Premixing

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
• Subjective neutral
• the color note that appears  in the geometric center of the gamut
• Saturation cost
• the secondaries of any triadic gamut will be lower in chroma than the primaries

Creating Gamut Masks

• the mask is a valuable tool not just for describing existing color schemes, but also for inventing new ones
• Advantages:
• you're not limited to the choices of pigment based limited palettes
• by rotating the gamut mask around the color wheel, you can invent and preview new schemes
• when taken as a whole, the colors feel sufficient for a complete color scheme

Complementary gamut

Shapes of Color Schemes

• each of the gamut masks described so far uses a polygonal shape
• most common shape is the triangle
• atmospheric triads
• an equilateral triangle shifted over to one side of the color wheel without overlapping the center
• moody and subjective; ideal for color scripting
• complementary gamut
• looks like a long diamond stretching across the color wheel
• pits opposites against each other but it is still fairly stable

Mixing a controlled gamut

• once you have chosen a gamut, mix the strings of color defined by it
• these strings become the source colors for the whole painting
• ensures that you stay within the color scheme
• extend each color into 4 different values
• try to keep the hue and chroma consistent for each color
• before you start painting, remove all the tube colors that were squeezed onto the palette (except for white)
• these colors are out of your gamut
• harmony and unity are given because they are built into the process
• Tip
• disable the white balance on your camera or it will cancel out the color cast you created

Color Scripting

Color Scripting

• in a sequential art form, no color scheme stands alone
• every frame must be seen in relation to the one that follows and proceeds it
• consider the changing moods
• shows in semi abstract form, a series of consecutive page spreads
• each unit is held within a given gamut