Workshop Lesson

Our palette was selected by Lou Bonamarte and included winsor yellow, gamboge yellow,ultramarine blue, pthalo blue, winsor red, alizarin crimson, burnt umber, burnt sienna, pthalo green and ivory black.

While the class was entitled "Water Color Theory" discussion incorporated value, shapes, light and tint, tone, shading and color.

The first painting exercise was to paint the image to the left using two colors and black. Black could not be used as a color but was to be used to shade the colors we chose. He stresses that nothing should appear "black" in the painting as this creates a hole in the painting. If a "blackish" color was to be used he suggested that pthalo green and alizarin crimson could be used to produce a dark color.

While there was discussion around using compliments to neutralize a color, Lou is a proponent of using burnt umber to achieve the same result. However he does not like Winsor Newton burnt umber, suggesting Grumachers or Old Holland is better.

I chose ultramarine blue and burnt umber as my two colors.
Attached is the sketch produced in class.

My first step was to decide on the light source and to have it remain consistent throughout the painting, then to calculate the effects of the light source on the various planes in the painting. It is also necessary to consider the the effect of atmospheric perspective on the colors chosen.