Eliza Anderson's Color Journal

Mixing Color Strings Color string: group of prepared blobs of a given hue mixed in a set of steps from light to dark saves time when painting observationally Free mixing where you use the brush to mix each new stroke from the tube colors Premixing batches of colors prepared in advance Colors should be carefully mixed from observation Advantages: uses less palette surface you can premix generous batches with a palette knife rather than a brush saves time The Reilly Method mix several color strings and use 10 tonal steps for each hue (10 value steps are more than you really need for most paintings) 4 or 5 is a good place to start Gamut Mapping Gamut Mapping the entire group of possible colors for a given painting shown as a polygon superimposed over the color wheel good color comes not just from what you include in a composition, but what you leave out of it Subjective primaries the cleanest mixtures between any two of the starting colors...

Warm Underpainting Instead of painting on a white canvas, pre-tone the surface before painting in opaque media initial color is called the underpainting or imprimatura Color recommendations; Venetian red/burnt sienna An insistent warm underpainting will force you to cover the background with opaques, requiring you to make mixing decisions For plein air painting, prime the canvas with oil priming paint layers tend to float on the surface rather than sink in Tips: mix up a tint using a palette knife on a scrap of palette paper Warm Underpainting Sky Panels A surface prepared with sky gradation as a base layer for future painting painters would typically paint the sky first, let it dry, then paint the other elements over dry passages Alla prima; completing the entire painting in one session good for painterly handling difficult for intricate details sky panels are useful when the main interest is in the middle ground tracery (signs, trees. clouds) Oiling...

Serial Painting Serial Painting creation of multiple plein-air studies of the same subject under different lighting conditions a set of closely related studies one after another storyboard a day of your life do quick sketches of a changing landscape on a drive makes you rely on your visual memory at the end of the day, you will have a series of color schemes that show the changes of light from morning to night Tips: choose a motif that has a piece of sky and some distant pieces of space paint the images on a set of separate panels on a larger board taped off into smaller rectangles keep the drawing consistent so that the only variable is light and color as you begin each study, don't look at the previous ones paint the subject at different times of the day and you can return to the same spot at a different season of  the year At the End of the Day Keep these 10 points in mind: color and light are closely related viewers will see the subject, bu...

Sunbeams and Shadowbeams Sunbeams and Shadowbeams Sunbeams; shafts of light made visible in dust/moisture laden atmosphere occur in rare conditions which must be met in the painting if you want them to be convincing 3 conditions:  a high screen of clouds, foliage, or architecture is punctured by a few openings air is filled with dust, vapor, smoke, or smog the view is towards the sun sunbeams usually shine through uneven apertures using traditional paint, brush a light, semi opaque tone over the dry background where the beams appear Shadowbeams occur most often when a jet contrail aligns with the line of sight the darker beam is usually only visible when there is a light, hazy sky behind it both sunbeams and shadowbeams should be used sparingly because they attract a lot of attention Dappled Light Dappled Light as sunlight passes through the upper leaves of a tree, it covers the ground with circular spots of light each space acts as a pinhole pro...