Introduction

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners,* our 40^th blog to date.

Initially, I began this blog back in May 2024 to coincide with the National Gallery of Ireland’s exhibition Women Impressionists, which featured the works of four pioneering artists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemond and Eva Gonzalès. Each of these artists played a vital role in the 19^th century Impressionist movement.

The exhibition ran from 27 June to 06 October 2024 and marked the 150^th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition held in Paris in 1874. [2] I visited the exhibition on several occasions with various people and each time the experience was very different depending on who I brought.

For me, seeing the paintings in person was a genuine revelation. If I’m honest, until I saw them in the flesh, I wasn’t a real fan of their work, and I didn’t have much interest in their lives or their place in art history. In books, all I ever noticed were the flaky, scratchy marks, the heightened emerald greens and cobalt blues, and the fact that it was women painting women. I had no real sense of the sheer scale of their canvases, their control and understanding of the colour palette, their use of white, or their remarkable mark-making and brushwork.

As I researched for this blog, I began to understand their lives more clearly, their daily struggles working as independent professional artists within the male-dominated world of the 19^th century, and the enormous legacy they left behind. Today, their artwork offers us an intimate window into the daily lives and social rituals of the women of that period.

Finally, I started out with plans to include all four women in one blog, but to do them justice, I have divided the blog into three parts. This first part, Part 1 – will look at Impressionism, the role of women within the movement, and our opening artist, Berthe Morisot.

The second part, Part 2 will focus on Mary Cassatt, and the final part, Part 3 on Marie Bracquemond and Eva Gonzalès. My hope is that all three parts will offer you a clearer understanding than I had before I undertook this project, and perhaps open the door to your own discoveries along the way.

Impressionism – When It Started

In 1874, a group of artists, disgruntled by the ultra-conservative selection criteria of the jurors for the Salon Exhibition, held their own independent group exhibition. This group included Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézzane, Alfred Sisley and Berthe Morisot. [3]

At this exhibition, the art critic Louis Leroy dismissed Claude Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise as merely a sketch or “impression,” arguing that it was not an actual finished painting by the standards of that time. Monet’s approach, short, broken brushstrokes that barely conveyed forms, pure unblended colours, and an emphasis on the effects of light, [4] was radically different from academic expectations. Leroy’s remark, intended as an insult, ultimately gave the group and new art movement the name Impressionism.

As Impressionism developed, it became the first major art movement in which women played a leading role, both as innovators [5] and active promoters of the movement. The movement’s growing openness allowed artists such as Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemond and Eva Gonzalès to become central figures within it.

Impressionism, Revolutionising The Role Of Women Artists

This was a time when women’s roles were predefined for them. Their legal rights and movements were restricted, their access to formal training was limited (women were barred from studying at École des Beaux-Arts until 1897), and their participation in public life was tightly controlled and segregated by class. The artist Marie Bashkirtseff gives us an idea of these controls:

“What I long for is the freedom of going about alone, of coming and going, of sitting in the seats of the Tuileries and especially in the Luxembourg, of stopping and looking at the artistic shops, of entering the churches and museums, of walking about the old streets at night; that’s what I long for; and that’s the freedom without one cannot become a real artist.” [6]

By contrast, their male counterparts were permitted to move freely and unchaperoned through the public world. Men could attend cafés, studios, even brothels (as in the case of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec); they could paint and exhibit the female nude, enrol in formal art schools, and pursue professional artistic careers without any social consequence.

Within this context, the emergence of Impressionism offered something genuinely radical: a space where women could paint the world they inhabited, claim visibility in a male‑dominated art world, and develop a professional identity beyond the domestic sphere.

Yet despite these new possibilities, women were still conditioned to know “their place” and to avoid upsetting the men in their lives. What may seem humorous now posed real dilemmas at the time, as seen in the case of one of our female artists, Berthe Morisot. By 1870, she was already exhibiting at the Salon, but when preparing a painting for submission that year, she allowed Édouard Manet another Impressionist painter, to critique it, a decision she quickly regretted.

