Quick Tip 438 - Choosing Colors for Paintings

Artist/art teacher Dianne Mize answers the question about what first steps should be taken in deciding what colors to use in your paintings.
www.diannemize.com
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[@dixieturner7402]

Thank you so much, Dianne! This lesson is incredibly valuable ❤

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@robinmanoogian8712]

You are becoming my favorite teacher . You really have a gift. Thank you I am just a beginner

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Wow, thank you!

[@solar979]

Thank you Dianne. Your knowledge is so precious and so is your way of explaining everything to us.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome. Keep enjoying the journey.

[@Dawn-x7g]

I love all your videos, really helpful. Thanks so much. When l go to my art class the instructor is amazed at what I’ve learned.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Wonderful! Keep enjoying this amazing journey!

[@angelaisland4036]

Thank you for breaking this down in great detail

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Have fun with it.

[@mirayoon2995]

Diane, you are really really good teacher! Thank you so much again

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks! It's a pleasure sharing these.

[@conorneumann4132]

I consider myself very lucky to have found all these solid technique vids by Dianne. Perfect timing as I am just beginning my journey, so I don't have a super huge amount of bad habits to break. Thank you.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are fortunate in that. Have fun on the journey!

[@katiakrebs8931]

Invaluable lesson dear Diane! I need it for a long long time ago! THANK YOU!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Now is what counts. Have fun with it.

[@kimranson4775]

Thank you Dianne! I just watched your vid on tonalism and it was so helpfu.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Enjoy the process!

[@lauravalenzuela2233]

I’m really enjoying your videos.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I'm so glad! Thanks for watching.

[@chrisburnett2733]

Thank you! What a wonderful manner of teaching you achieve making it very easy to understand and assimilate.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks so much! Keep enjoying the journey.

[@marit4660]

Hi Dianne! Thank you so much for this detailed and very helpful QT. I forgot about the importance of matching values before adding the complement to dial down the intensity. Thank you for demystifying these topics and showing us the why!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@pamelabritton1230]

I have been using the color wheel and tabs of paper to identify colors, and this is such a valuable video to clarify that even further; also the information on color harmony by using what is already on the palette. Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Have fun with it!

[@SnkobArts]

This video, as do many of Diane's videos, serves a secondary role as a workshop in how to make your expensive colors last longer (here, it's Cad Red Pale) and how to leverage your cheaper thalos and transparent iron oxides. 👌

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Well, yes, there is that advantage, too, that had not occurred to me.

[@marceybadillo1618]

Hi, Dianne! So glad to see you again, hope you’re well. Your videos haven’t been appearing in my feed unfortunately. Hopefully they will from now on since I looked you up.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Marcy, check your settings. Everything is smooth on our end and on schedule.

[@theartisticperfectlife7502]

Thank you again, I need these Tips they help me repeat processes to find color harmony.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@patouche2851]

Excellent, merci beaucoup Diane ❤

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@candywarmuth6241]

I am fascinated and learning. TY

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

So glad!

[@margaretbutters6181]

Gosh that was a great lesson have trouble with greens thankyou

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@shirleyfargo455]

Wow! What an amazing lesson on choosing colors. You are an amazing teacher. Would you do a quick tip on adding sun rays using oil? I recall a lesson you did with water color. Thank you for considering this.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks Shirley. Yes, I will put your request on our filming schedule.

[@oldepersonne]

Super good breakdown. Thank you.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@stellymessina8466]

Thank you, Dianne

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@greenmacaroni8872]

Hi Dianne, this is just in time. I was inspired by Jamie Wyeth’s, “Inferno”, and wanted to paint a couple of seagulls fighting. I find it kind of comical the way that one will close the other’s beak by holding it closed with its own beak. I wasn’t sure where to start until now. Your quick tips have improved my painting immensely and I’m grateful to you for that. Hugs, Julie 🥰

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Julie, I am delighted. Keep enjoying the journey.

[@sandracarroll6233]

Diane, your paintings are very beautiful .Thank you for sharing knowledge. I would love to watch you do a complete painting .

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks, Sandra. If you watch the Notan: How and Why video we did when we first started this venture, you will see me go through the painting process. I never finish a painting in a video because I'm more focused on teaching a principle rather than giving a performance, but that one comes close.

