushes me in terms of emotion and versatility…for example, if were asked to paint a war scene on Mars; you want to make it raw, scary, you want to push the viewer to feel the emotion of the scene.

Unless you are in fantasy art or are an illustrator, when will you ever need to paint a Mars war scene? Or even evoke the obvious emotions to depicts this scene?

In animation you have to be versatile to paint whatever scene they throw at you, and be excellent at it.

Coming out of animation where the spectrum was so broad, into fine art has actually narrowed the subject matter I paint.

And Then There Was Marketing…

Then to top it all off, as artists we are told we have to find a niche and stick to it to be successful at marketing ourselves.

It would appear the most lucrative artists have found a niche that needed to be filled. Even the artists that are successful small business owners seem to operate within a highly marketable look within their niche. And while there are several trending niches, it has to be one that “IS” trending otherwise you are left struggling as a business.

It’s all about honing that one ‘look’ or ‘style’ that infuses all your artwork and causes people to recognize your paintings anywhere. We call it branding, and that can be even more challenging to the mind of an artist.

I certainly don’t think in terms of where the market is when I am moved to paint a subject.

Sticking To Your Niche, Staying In Your Lane

This is such a struggle for me. I don’t like to be backed into a corner, or narrowed by anything. If I choose to stretch my skill and paint a representational piece with a ton of intricate detail, I want to be able to do it. Then if the next day I want to do a piece that is more impressionistic, why can’t I? Say I want to capture the essence of a design-rich subject matter that is Victorian in style, but the next week paint something that is fluid and abstract?

It turns out that finding your signature style is key to marketing yourself as an artist. If you are all over the place in style, you aren’t branding your company well.

Finding Your Signature Look

Perhaps not every artist has this struggle, but I find myself vacillating.

I look at the style of one artist, and I love it. I look at another, and I love it too. How can I figure out my style or look when I love such a wide variety of works? Below is just a small sampling of that.

I suppose what I’m really loving is the craftsmanship of the artist.

I have to ask myself, what distinguishes me as an artist? Can I vary my subject matter and still maintain a signature look? Can I operate within what is popular in the market and still be true to myself?

I would love to hear your thoughts to this dilemma. Have you succumb or overcome? Why or how did you?

Learn simple how to steps to paint your character drawings on Photoshop.

The Steps for Painting A Caricature

The last video/blog I did, showed you how to “Paint A Line On Computer”, using a caricature drawing of myself. This video/blog reveals how painting a caricature, comic or cartoon with that line on top of it can be done.

• Import Drawing

  First, do a line drawing or import the drawing you want for character painting.
  Follow the steps in the video/blog mentioned above for painting the line. Make sure the line is its own layer.

• Duplicate Drawing

  I begin by duplicating my line. Command (Mac) or Control (PC) J. This gives a line layer above (for finished covering), with one below (a painting guide).

• Create A New Layer

  Click on the copy symbol at the bottom right corner of Photoshop to create a new layer. You will paint on this new layer between the lines.

Start with Flat Colors

• Flat Color

• When painting a caricature begin with a flat basic color for every section. I did this on my face, my shirt, my glasses etc.
• Of course I clean up should I go outside the line. I then make adjustments in the tone of my color as I go.

• When I start painting my shirt, as a way to speed painting it, I put a marquee around the line which helps me isolate the shirt off and allow me to go through it quicker. The marquee prevents me from painting directly on the line therefore I’ll need to go back and paint in missed areas under the line.
• I do the same for my glasses and my eyes. Then clean up underneath the marquee line there as well.

• When I finish cleaning up, I work on some hair textures that I drew in. I paint in a solid color for the hair. Then do a transparency percentage which will allow hair texture to show through from the layer beneath it.
• I isolate my eye color with the marquee tool in order to make an adjustment, using the hue saturation color slider.

• I do the same thing on my lips making an adjustment using hue saturation. Then clean up afterwards.
• I repeat the same procedure to give a shadow under my nose using only flat color for the time being.

• Now I add flat color in the shadow areas of my shirt.

Dimensional Rending

From here I start doing dimensional rending with an airbrush approach when painting a caricature.

•  Determine Light Direction

• I decided to have light coming from the left going toward the right which will cast a shadow on the right side of everything. It’s always important to know direction your light is coming from.
• The fun of painting with computer is that as I paint in some light areas, I shift them if they are not exactly in the shape or place I wanted them to be. Using the move or the warp tool helps with that. I brighten the area up some with adjustment sliders or color shifts on my shirt if it needs. I decided to cool down the shirt color a bit adding a slight blue touch.

• Then clean up my glasses and give a shadow side to it.
• For my face shadowing I created a darker “Layer Adjustment Mask”, then erase out unwanted areas. I shift the colors a little bit and brighten it up so it has a strong sense of light and shadow.