In a letter to her sister Edma, she described how Manet enthusiastically took over the canvas:

“He found it very good, except for the lower part of the dress. He took the brushes and put in a few accents that looked very well; mother was in ecstasies. That is where my misfortunes began. Once started, nothing could stop him; from the skirt he went to the bust, from the bust to the head, from the head to the background. He cracked a thousand jokes, laughed like a madman, handed me the palette, took it back; finally by five o clock in the afternoon we had made the prettiest caricature that was ever seen. The carter was waiting to take it away [to the Salon admissions jury]; he made me put it into the hand-cart, willy-nilly. And now I am left confounded. My only hope is that I shall be rejected. My mother thinks this episode is funny, but I find it agonising.”

Her mother, trying to help, requested the return of the painting, agreeing that Manet had made a “pretty mess” of it and that his alterations to the head were “atrocious.” Yet, not wanting to offend Manet, they ultimately resubmitted the work. [7] She also noted in her notebook diary of 1890:

“I don’t think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, and that’s all I would have asked for – I know I am worth as much as they are.” [8]

These examples offer a small glimpse into the indignities women artists were expected to endure, while at the same time having to maintain composure and good manners even when their professional work was being undermined.

Impressionism – The Four Women Who Shaped The Movement

Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895)

Berthe Morisot, according to legend, is said to be a direct descendant of Jean-Honouré Fragonard (1732-1806), a leading 18^th century [9] Rococo artist best known for his painting ‘The Swing’.

Initially, encouraged by her mother to paint, and as previously mentioned, because schools such as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts were closed to women until 1897 [10], she was privately taught by some of the leading artists of that time, including Guichard (a former pupil of Ingres [11], Millet and the radical landscape artist Corot.

In 1858, at the age of seventeen, she was granted permission to copy Old Master drawings at the Louvre, and it was there that she became acquainted with the self-taught artists Marie Bracquemond and Henri Fatin-Latour (1936 – 1904). [12]

Her debut at the Salon occurred in 1864, [13] at the age of twenty-four. It is said that, apart from about two dozen works, she apparently, destroyed all her early work prior to turning thirty. [14] In addition many may have been lost/destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

In 1872, after an introduction to the art dealer Paul Durand‑Ruel, she began selling her work, the sale included Harbour Scene (1871) [15] and several watercolours, thus establishing herself within the emerging market for modern art. She was the only woman to exhibit in the very first Impressionist exhibition of 1874 and went on to participate in seven of the eight group exhibitions, more than many of her male peers, placing her at the heart of the movement.

In the same year, she married Eugène Manet, Édouard Manet’s younger brother, who was throughout their marriage extremely supportive of her career as an artist and even posed for her on three occasions, despite not relishing the task.

During their honeymoon in England, including London and the Isle of White, he encouraged her to paint, network with English high society and to visit the galleries and grand houses. This is where she got to view works by English artists such as Gainsborough, Reynolds and Romney who would later influence her own work. [16]

She was also influenced by the Spanish artist Goya, [17] whose work she saw in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Along with 18^th Century French artists, such as Chardin, Fragonard, Boucher and Watteau [18] whom she saw and studied in the Louvre, Paris.

She worked in oil, watercolour, pastel and gouache, choosing the medium that best suited the immediacy or intimacy of her subject. Her work is often characterised by luminous, fluid brushwork and a palette of soft greys, greens, and rose tones.

She painted the world immediately around her: domestic interiors, women at work, gardens, the sea and recurring themes such as motherhood, the toilette, and women’s pastimes.

In later life, her daughter Julie became a frequent subject to paint.

On 02 March 1895, while caring for Julie, who was suffering from symptoms resembling pneumonia, Morisot contracted the illness herself. She died shortly afterwards at the age of fifty-four, leaving sixteen‑year‑old Julie an orphan; Eugène had passed away three years earlier.

The day before her death, she wrote a final letter to her daughter:

“My little Julie, I love you as I die; I shall still love you when I am dead; I beg you not to cry, this parting was inevitable. I hoped to live until you were married…. Work and be good as you have always been; you have not caused me one sorrow in your little life. You have beauty, money; make good use of them…. Please give a remembrance to your Aunt Edma and to your cousins…” [19]

The following year, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and the poet Mallarmé organised a major posthumous retrospective at the Durand‑Ruel galleries, featuring more than 400 paintings, pastels, watercolours, and sculptures by Morisot. [20] As Stuckey and Scott [21] observed:

“No exhibition in the history of art has ever had a more distinguished installation committee.”

