When an artist paints with a wide variety of colors in a tube, it can become a chaotic nightmare; especially, when you are trying to achieve harmony. It takes less understanding of how to paint with just a few properly mixed colors than trying to handle the massive amounts of factory-produced paints, not to mention the extra costs involved.
For example, have you ever wondered how all the Dutch masters seemed to create so much harmony in their paintings? When you study the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, or Jan Vermeer, you get goosebumps when you realize that these artists knew something that many of today’s artists don’t know, or don’t practice. They understood harmony and how to create it in their paintings.
Harmony is something you see, feel and totally understand when you study it. Painting it, however, is something else entirely. Basically, it is created by an artist who decides on a particular color scheme and uses a limited palette. One could almost say that the more limited the palette, the more harmony there is in the image.
Master artists understood color, hue, temperature, chroma, and value, and they knew how to place pigments on their canvas (board or any substrate) with meticulous care. Many of them also made and mixed their own colors, and painted with very few of them. For example, many of Rembrandt’s palettes only consisted of shades of amber, ochre, white, black, and red. How simple is that?
Of course, it’s unfair to try to relate to the great artist of yesteryear as if they painted the only way an artist should paint. The playing field is not equal. They didn’t have the many tube color options we have today. When you realize that it wasn’t until the early 19th century that a variety of different colors became available, then you understand that artists before this time had to work with what they had. Because of this, it was the limitation of the palette that created such harmonious paintings.
This takes practice, but you can learn to mix all the colors needed for your next masterpiece with just a handful of paints. You can learn to limit your palette. In fact, you can learn to mix the exact color, color temperature, hue, chroma, and value you want with the three basic colors (red, yellow, and blue), plus black and white (or a green sufficiently dark when mixed with red to make a black).
When mixing your colors, remember that it is easier to cool a color down than to warm it up. Start with the lightest color and blend the darker color one touch at a time. If you want your painting to be interesting and your colors fresh, don’t mix the colors too much. Cardinal rule: Do not mix different manufacturing brands. Find a good brand that you prefer and stick with it.
Consider the following reasons why you should become a mix master:
- Save money. You don’t have to deal with or buy so many tubes of paint.
- It’s easier than trying to manipulate the many ranges of tube paints available.
- you can mix colors with larger selection. You can create the exact color, tone, and value you want.
- Everything is less complicated. Your paint box is less cluttered with tubes of paint.
- You can prepare your palette in less time.
- It is less difficult to create harmony in your painting.
- As an artist, you will feel more in control of your work.
In conclusion, if you’re trying to create more harmony in your painting, challenge yourself to learn all you can about working with a limited palette. This will require you to have an understanding of color and color mixing. Whatever you do, listen to your creative impulses, keep experimenting, and work to incorporate your knowledge of colors into all of your artistic ideas.
