Celebrating Color

The latest news from Carol McIntyre's studio...

The 4 Steps to Mixing Sage Green of the Southwest?

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What are the steps to mixing a color that seems to be just out of reach? An ardent follower of my blog asked me to explain how to go about mixing sage green. Sagebrush is frequently seen in the American southwest and west. She sent me this photo that sports a variety of sage greens. Other parts of the US and world also feature these sage greens. It’s a color that can appear to be difficult to mix. mixing sage greenWhen challenged with matching a color you want to mix, there are four steps. In this example, I am wanting to match the sage green in  the back of the photo indicated by the black arrow. [Read more…]

“Let’s Mix Green!” Workshop

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how to mix greenHas mixing green ever been frustrating?

Learn an easy-to-use color mixing strategy for your greens. With only a few tubes of paint, you learn how to mix natural-looking greens. You will create color charts which you will then be able to apply to future paintings and for all four seasons. Carol demonstrates mixing color throughout the workshop. Green will soon be a joy for you to mix! Kermit is excited that green will be “easy.”

This workshop is for advanced beginner to intermediate painters. Oil, watercolor, water-mixable oil, and acrylic painters of all styles are welcome.

Date: Sunday, October 7th

Time: 12:30pm-4:30pm

Location: Manitou Art Center, 513 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, Colorado 80829

Phone: 719-68501861

Materials: A supply list will be provided.

Optional: Students may bring 1 to 2 paintings for feedback.

MAC Members: $45
Non-members: $50

Register@https://manitouartcenter.wildapricot.org/event-3050853

how to mix green

Please share this workshop information with your fellow artists. If you do not live in the Colorado Springs region and would like me to teach in your area, please contact me at: carol@mcintyrefineart.com

Colorfully and gratefully yours,

Carol

How Do You Mix Mud?

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Have you ever mixed mud? Silly question, I know. It happens to all of us no matter our skill level. And it can be a real source of frustration and angst.

Have you ever asked how to mix mud or why it happens? Perhaps some of you have heard, “If you mix three or more colors, your chances of making mud go up significantly.” There is some truth to this statement. However, there is an actual answer to the question “How do you mix mud?”

mix mud, color mixing, painting lesson

Let me pose a question: If you mixed the three tubes of paints listed below, which combination will result in mud and which will be less muddy? 1 or 2?

  1.  Cadmium red light, cerulean blue and alizarin crimson
  2.  Hansa yellow light, cerulean blue and ultramarine blue

Sample swatches are painted here.

mix mud, color mixing, color theory, painting lesson

  1. From top to bottom, cerulean, cadmium red light and alizarin crimson

mix mud, color mixing, color theory, painting lesson

2. From top to bottom, cerulean, Hansa yellow light, ultramarine blue

Next, this image shows the result of mixing cerulean with alizarin. At the top of the swatch is a purplish color. I thinned it out at the top with a little medium so that it is easier to see the hue. It is a delightful desaturated rose purple or eggplant color. [Read more…]

Ever Considered Starting an Art Book Club?

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How many color theory and painting technique books do you have in your artist library? When I first started painting, I soon realized that many of us are art instruction book junkies. We are fortunate to have so many artists willing to share their knowledge and skills with us in print and video.

One of the final pages for me to write for my forthcoming book, I Just Want to Paint: Mixing the Colors You Want! is the Resources page. This is a list of various art instruction books I have collected over the years and have continued to reference throughout my art career.

Before I share some of these with you, writing the Resources page spurred me to reminisce as I looked upon my large stack — I think I have over thirty books just related to the subject of color — and reflect upon the important role these books have played. Because I am a self-taught artist, I was highly disciplined and would pour through each book when it was new to my library. I continue to do this today whenever I purchase a new book.

Then I remembered an art book club that I participated in. What is an art book club?

It was about six painters meeting monthly in one of our homes or studios to discuss a particular book. We would speand about three to four meetings per book. Often we would bring paintings or sample exercises from the book to share. These meetings deepened the understanding of the book’s content, plus they served as a meaningful catalyst to furthering our respective skills and knowledge. The benefits were significant. [Read more…]

Mixing Landscape Colors with Six Primaries

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I am often asked, “Do you REALLY only use six primaries on your working palette?” Yes, that is correct. If I am working in oils or acrylics, then I do add white.

Which six primaries are they? The choice is personal for every painter. The important decision is making sure you have strategically chosen two yellows, two blues and two reds. I call this a Balanced Palette, because it truly is well balanced much like the four tires on your car. This color mixing concept is the core message of my forthcoming book I Just Want to Paint: Mixing the Colors You Want!

Many painters use only six primaries when they paint, but they refer to them as the ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ of each primary. I find these terms — warm and cool — confusing and not relevant to mixing color. I prefer to call them: orange-yellow, green-yellow, green-blue, violet-blue, violet-red and orange-red. With these adjectives added as descriptors, isn’t it much easier to see the color leanings of each primary?

Recently, I painted a 12″x12″ landscape with the intent of using a yellow and purple color scheme. The below photo shows you how I laid out my six primary colors before starting on this painting. Starting in the lower left, I squirted out my green-yellow. Then going around clockwise, you see my orange -yellow, orange-red, violet-red, violet-blue and green-blue. There is NO magic in the way I squirt out my paints out, and there is not right or wrong way to do it. Do what is comfortable for you. [Read more…]