After her mother’s death, Julie took on the role of custodian of Morisot’s work. She organised exhibitions, protected the family archive, and ensured that her mother’s contribution to Impressionism was recognised long after her own lifetime.

Today, Morisot is recognised as one of the most innovative painters of the Impressionist movement, an artist whose work reshaped the visual language of modern domestic life and managed to expand the possibilities available to women in the arts at that time.

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey and look at the life and works of Mary Cassett.

Emily
January 2026

Introduction

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners.*

In this issue, we will be looking at Vincent Van Gogh, his evolution to becoming one of the world’s greatest artists and how his work was influenced by other artists, from the old masters like Millet, Rembrandt and Delacroix to his contemporaries, including Manet, Degas, Signac and Monet.

Vincent Van Gogh – The Man

Born in 1853, Vincent Van Gogh was named after both his grandfather and his parents first born, who died at birth, exactly one year after Vincent’s own birth – a fact that for some reason creeps me out, it’s like his fate was sealed even before he had a chance. However, that being said, in his relatively short life of 37 years (passing in 1890), he managed to become a London art dealer, teacher, zealot preacher and then his true calling an artist.

Van Gogh’s artistic career spanned only a decade, between 1880 – 1890, yet in that short time, he created some 860 oil paintings, 1,100 drawings [2] and in his final 70 days (May to July) some 70 masterpieces [3] that would later sell for millions per piece. However, during his lifetime, it is said, that he only sold one painting, The Red Vineyard, to Belgian painter and collector Anna Boch for 400 francs. [4]

Additionally, it’s understood that he was commissioned by his uncle, the art dealer Cornelis Marinus van Gogh, to produce “two sets of drawings of Hague townscapes.”[5]

Throughout his lifetime, Van Gogh, the man, battled with bouts of melancholia and depression. In his earlier years, it was often due to various forms of rejection and heartbreak.

In February 1888, his mental state took a dramatic turn for the worse. Following a nine-week stay by fellow artist Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) at Van Gogh’s home in Arles in the south of France, their relationship ended in a heated argument that resulted in part of Van Gogh’s earlobe being sliced off. While the details of how it happened remain unclear, this event triggered a severe mental breakdown, prompting him to admit himself to St Paul-de-Mausole Asylum in Saint Rémy, where he was also diagnosed with epilepsy.[6]

His stay at the asylum was funded by his devoted younger brother and patron, Theo and lasted until May 1890, when he felt fit enough to return to the outside world. Sadly, just a few months later, on 27 July 1890, he shot himself and died two days later with Theo by his side.[7]

Vincent Van Gogh – The Artist

Van Gogh was for the most part a self-taught artist, with no formal training apart from a short period of tutelage from his relative, Anton Mauve (1838 – 88), an equally short stint of only a few months at the Academy of Fine Art Antwerp, where he was introduced to works by Ruben [8] and finally, while in Paris, again for a short time, attended classes at Fernard Cormon’s studio.[9]

One thing we should probably acknowledge before we continue any further is that Van Gogh, while not completing any academic training in the formal sense, was extremely knowledgeable, particularly about art.

At the age of 16, he was working for one of Europe’s most powerful and international art galleries, Goupil & Cie. There, he would have been exposed to works by the Dutch and Flemish Masters, and artists of the Hague and Barbizon schools. He lived in all the major cities, including The Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, London and Paris. He spoke Dutch, French, English and German, had an extraordinary visual memory and was extremely well read both in poetry and works of the day.[10]

It was perhaps this appetite for cultural richness that drew him beyond Europe and towards the refined minimalism and vibrant aesthetics of Japanese art.

Akin to his brother, Theo, Van Gogh was also an avid collector of Japanese woodblock prints, particularly ukiyo-e prints. In one of his letters, he noted that he had hundreds in his collection [11] and later noted that: –

“…All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art…”

Vincent to Theo from Arles, 15 July 1888 [12]

Vincent Van Gogh – The Artist – The Early Years (1880 – 1885)

Van Gogh initially, learned to paint from the Old Masters. He spent “untold hours copying the works of the Old Masters such as Hans Holben which he found in an instructional manual called the Cours de dessin (Drawing Course)” [13], that Theo had given him. The manual was created by Jean-Léon Gérôme and Charles Bargue, two famous academic artists, and it is still very much in use to this present day. [14]

At the start of his artistic career, Van Gogh’s initial attempts at painting were no different to those of many artists including Monet, Pissarro and Cezanne.