• I do a “Layers Mask” for my hair and I brighten it up and erase out the unwanted so it looks like light is hitting my hair, and there’s a shadow side.
• I decided to give more shadowing under my nose. Now I’ll work on my lips to give a light and shadow side to that as well with a shift in color.

• Then I’ll have the few spots to clean up, a few mistakes I haven’t seen before, shifting my face color some.
• This is where I paint in the nostrils. I’ll add a little more detail to my lips. Bring out some highlights. It’s amazing to me how highlights add more dimensionality.
• Now I give a light area to my beard and mustache. First, marquee it off, then paint in light spots.
• I will give highlights to my glasses making the line straight across and using the “Warp Tool” to put it in place. Marquee it off to make it easier to paint in other highlights.

One of the things I like doing is giving reflective light because it gives more dimensionality and extra color interest.

• In this case I’m using cooler reflective light because my face is overall warm so it make for a good visual balance when painting a caricature.

• My glasses needed a darker area on the arm to push back one portion of it.
• Now I’m working on my eyes, I’ll give myself a pupil, erase some of that out. I’ll put some Shadowing on my iris trying to give it some dimensions. Then give some shadow to the white part of the eyes then clean them up. Now I’m giving myself a lip to the lower eyelid giving dimensionality. Putting some highlights to the eye. Checking things that I may need to clean up. Darken the upper eyelids a little more.

• Put a shadowing on my wrinkle lines, not too heavy, and then a light side to my wrinkles. Soften some of that edge a little bit.
• Putting a little more shadow under my nose for dimensionality as well as on my lips. Some shadow on my glasses. Adding a little more shadow to my nose to feel more anchor to my face.
• I painted a background card for the finished look. Below is the completed character.

Hope that was helpful! Give it a try, and let me know how it turns out!

You may find “Painting with Photoshop On Computer” and “How To Paint Digitally With Photoshop” helpful with related details to this blog/video.

My group, the Tehchapi Plein Air Painters spent a day in our quaint little town to see what fascinating subjects we could find to paint.

The Gallinger House

Walking down the street, a bright yellow home caught my eye. How could I resist? That yellow seemed to call out “paint me!” Turns out the house is a historic home built in 1880 by a gentleman named Joe Gallinger. The plaque near the front of the house gave us a few more details about what our town was like in the 1800’s.

My wife, always the social butterfly, went to knock on the door of the current owner and mentioned how much I would like to do a painting of her historic home. She was happy to oblige, and thus the “Gallinger House” painting came into being.

The Artistic Eye

It was just the right time of day, and the shadows danced across the wooden fence. But it was the warm glow surrounding the yellow house that really captured my imagination. The challenge would be to approach this painting in a way that captures the light and emphasizes the shadows.

Artists often see things through different eyes… we notice how light and dark, nuances of color, what something could be, etc.

What Makes for Great Art?

Have you ever stopped to enjoy a beautiful sight in nature and just taken in the details of the moment? What did it look like, how did it feel? What were all the elements that came together to make it beautiful? You may have snapped a picture in that moment to capture the beauty…but often that photo falls short of capturing what your eye was taking in and your senses were experiencing. Even professional photographers often edit their pictures in order to best depict what their eye captured that the lens could not.

An artist does much of the same thing. Our paintings attempt to capture the beauty and nuance of something the common eye (or the lens) may not quite be adequate to convey. We see things with an artistic eye. An imagination and senses that take in details that make a subject or a moment beautiful.

So the next time you are out looking for inspiration for art, spend a moment absorbing the beauty found in unique details. The way the light hits the subject, the warmth or vibrance of something, the intricate patterns or fun details. Then push the envelope when depicting those things…and don’t be afraid to push the limits past what the naked eye can take in. Go ahead and emphasize the beauty you see.

Plein Air Painting In Public

Painting in town is always an interesting experience. People would walk by and stop and look, and one young women on her way from school stopped to ask questions and chat about art.

As I was painting the kind owner came out several times to take a look and view my progress. Her grandchildren came out once and gathered around asking “is it done yet, is it done yet?” Then they would excitedly go back and report to the grandmother.

They all seemed to love the process of the painting. However, ultimately it took two trips back to the Gallinger house and some time in the studio to finalize it.

I still haven’t shared the final results with the home’s owner. The one downside of plein air painting? The people who take such an interest don’t always see the end results. It is my hope that what they do see inspires their creativity!

One of my favorite tools in Photoshop allows me to paint within a line or constrained area with great ease. This is helpful for me because my hand has a natural tremor to it making it challenging to keep within the space I want. This tool gives much aid to that problem.

