Newsletter February, 2004 A Free Newsletter for Those Who Love to Paint

Color of the Month

Sap Green

Usually a very transparent green, check the manufacturer's chart to make sure their version is permanent, some brands will fade over time. Right out of the tube I find Sap to be an ordinary green but a good base to create some wonderful colors. Add some burnt sienna to create a deep warm green. Add yellow ochre for a green with a spark of sunlight. Add some sap green to magnesium blue to get a lovely water color. Be careful however, if you add white to sap green it will appear chalky - the solution is to add yellow, especially cadmium yellow. You can lighten the yellow first and then add it to the sap green to get a nice light spring green. Don't depend too much to sap green by itself, but use it enrich the greens on your palette.

Art Magazines - A How to Guide

OK, you're saying to yourself, 'Are you kidding, I do know how to read and I've been reading art magazines since... Forever!' Well so have I. But recently I realized that I do some things that others might not have considered so I will pass them on. There are two main types of art magazines: the technical how-to's and the gallery 'what's out there' style.

Consider the gallery style type first. You may never want to be part of the 'in' art scene, but it is worth keeping an eye on what is out there. You may skip the articles if you'd like but don't skip the photos and the ads. Which paintings speak to you - do you know why? Can you integrate some of that into your own paintings?

Which paintings do you hate and do you know why? Even if you hate them can you recognize what the artist did right? Is the composition good? Is it balanced? Is the lighting consistent? Are the colors pure and vibrant or muddy and dark? Which colors are used? Are they warm or cool or both? Does the painting convey a mood or emotion?

These are the same sort of questions you should keep in mind while looking at artwork in a show or gallery or museum. Remember that all magazine images are copyrighted. You may copy them for practice or be inspire by them, but you cannot reproduce them for sale without the artist's explicit permission.

The 'how-to' style of magazine is an art class a month. There are usually articles on the business of art and maybe a famous artist or other general information. Plus there is usually an article for each medium, such as oils, acrylics, pastel and watercolor. So are you limited to reading just that one article on oils, skipping over all the others? Of course not.

Check out all of the artwork with the same questions that I covered before: composition, color and mood. But also read or skim the articles on the other media even though you may have only tried them once or twice or maybe never. Most art is made the same way: deciding what to create, planning and laying it out, getting a good composition, good use of values - highlights and shadows and the choice of colors. Sometimes when you read about a technique that is a little different from your usual it rings a bell and helps make what you normally do make more sense. You might even be inspired to try something new and different. Don't forget to check out the ads as well. Sometimes there are low cost offers for supplies or announcements of new fun stuff.

So evaluate all of the artwork and read most of the how-to articles and get the most out of each issue of your art magazines. Let me know if you have any more suggestions in this area and I will pass them on to everyone.

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