Celebrating Color

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

How to Paint Sunshine? What is the Key?

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The sun is beaming and you see a tree all lit up. Question: “How to paint sunshine?”

Most painters are drawn to the light, whether it is created by Mother Nature or interior light. It’s ethereal and a challenge to capture in paint. The problem we have to solve is trying to create this sensation while using human-made products. And, in essence, we are trying to paint air with solid materials.

Recently, I spent a week in the Colorado Rockies basking in the sun and in awe of its magic while gazing upon the changing aspen leaves. It’s truly glorious to hike, sit or stand while marveling the yellow light created when the sun bounces off of those golden aspen leaves. It’s captivating especially when there is a light breeze. Notice in the white on the leaves in the photo on the right.

How to paint sunshine

During this same week, I happened upon a week long plein air event that included over 30 artists painting in the area. This culminated in a show at the Steamboat Museum of Art in Steamboat Springs, CO. This was my first time attending such an event and it was exciting and fascinating to peruse over 100 paintings.

Much to my dismay, I was surprised to see that few paintings adequately, in my humble opinion, and effectively displayed how to paint sunshine.

What is the Key to “How to Paint Sunshine?”

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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…]

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…]

What Are the Three Characteristics of Every Color?

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How quickly can you state the three characteristics of every color? Perhaps you have known what they are and have forgotten or this is new to you. In any case, it is good to know these characteristics when mixing and applying color. I like to think of each and every color as a tool in my paint box and I need to know each one well.

One way to get to know or to revisit these ‘tools’ is by creating a Color Chart that contains a swatch of every color you own noting the three characteristics. The directions to such a chart can be found in my post, How to be Intimate with Your Colors.

What Are the Three Characteristics of Every Color?

They are: hue, value and chroma.Three Characteristics of Every Color, color theory, painting lesson, munsell [Read more…]