The Marquee Tool

You’ve heard me in the past talk about a “Marquee Tool”. That’s a broken line you can create in various shapes or freehand that constrains or isolate your artistic working space also. In this case I use the square “Marquee Tool”as shown below. You can also check out “Painting With Photoshop On Computer” or “How to Paint Digitally With Photoshop”. These give examples of using a Marquee Tool.

Even though I move outside the line nothing happens except when the brush goes within the isolated square area. And that’s where the painting start. That’s quite useful when you want to stay within a given area. But this post is more about the “Lock Tool”.

The Line or Image Lock Tool

There’s another tool that basically locks the artwork or image and allow you to stay within a line or confines of the image you’re working with. To give an example of this, I’ll use a caricature drawing I did of myself using Photoshop.

The Simple Steps

• The Layer

  Click on the image layer with the line work or image you want to paint. I want to color only within a line or lines itself. Nothing outside of the line or shape.

  

• The Tool to Paint Within A Line

  Then click on the lock tool as shown below. You’ll see the lock icon appear to the right on the same layer. This allows me to paint color into the line and only the line or shape. A wonderful photoshop tool Adobe thought of for the software.

  

• Then Paint

   

  Now just start painting in the color or colors you desire for the image. Below you see I used different colors in different areas, such as the shirt, glasses, skin and hair colors.

  

It means being more careful as lines intersect to keep the specific color where you want it to be.

You can also Marquee off the portions of the lines where you want certain colors to be confined as well which would speed up the approach.

Image Lock

The same application can be applied to an image as well allowing you to paint within that image, but not outside of it. Below is a painted example of the black image being locked, then doing whatever your artistic expression desires within it. You can also use any of the adjustment tools for changing values, colors, Exposure, contrast parameters, etc. you may like.

How do you like the colors within the lines of my Title Art?

Simple! Give it a try. Next time I’ll paint in my caricature.

Basic Colors Mixed With Red

Our last post dealt with mixing basic colors with Yellow. In this post our focus is the appearance of colors Yellow, Violet, Blue, and Green when mixed with Red. Red draws the eye if desired, gives vibrance, can show passion or intense emotion when featured correctly.

• Red to Yellow

  Also mentioned in the last post, Red is a primary color as is Yellow. Basic color mixing of primaries will give a broader range of hues when mixed. Orange is the secondary color between them. Yellow like Red can have some punch to it. It’s a bright and happy color that gives a sense of life to the work. Mix small increments of red to the yellow and watch it move to orange the on the mostly red.

  

• Red with Violet

  Violet is the secondary color made from a Red, Blue primary combination. Therefore the range of hues from Red to Violet will be shorter than the Red to Blue or Red to Yellow basic colors. This range of colors are wonderful for creating beautiful, dramatic low light moods. Here are some of the possibilities.

  

• Red to Blue

  As mentioned above Red to Blue are primaries which give the broadest range of hues. Though I mention Violet as one of the basic color mixes with Red, It was not necessary because Violet is the natural result of a Red, Blue mix. The temperature of the Blue will determine the nature of the hues being warm or cool. Such as Ultramarine or Cobalt are cool Blues, whereas Thalo or Azure are warm. There is confusion on this matter which I explained in the last post; “Basic Color Mixing with Yellow”. For me Blue palettes lean more toward setting a romantic mood in paintings and of course it depicts night scenes the best. Try your hand at mixing some of these hues.

  

• Red to Green

  Green is a secondary color that is at the opposite side of Red on the color wheel making it the complement to Red. These colors work well together for designs of all trades. Fabrics, printed materials, interior designs, fine art painting, etc. You might find this post; “Complementary Colors – Everything You Need to Know” helpful on the topic. Using complementary colors is the better way to gray or tone down each other’s intensity when mixed together. Why? It keep colors purer or cleaner from a muddy appearance. Green is a calming, restful color which we see throughout nature. Yet when used as a prominent color in dark scenes, it can appear eerie and unnerving.

  

The Joy of Basic Color Mixing.

One of the fun elements of knowing how to mix basic colors is that it allows you to play around with many palette options, creating many different moods in your artwork if you desire. It was the most enjoyable aspect of background painting in animation I experienced.

Try your hand at pushing your mix of basic colors to see what you learn!

Expand your knowledge and understanding of color mixing to help your eye to see color better.

Basic Color Mixing Made Simple

Over the next few posts we will do basic color mixing to see what their appearance looks like when mixed with other basic colors. Our focus in this post is Yellow. What are some of it’s hues when Green, Red, Violet and Blue are added.

• Yellow with Green

  Green is a secondary color made from it’s primaries Yellow and Blue. Therefore the range from this basic color mixing will be yellow greens, pretty strait forward. Simply a matter of taking yellow, add small amounts of green to it in careful increments to get the range you want to see until it is mostly the green color you are working with. White can be added to any of these hues of color if you wanted to pale out or lighten the color. The more white is added the less saturated the color will be. The chart below is a sample of hues that can range between yellow to green.

