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

Color of the Month

Cadmium Yellow

Cadmium Yellow - This bright, strong yellow is offered in three versions by most manufacturers: light, medium and deep. I find the 'deep' too orangey for me and I can usually duplicate the 'light' by adding titanium white to the medium, so I usually only purchase the medium shade. Its a great color for daffodils, tulips and other flowers.

By itself I sometimes find it too strong unless I want a shout of yellow in a painting, so I wind up mixing it with white. Cad yellow is the prefect paint to mix with cad red to 'lighten' it without turning it pink. It is also the color I use to lighten sap and other greens to keep them from getting chalky. Mixing it equally or so with cad red or burnt sienna gives you wonderful shades of orange. Mixed with blues or blacks it gives you different shades of green.

So even though I seldom use it alone I keep it on my palette and use it often, mixing it up as needed. Play with it and see what colors you can conjure up by mixing in some cad yellow.

Tool of the Month

Freezer Bags

Plastic storage bags - the freezer ones are stronger, so I use them instead of the regular plastic bags. I like the ones with the zipper clip type seal, I just think they are easier to close. I find them very useful all around the studio and on site. Almost everything I pack to take with me I place in a storage bag first. Not only does this keep liquids in - if they spill, it also keeps other things clean as well. It makes it easier to find just what you're looking for and easier to take out. I put all of my tubes of paint in one, turp and medium in another. Chalk and pencils in one and two for rags - one clean and one dirty. You can get them large enough to hold a sketchbook and small enough for q-tips. When they get too dirty or tear they are easy to replace. Get a box or two and put them to work for you.

Every Painting Needs A Key

Every painting you do should have a key. A key is the term used to describe the overall value of a painting. Not the cost - in art, the term value describes how dark or how light something is, ranging from black (a dark value) to white (a light value). The key is the total average value for a painting when it is taken as a whole. A high key painting is fairly light while a low key painting is mostly dark. The key of a painting will in part but not totally help define the mood of a painting, such as dark and brooding or light and cheery.

A high key painting will contain both light and dark values but will have more of the lighter tones. You can paint a white magnolia flower as either a high or a low key painting. Give it a pale background and it is a high key painting. Give it a dark background and it becomes a low key painting.

A painting with a distinctive key is more interesting than one that is neither high nor low. Use a key and unlock a new way to see the world of art.

Samples low key

Sample Palette

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