Process - Color Strategy, Responsibility of the Artist

From this point on in the painting process, the responsibility of the artist is to the CANVAS, and will, hopefully, transcend the photograph. The photo has done its part by reminding us of the original idea for the painting and by providing the details of the scene that caught our attention. What develops on the canvas must go beyond the photo, bringing the spirit of both the place and the artist into the work. It may be referred to again for additional informational details, but should not be relied upon for interpretation.

I’ll now begin to develop a color strategy for the painting. My color strategy is intuitive rather than from formulas, but comes from a great deal of background study and interest in color. For this painting I know I’d like to push the pines into the background with with soft blue greens and work the whole painting into a more neutral vein. Working neutral is a struggle, but I love the results. So I’ve worked up a “color sheet” to keep me on track and will keep that paper at the easel to help me. Still, I will often throw my original plans to the wind when work on the canvas takes me in a different direction.

A small Masterson’s palette holds my color supply, and aluminum pie places will be used for mixing. This way the mix can be held right up to the canvas to check how the color will work with the whole. I never mix up too much of one color, and almost no paint goes on without being mixed up a little.

For this painting my palette will consist of the following colors: Liquitex’s Quinacridone crimson, Yellow Azo, Naples Yellow, Pyrrole Orange (a new favorite, it’s to soft) Aqua, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Green Gold, Light Portrait Pink, Burnt Umber and Golden’s Quinacridone gold, titanium white and parchment.

Materials - Acrylic Paints

Focus – Materials – Acrylic Paints

One of the first things to decide when starting a painting is what medium to use.
The choice for me is most often acrylics, and that’s what we’ll focus on in this blog.

Acrylics are made of pigment suspended in a plastic polymer. Sometimes filler is added to the mix, and sometimes the pigment is dispersed too thinly in the polymer. Generally, pigment drives the cost, and you get what you pay for. Often cheaper paints are often not worth the cost.

Choose a reputable manufacturer Even then, different dye lots from the same manufacturer may perform slightly differently, as will the same color name in different brands. Older acrylics will often develope a "sticky" feel.

I use mostly Liquitex acrylics. The manufacturer gives so much useful information on the label, and the larger, easy-off cap and easy to squeeze tube are a bonus. Liquitex acrylics are easily available and can be purchase through most art supply websites and most art supply stores. The Liquitex website contains a wealth of information about their product. Golden is another excellent brand. Their website is user friendly, tons of information, and they are serious about customer satisfaction. There is always a few tubes of Golden in my paint box.

There’s a lot of chemistry involved in producing quality products and each manufacturer has developed a line of products that work well together, ensuring good archival quality. Still, the lure of color is very strong, and most artists will pick up a beautiful tube of paint or try a new product regardless of brand. Use common sense when mixing brands.