Dark, dreary looking peasants and a limited palette of colours which consisted according to one of his letters, of: –

“… a supply of paint — big tubes (which work out much cheaper than small ones), but you will understand that I’ve limited myself to simple colours in both watercolour and oil: ochre (red, yellow, brown), cobalt and Prussian blue, Naples yellow, terra sienna, black and white, supplemented with some carmine, sepia, vermilion, ultramarine, gamboge in smaller tubes.

But I refrained from buying colours one ought to mix oneself.” [15]

Vincent to Theo from The Hauge, 15 August 1882

Vincent Van Gogh – The Artist – The Remaining Years (1886 – 1890)

In 1886, Van Gogh travelled to Paris. There over a two-year period until 1888, he painted almost 230 paintings.[16] By this stage, he had a wide knowledge of painting styles of the past masters, was experimenting on how best to “convey intensity of colour”[17] and was loosening up his brushstroke and exploring the use of directional lines and dots.

He paid frequent visits to museums, exhibitions and galleries for inspiration and became familiar with modern artist movements such as impressionism[18] and post impressionism.

His brother Theo, whom he shared an apartment, was now a major art dealer with Goupil and Cie[19] and introduced him to many of these new artists. Theo even went as far as to pretend that he needed Van Gogh to make introductions for him with many of these new artists.[20]

In February 1888, he moved to Arles in Provence, the South of France, and lived there for 15 months until his mental breakdown in May 1889.

During this time, he painted some of his most iconic paintings including the Café Terrace at Night.

He also painted wheat fields, sowers and orchards in bloom.[21]

His mark making, while created at a feverish pace, was “actually laid down carefully and precisely,” with each mark sitting “side by side in a series of lines and differently coloured dots, with the canvas visible in between,” as seen in The Flowering Garden Path also known as The Garden at Arles (1888).[22]

His colour palette became more expressive and experimental. He began working with an extended range of yellows and oranges – such as chrome yellow, cadmium yellow, ochre and various oranges which can be seen in his Sunflower series. His use of blues and purples, including ultramarine, cobalt blue, Prussian blue and violets, is exemplified in Starry Night Over the Rhône. Meanwhile, greens such as viridian and emerald green feature prominently in his painting The Night Café as shown below.

Van Gogh also experimented with complementary colour schemes—yellow and purple, blue and orange, red and green – to evoke heightened emotion rather than focusing on realism. His thick, dynamic brushstrokes of impasto paint further amplified this effect, bringing the colours to life with energy and movement.

During his time at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole Asylum in Saint-Rémy and later in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, Van Gogh’s colour palette became more muted, shifting away from the heightened contrasts of his earlier works. While his themes of nature remained consistent, his brushwork grew increasingly expressive, as seen in Starry Night, Road with Cypress and Star, and his Irises series.

Tragically, Van Gogh’s extraordinary artistic journey ended in July 1890, when he took his own life – just as the world was beginning to glimpse his brilliance.

Van Gogh – And The Artists Who Influenced Him

As an artist, Van Gogh was deeply influenced by the Barbizon School, particularly the “social romanticism of Jean-Francois Millet”.[23] He admired Millet’s depictions of peasant life and drew inspiration from works such as The Sower and other rural scenes, which he sketched and continued to reinterpret throughout his final years.

Active from around 1830 to 1870, the Barbizon School focused on realistic landscape painting, naturalism, loose brushwork, and tonal harmony, ultimately paving the way for Impressionism and the practice of plein air (outdoor) painting. Other artists Van Gogh also admired from this movement included Charles-François Daubigny and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

Van Gogh also studied works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Delacroix, Dore, Daumier and many more of that time, right up until 1890[24], his final year alive.

He admired Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish Baroque, late 16th–17th century) for his dynamic compositions and rich colours, while Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch Golden Age, 17th century) influenced his mastery of light and shadow. Eugène Delacroix (French Romanticism, early 19th century) shaped his expressive brushwork and bold colour contrasts, and Gustave Doré (Academic Art & Illustration, 19th century) inspired his detailed imagery. While, Honoré Daumier (Realism & Caricature, 19th century) contributed to his understanding of form and social commentary.