   

  

• Yellow to Red

  Red is a primary color as is Yellow. Basic color mixing of primaries will give a broader range of hues than the above mixtures, Orange being the secondary color between them. Continue adding small increments of red to the yellow and watch it move to orange the on the mostly red.

  

• Yellow with Violet

  Violet is the secondary color made from a red, blue combination. On the color wheel, it is at the opposite side of yellow making it the complement to yellow. This means these colors work well together for designs of all trades. Fabrics, printed materials, interior designs, fine art painting, etc. Complementary colors gray or tone down each other’s intensity when mixed together. The hues can vary depending on the use of red or blue violet. In the video I’m using Red Violet which makes the basic color mixing result in warmer tones. Check out some of the possible hues from this basic color mixing.

  

• Yellow to Blue

  Blue is the other primary color as Red and Yellow. This also allows for that broader range of hues. Even though we did the yellow to green mix, it was not necessary to do so because the Yellow with Blue mixture gives us Green. Of course the temperature of the Blue will determine the nature of the hues being warm or cool. Such as Ultramarine or Cobalt are cool Blues, whereas Thalo or Azure are warm.

  There is present confusion on this matter unfortunately. Just consider colors on a spectrum, Red is the warmest, Violet is the coolest. Simply determine where the blue fall on that spectrum. Blues closest to Green are warmer and those closest to Violet are cooler. Don’t let the color wheel confuse you. Think spectrum.

  

  Back to Yellow mixed with Blue, there can be an amazing range of hue between the warms and cools. The color chart is truly a small sample.

The Heart of the Mixing Matter

Bottom line is this, learning basic color mixing is in the doing. The best way to get it down is to pick random colors you want to match (color chips from paint) any color, put it next to your palette and try to match it. Have a white paper or board to put your mix on to see how close you are. Look at the value (light or darkness) of the color and get as close to it as possible. Also consider the temperature (warm or cool) of the color, then shaft the mix toward that temperature. Soon your eye will learn to see the red, yellow, green or blue tones in the mix you are wanting and know which direction of color to add.

Next post, I’ll focus on Red. Happy mixing!

The Dorner vineyard is a gorgeous wedding venue in our hometown of Tehachapi, California. It makes quite the picturesque view for an outdoor barnyard wedding.

You wouldn’t believe it to look at it, but that barn is actually a facade! It was built from reclaimed wood milled in the late 1800’s. Between the sunflowers, the barn in the background, and the mountains in the distance, something about it caught my eye.

The Challenge Of Painting Flowers

The sunflowers were the first thing to capture my attention. I thought, I must be crazy…those sunflowers will require a ton of detail work and be quite involving.

Which means, the real trick is how to capture the essence of the flowers without going into tons of intricate detail. I used an impressionistic approach to acquire detail without working every little petal and stem.

The next challenge was how to keep the sunflowers from making the painting appear busy. It is a balancing act to know just how many to add, and how loose to keep it. After all, the flowers would be the key element the eye is drawn to most.

The Importance of The Background Settings

While the flowers were the subject of this painting, I still wanted to push the colors a little with the barn. The barn is part of the charm of the scene, so knowing when to dull colors and when to infuse with more vibrancy for visual interest is part of the skill an artist must develop.

When it came to the background in this painting, I confess I struggled a bit. The mountains didn’t fade into the background quite in the way I was envisioning. I tend to be a detail oriented artist, and I’m always working to push my interpretive side.

Our Time At The Vineyard

It took a total of two trips to the Dorner vineyard and some time in the studio to complete this painting, but I enjoyed my trips to this lovely venue.  I believe my accompanying plein air painters enjoyed the trip as well. A special thank you to Mike and Michelle Dorner for letting us come and paint!

Part of the highlight of being there was in spending time with the Dorner family.  I first met Mike and Michelle when I spoke at the Tehachapi Hospital Art fundraising event as the keynote speaker.

I hit it off with Mike as if we were old friends. You could say he is an artist in his own right! His hobby of taxidermy is truly skillful. It takes true craftsmanship to capture the little details that make the animal appear so lifelike. I asked him if he would allow me to photograph some images in case I ever needed an animal reference…maybe a closeup of a bird flying!

My plein air group and I hope to go back to the Dorner vineyard again in the future, perhaps when more varieties of flowers are in full bloom. If you are ever in the area, give them a visit…and even better, come with us when we go for another visit and paint with my Tehachapi Plein Air group!

Time is precious, and so are the memories you make throughout the year.

Let us help out your planning with this gorgeous downloadable 2019 calendar we created just for you!

We have great things planned for 2019, and we’re sure you do too. Let us help out your planning with this gorgeous downloadable fine art 2019 calendar we created just for you!

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