[@rezahosseinzadehnasser993]

Thanks a lot for your helpful tips. My question is do I need to change the color I see to convey the feeling of the scene. For instance put more blue into distant trees to push them back or warm up the subjects in front. If so then the question is how we decide on the colors we need to change . Or perhaps we just need to copy the colors we see ?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Reza, if a scene speaks to us, then our first objective is to capture what's there. If while interpreting that, you feel that you want to enhance the aerial perspective by cooling the distance a bit, then that calls for adding a bit of cooler hue, but at a low degree of saturation. On the color wheel, hues on the blue side are cooler. Allowing the color wheel to guide our color decisions is its purpose. Example: greens in the distance might call for enhancing the blue in the greens. The same is true for warming colors we see, except we go to the warm side of the wheel to find those colors.

[@lucysajdak1646]

Very helpful 👌.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Great!

[@lumindina699]

Thank you for choosing this subject to cover. I am really seeing there is so much importance on this and also the values of the correct colors that make art better. I know I have to practice mixing colors much more to make this easier for myself until I know how to achieve the colors I want to so I can paint with a simple solid limited palette. I still am struggling with the cools and warm colors and knowing truly when and where to lay them down when using them both in a painting for the best visual effect. Could you cover that some day? I am drawn to the effects it has on artwork and I find myself doing it and struggle with doing it efficiently.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I will put your request on our filming schedule. We film these several weeks in advance so looks like it will be either late October or early November before it will appear.

[@pamblevens8897]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for watching.

[@arnoldbllaca7572]

Hello mrs. Dianne. Please can you give a short answe, can we desaturate the colors by using grey color (black plus white or blue plus brown plus white ) ?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Arnold, both black and white and their mixtures will neutralize, but my preference is desaturating with complements because of the hue variations we can get with complements that you cannot get with black/white mixes.

[@margaretbutters6181]

great thankyou

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are welcome!

[@TravelinArtBook]

You can also lower saturation by adding gray but maybe it's not called for here?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Yes you can, but gray, after all, is a visual mixture of complements.

[@rhyannonp8231]

Thanks!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thank YOU!

[@123crf]

Love to watch your vedioes

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks!

[@nanag5297]

And again thank you so much for another great video Dianne. I have a little problem when trying to pick colours as I paint with acrylics. Sometimes I just struggle to find what would be equivalent acrylic to yours oil paints . Like viridian Rembrandt your favourite for example. Would hooker green which is dark with blue undertone be a good choice, or what if I don't have transparent oxide red, would red iron oxide be a good choice instead? I'm glad you mentioned burnt sienna as possible choice cause its what I use a lot . Its not a hue I know 😅 and thank you in advance Dianne best regards Tasha

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Yes, Tasha. Finding equivalents across media and brands can be a problem, depending upon what's available in your location. The traditional thalo green registers almost identically in hue, value and transparency as my Rembrandt Viridian does. BUT it is very strong in tinting strength, so requires keeping it from taking over other colors. I am not up to date on all acrylic brands and their available colors, but if you can find one that's equivalent to thalo green but in a lower tinting strength, that should work just fine.

[@nanag5297]

@IntheStudioArtInstruction Thank you so much for your reply, now I know what I should look for thank you 😊

[@shakyarabindra3615]

❤❤❤

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks.

[@rhyannonp8231]

what made you choose to add the high saturation red orange at the end there. It was turning more violet but i am not sure why you skipped to the pure hue color at that point

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I added the high saturation of red orange so that I could add a bit more saturation to the chicken's comb. My eye told me it needed to become a bit more saturated and a bit redder. I didn't skip from red violet to the pure red orange. It was already moving towards red of the red violet, so what I did was to enhance that hue. The red in the highly saturated red orange will enhance the red of the red violet, and the slight bit of yellow in red orange will control the saturation of the violet in the red violet. That's the sort of thing I mean when I'm saying what color does to color. There is a difference between violet and red-violet. We painters benefit from making that kind of distinction between a primary hue and a tertiary hue.

[@rhyannonp8231]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction thank you, I will break this down so I can understand. I loved your video, really was one of the best simplely made color mixing/matching videos I have seen

[@Rockymtnbloom]

Does this all apply to watercolor, presuming you would not use white, but instead mix more water?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Oh yes. Principles of color apply to all mediums. The technical means of the medium is always a consideration, so no, in watercolor we don't add white, but we use more water to raise the values.

[@ernestomartinez6807]

I really like your videos. Just as suggestion.... have you considered changing the angle and distance of the camera? It is hard to see what is being explained. Again I really like your videos, and it is just a suggestions.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

We are as close as we can get. Thanks for watching.

[@TOPTENTRAVEL01]

What if an artist is not working from a photo, but is painting an original composition?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

In that cause, it is good to understand what color does to color so that you can make informed choices.