During his time in Paris, Van Gogh was profoundly influenced by the works of his contemporaries, including Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Signac, and Claude Monet. Exposure to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists transformed his approach to colour, subject matter, and brushwork.

Manet’s bold compositions and modern themes encouraged Van Gogh to explore urban life and portraiture. Degas’ dynamic figures and mastery of movement inspired his expressive brushstrokes, while Signac introduced him to Pointillism, influencing his use of pure, unmixed colours applied in short, rhythmic strokes. Monet’s focus on light and atmosphere led Van Gogh to embrace plein air painting, shifting away from the dark tones of his earlier Dutch works.

This period marked a turning point in Van Gogh’s artistic evolution, as he adopted brighter palettes, looser brushwork, and innovative techniques, laying the foundation for his later masterpieces.

Conclusion

If you’re an aspiring artist, it’s well worth studying the works of Vincent van Gogh alongside those of the artists he himself admired. In this blog, we’ve only dipped a toe into his journey—both as a man and as an artist and his extraordinary body of artwork work that he created between 1880 and 1890.

If you’re based in Ireland and would like to see his work in person, the National Gallery of Ireland houses an example of one of his rooftop paintings from Paris (1886). For a more immersive experience, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is well worth the trip— just be sure to allow plenty of time to explore the collection.

And if travel isn’t on the cards, the books and papers that informed this blog are well worth checking out. In particular, the books – Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved by Steven Naifeh and Van Gogh – The Complete Paintings published by TASCHEN offer a wealth of insight. The latter presents 871 of his paintings alongside thoughtful commentary and beautifully reproduced visuals.

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes!

Emily
June 2025

Introduction

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners.*

In this month’s issue we will be looking at ‘HOW TO MIX SKIN TONES’. This will be a quick beginner’s guide and introduction to the subject. We will be looking at a few simple skin tone colour mixes that you can use to create your own portraits. We will also be looking at various portraits/skin details painted by me over the years along with a few that we teach here at the studio.

How To Mix Skin Tones

There is no right way or wrong way to mix and create colours for your portraits. Even with this simple guide your paint mixes will be subject to the environs of where you are when creating the painting, for example, if your subject is placed in cool or warm light, is in light or in shadow and if other colours are bouncing or reflecting off your subject.

If you are a complete beginner, I’d suggest just painting in black and white first. This eliminates having to worry about mixing colour and it will be a simple way to introduce your eye and brain to painting lights and darks (value). Thereafter, try starting off with two browns, a white and a black.

The following is an example of the potential skin colours that can be made from Old Holland’s Red Umber, Burnt Umber, Titanium White and Ivory Black. You can use any quality brand of Titanium White and Ivory Black.

If you are using Old Holland Red Umber and Burnt Umber to create your skin tones you may find them a little cooler in temperature and more “porcelain like” when comparing them to Burnt Sienna and/or Transparent Red Oxide which may tend to create skin tone mixes that are a little warmer in temperature.

Other possible skin colour mixes include mixing a blue, yellow and red together. For example, a Winsor and Newton (Artists’ Oil) French Ultramarine Blue, Bright Red and Yellow Ochre. Then have a go at varying these skin tone mixes by creating additional lights and shadows or tints, tones and shades which can be made by adding varied amounts of white, grey and/or black.

Various Portrait and Skin Details

The following are a few visual examples of different skin tone mixes that I have used over the years when painting skin.

To cool down the skin tone and/or create shadow in your skin mixes, try also adding various shades of green, blue or black.

To warm up the skin and create lights you could try adding various shades of yellow, oranges and/or warm/cool whites.

A Few We Teach Beginners To Paint At The Studio

These are a few of the paintings we teach our beginners to paint at the studio and include studies after Sorolla, Lautrec, Peploe, Potthast and Winslow. We plan to add a few more over the coming months.

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes and a great Halloween!

Emily
October 2024

Introduction

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners. *

Many thanks again to ‘The Color Wheel Company’ who have very kindly granted us permission to use the front and rear images of their colour wheel which are perfect for this three-part oil painting blog:-

• Part 1 How to use the Front of the Colour Wheel
• Part 2 How to use the Rear of the Colour Wheel
• Part 3 Colour Mixing Using the Colour Wheel – tips for getting it right every time

In this month’s issue we will be dealing with Part 3 – Colour Mixing Using the Colour Wheel – tips for getting it right every time.

