On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Stirring up gray

Last Tuesday, in our watercolor class, we were asked to follow the directions from Jean Dobie's book, MAKING COLOR SING, to mix shades of gray.  By mixing the complement of a color into the gray, the focused color would begin to vibrate.  


So....if I make a neutral gray, then add red into the gray, the green square should pop out because red is the complement of green.  

I was unhappy with how my project turned out in class so I tried it again this morning, with somewhat better results.  The idea is, if I feature some element in my watercolor painting, it will become more vibrant if I surround it with a neutral gray with the element's complementary color mixed in.  

Don't get it?  Well, I'm still learning, so get yourself the book and try it for yourself!

3 comments:

  1. This is absolutely one of the best books out there on watercolor! You will refer to it again and again and again. And good for you for doing the exercises!
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:19 PM

    thanks for sharing. i hope they'll jumpstart me into doing some of my own : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. Some day I'll take a class, too, to learn this stuff. Glad it's working for you. Does a body good to be challenged with new ideas and concepts, even if a bit frustrating.

    ReplyDelete

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