Celebrating Color

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

Why Paint a Series?

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Have you ever thought about painting in a series? If not, why not? …And what is it?

A series is a cohesive collection of paintings whereby the viewer has no doubt the same artist has created each piece. A series communicates a common thread that connects the paintings. Every painting can standalone, but together the visual impact is greater.

The series’ common thread can be established in a number of ways, including: technique, color palette, subject, medium, size, etc. This theme or thread is stated and restated in different yet interconnected ways. This facilitates the viewer’s ability to understand more easily what the artist is saying visually.

One of my first series, back in the early 1990’s, incorporated musical instruments and flowers. They were painted in watercolor and each was a full sheet or 22″x30.” Notice the unique edge on each piece and that the flower’s petals are strategically placed as if they are playing the instrument. There were 12 in this series. [Read more…]

What are the Major Lines in Art?

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When was the last time to the lines you use in your work or in someone else’s? What are the major lines in art? What do they convey? Try to name the five types of lines in art before reading further.

I confess, I hadn’t consciously thought about it for a long time until I was in the early stages of  creating my latest series entitled Colorscapes.

Early in 2020, I began this series for a solo show that was to happen in 2021. (As you may know, it has happened! Visit my portfolio page). After I had completed a couple of paintings, I saw a horizontal line continue to show up. This got me curious to learn more about this line to bring it further up into my consciousness. Below you will notice this horizontal line employed a few different ways in “African Winds,” yet all in one area. There are additional lines incorporated as well.

lines in art

What are the Five Major Lines in Art?

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Seeing Colors as Values

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Learning to see colors as values is not easy. In fact, I believe it is a trained skill. It is also something many of us, myself included, resist doing because it takes time and concentration. However, the use of values is one of the most important elements in creating effective paintings. Some artists will state, and you have probably heard this, that values are more important than color.

Oh, but we LOVE color! Yet, if you don’t know your values, then your colors will not carry the visual message you want to communicate. Value is defined as: the lightness or darkness of colors.seeing colors as values, color theory

Why is Seeing Colors as Values Difficult?

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Why Are Color Relationships Mercurial?

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How often do you think about color relationships? Even though we painters deal with them every time we apply paint, we may not consciously think about how the colors will relate to each other while painting. Why are color relationships important?  Have you ever mixed a perfect color, then gone to apply it only to discover that it didn’t work?

For me, even after 25+ years of painting, this frustration of believing I have mixed the correct color and it not working, still happens. This is because colors are volatile — they are shifty. In other words, a swatch of color is immediately impacted by the color surrounding it. We pick up a mixture from a palette that is essentially isolated. This mix is not surrounded by the same colors as on our painting. However, we believe it will look great on our painting. Soon we discover that is either looks good or it doesn’t.

To demonstrate how colors are impacted, I have painted a gradated value scale of slightly de-saturated blues and left two clean unpainted canvas strips in the middle. Notice the contrast difference from top to bottom between the unpainted and the painted areas. In this example, the value changes of the blue impact the color of the unpainted strips. Do you see how the white of the canvas seems brighter and lighter at the top, and then darker and duller at the bottom? (Click any of the images for a larger view.)

color relationships, painting lesson, color theory, sumultaneous contrastIn the next example, I digitally added two different oranges – bright and dull – for comparison. Even though these oranges are not painted in, you can still see the variation of color relationships between the color complements of orange and blue. In the left orange strip, notice how much brighter it is at the top versus at the bottom. [Read more…]

Have You Tried Water Mixable or Water Soluble Oils?

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Water soluble oils have arrived! Actually, they showed up in art materials stores over 20 years ago, but are just now becoming known and more frequently used. They are also called “water mixable” oils. Either will suffice, though I prefer water mixable because soluble can imply that the paint, once dried, will dissolve if it comes in contact with water.water soluble oils

I began working in water mixable oils in 2002, having been introduced to them at a plein air workshop. At that time, only a few brands were available. The most reliable and consistent was Duo by Holbein. Having come from 15 years of working in watercolors and a few years with pastels, I had not spent a lot of time with traditional oil paints. Hence, I dove in without much bias toward regular oils. [Read more…]