Let’s get started: –

Colour Mixing Using The Colour Wheel – tips for getting it right every time

As, previously mentioned above and in Part 1 and Part 2, we will be using the ‘Color Wheel’, which can be purchased from most good art stores and comes in three sizes as follows:

Here at the downstairs studio, we use the 9 ¼” diameter Colour Wheel and most of the students carry the pocket Colour Wheel in their oil painting kit.

We also use our own colour wheels, which we have included as a free download on this link:-

The Rear of the Colour Wheel

The rear of the ‘Color Wheel’ is illustrated as follows with the primary, secondary and tertiary colours being the first outer band/layer.

There are a total of 12 colours shown. However, in the above illustration, two colours [Red – Orange] and [Blue-Green] are hidden under the rotating/movable outer dial note section and can be seen in the illustration below: –

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colours and How They Are Made

For those who haven’t yet read Part 1 – HOW TO USE THE COLOUR WHEEL – THE FRONT and Part 2 – HOW TO USE THE COLOUR WHEEL – THE REAR, here’s a quick recap on the primary, secondary and tertiary colours and how they are made: –

On the ‘Color Wheel’ the three PRIMARY and three SECONDARY colours are as follows: –

The PRIMARY Colours, Red, Blue and Yellow cannot be created from mixing other colours.

Whereas the SECONDARY Colours, Orange, Green and Violet can be created by mixing equal parts of the following Primary Colours: –

Tertirary Colours

The TERTIRARY Colours, of which there are six in total, [Red-Orange], [Yellow-Orange], [Yellow-Green], [Blue-Green], [Blue-Violet] and [Red-Violet] are always located between a Primary and Secondary colour: –

TERTIRARY Colours are made by mixing the Primary and Secondary Colours that are located either side of it on the ‘Color Wheel’.

Each TERTIARY colour name will always start with the name of the primary colour first followed by the name of the secondary colour that were both used to create the said tertiary colour as follows:

Creating Tints, Tones and Shades

The rear of the ‘Color Wheel’ illustrates the possible TINT, TONE and SHADE for each of the 12 colours around the perimeter as follows: –

As previously set out in PART 2, the tints, tones and shades illustrated on the ‘Color Wheel’ are indicative only. Therefore, depending on the actual colour you are using, these may likely differ due to the actual local colour and indeed the tint (white), tone (grey) or shade (Black) you are using, given that there are many versions of each of the twelve colours available on the market, not to mention a wide range of whites, greys and blacks that are also available.

In this example, I am using Winsor & Newton, three reds Cadmium Red (warm), Cadmium Red Deep (warm) and Alizarin Crimson (cool) and Titanium White, Davy’s Grey and Ivory Black and when mixed and compared to the red on the ‘Color Wheel’ you will see that depending which red you use there is a marked variation in the colours between those mixed below and those shown on the ‘Color Wheel’ red segment above:-

Mixing Colour Using The Colour Wheel

The three PRIMARY colours RED, YELLOW and BLUE cannot be obtained from mixing other colours.

To get really vibrant SECONDARY Colours, you need to mix two primary colours, which on inspection, have some of the colour you are looking to mix / create. For example: –

To make a vibrant Orange, use a Red such as Cadmium Red and a Yellow such as Cadmium Yellow Medium as both have warm orange undertones.

To make a dull Orange, use a Red and Yellow which do not contain any warm orange understones instead use a Red with more Voilet undertones such as Alizarin Crimson and a Yellow with Green undertones such as Lemon Yellow or Cadmium Yellow Pale.

So for a vibrant SECONDARY GREEN use a Yellow such as Lemon Yellow and a Blue such as Cerulean Blue both of which have cool green undertones.

To make a dull Green, use a Yellow and Blue which do not contain any cool Green undertones instead use a Yellow with more Orange undertones such as Cadmium Yellow Medium and a Blue with Violet undertones such as Ultramarine Blue.

Now try making a vibrant and dull SECONDARY VIOLET…

To Dull or Desaturate Colour Without Using Black

You can also use your ‘Color Wheel’ to guide you on how to dull your chosen colour without using black to make more interesting shades.

To achieve a dull or desaturated colour, simply add the colour directly opposite your chosen colour on the colour wheel, that is each colour’s complement colour for example to dull Red just add Green its complement colour.

If you want to Dull [Desaturate] and cool your colour then add the colour next to its complement colour which is heading for the cool colour axis on the ‘Color Wheel’, so if you wanted to dull and cool your Red then add a little Blue-Green such Cobalt Turquoise.

If you want to Dull [Desaturate] and warm your colour then add the colour next to its complement colour which is heading for the warm colour axis on the ‘Color Wheel’, so if you wanted to dull and warm your Red then add a little Yellow-Green that you can either mix yourself with Lemon Yellow and Cerulean Blue or use a premixed [Yellow-Green] such as Micheal Harding’s Bright Green Lake.

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

I really hope that this 3-part series has helped your understanding on how to read the ‘Color Wheel’ and also use it to create interesting colour plans and mix colour.

If you have missed Part 1 How to Use The Colour Wheel or Part 2 The Rear of The Colour Wheel, just click on the following links.

Also, if you would like to learn more about the 12 Colours on the ‘Color Wheel’, why not check out our previous oil painting blogs on Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Violet, Green and Tints White and Shades Black. Each of these blogs look at the range of colours available on the market. They’ll give a little insight on the history of the colour, colour mixing and artists who used each of the said colours.

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes and a great Summer!

Emily
July 2024

Introduction

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners. *

Many thanks again to ‘The Color Wheel Company’ who have very kindly granted us permission to use the front and rear images of their colour wheel which are perfect for this three-part oil painting blog:-

• Part 1 How to use the Front of the Colour Wheel
• Part 2 How to use the Rear of the Colour Wheel
• Part 3 Using the Colour Wheel for Colour Mixing – tips for getting it right every time (coming soon)

In this issue we will be dealing with Part 2 – How to use the rear of the Colour Wheel. In very simplistic terms, the rear of the Colour Wheel is a great high-level guide to colour relationships and colour schemes.

Let’s get started: –

How To Use The Rear Of The Colour Wheel

As, previously mentioned above and in Part 1, we will be using the ‘Color Wheel’, which can be purchased from most good art stores and comes in three sizes as follows:

Here at the downstairs studio, we use the 9 ¼” diameter Colour Wheel and most of the students carry the pocket Colour Wheel in their oil painting kit.

We also use our own colour wheels, which we have included as a free download on this link:-

The Rear of the Colour Wheel

The rear of the ‘Color Wheel’ is illustrated as follows with the primary, secondary and tertiary colours being the first outer band/layer.

There are a total of 12 colours shown. However, in the above illustration, two colours [Red – Orange] and [Blue-Green] are hidden under the rotating/movable outer dial note section and can be seen in the illustration below: –

The Front of the Colour Wheel – Recap

For those who haven’t yet read Part 1 – HOW TO USE THE COLOUR WHEEL – THE FRONT, here’s a quick recap on the primary, secondary and tertiary colours and how they are made: –

So looking at the rear of the colour wheel, the next three bands indicate the possible TINT, TONE and SHADE for each of the 12 colours located on the outer most ring as follows: –

Tints, Tones and Shades

The tints, tones and shades illustrated on the ‘Color Wheel’ are indicative only.

Depending on the actual colour you are using these may likely differ as follows when white (tint), grey (tone) or black (shade) are added.

For this example, I am using Winsor & Newton, three reds and Titanium White, Davy’s Grey and Ivory Black and when mixed and compared to the red on the ‘Color Wheel’ you will see that depending which red you use there is a marked variation in the colours between those mixed below and those shown on the ‘Color Wheel’ red segment above:-

Colour Schemes

Finally, the rear of the Color Wheel deals with the following colour schemes: –

Monocromatic Colour Scheme

The first of these colour schemes is MONOCROMATIC, which is using just one colour and its tints, tones and shades.

For the complete beginner, anyone who has trouble with value (working with light and dark) or has become too tight or rigid in their painting this is a brilliant way to master colour and free the creative spirit, especially as you only have one colour to concentrate on.

Here at the studio, we start each student on just black and white. I love working in black and white, or a single transparent colour [a colour you can see through] such as phthalo blue, alizarin crimson or burnt sienna.

Analogous Colour Scheme

Our next colour scheme is ANALOGOUS, which is painting with colours located beside each other on the colour wheel.

Possible colour schemes / plans could include working with the warm side of the colour wheel and selecting from Red-Violet, Red, Red-Orange, Orange, Yellow-Orange and Yellow or choosing side by side colour combinations from the cool side of the colour wheel including Violet, Blue-Violet, Blue, Blue-Green, Green and Yellow-Green. Further examples are included in the image below:

This colour scheme creates calm and harmonious paintings and was generally favoured by the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet.

Complementary Colour Scheme

Our third colour scheme is COMPLEMENTARY, which is selecting two colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel.

This is a colour scheme I use a lot, particularly when painting seascapes with the complementary colours BLUE and ORANGE. Possible Blue and Orange variations include: –

• BLUE – Prussian Blue, French Ultramarine Blue and Cerulean Blue

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• ORANGE – Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber and Raw Umber

As a rule of thumb, you generally have one colour at a weaker strength to the other colour so that the other colour pops and can steal the show and take the limelight.

To learn more about this colour scheme I suggest that you study the paintings of the Post Impressionists including Vincent Van Gogh, who was an absolute master at using this colour scheme. Below are a few of his paintings using the RED and GREEN complementary colour scheme: –

Split Complementary Colour Scheme

The Split Complementary colour scheme is a little different to the complementary colour scheme in that it works with three colours, two of which are located side by side to the colours complement colour. While a little more complex, this colour scheme is a lot more interesting given that it is working with the tertiary colours which are the warm and cool version of the complement colour. A sort of temperature control dial!

As a point of interest, if the main colour is a primary, YELLOW, RED OR BLUE, then the split complement will always be two tertiary colours for example: –

Similarly, if the main colour is a tertiary colour the opposite split complement will always be one primary and one secondary colour.

To learn more about split complement colour schemes why not check out artworks by the artist Edvard Munch particularly, the Sick Child (1925) and the Yellow Log (1912) and study artworks akin to the following by Claude Monet, which is painted with the tertiary BLUE – GREEN, and a muted dull / desaturated primary RED and a pop of bright warm secondary ORANGE.

Triad Colour Scheme

The Triad colour scheme is a lovely colour scheme to try, which is working with three colours that are equidistant / spaced on the colour wheel. So, if the main colour is a: –

• PRIMARY then the other two colours will also be primaries.
• SECONDARY then the other two colours will also be secondaries.
• TERTIARY then the other two colours will also be tertiaries.

Artist’s who worked with the Triad Colour Scheme as follows: –

• PRIMARY COLOURS include Mondrian, Lichenstein, Matisse and Chagall.
• SECONDARY COLOURS include Monet, Cezanne and Bonnard.
• TERTIARY COLOURS include Van Gogh.

Tetrad Colour Scheme

The final colour scheme is the TETRAD, which uses four colours, usually a combination of a double complement, for example: –

• Green + Red and Blue + Orange or
• Yellow-Orange + Blue- Violet and Blue-Green + Red-Orange.

A good example of a Tetrad Colour Scheme is Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, the Café Terrace at Night (1888) which uses Blue-Violet, Red-Orange, Blue-Green and Yellow-Orange.

One of my favourite art movements the Fauvists, were also brilliant at using this colour scheme to create really bright, vibrant paintings.

For more on colour schemes check out our previous blog 5 top tips to radically change your painting style and our blogs on impressionism, post impressionism and fauvism.

Alternatively, if you would like to learn to paint in the style of Monet, the Fauvists or Van Gogh including his painting – the Café Terrace at Night why not check out, book and join us in the studio for one of our oil painting workshops.

For those who’d like a handy guide for reference and to keep in your art folder/kit bag, you can download a printable copy of our Handy Guide To Using The Rear Of The Colour Wheel. After printing, we recommend laminating to protect it from spills and splashes.

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes and a great Summer!

Introduction

 Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners. *

Apologies, we had promised this blog a few months back, but we were having trouble with the initial design illustrations, so we reached out to ‘The Color Wheel Company’ who have very kindly granted us permission to use the front and rear images of their colour wheel which are perfect for this three-part oil painting blog which will be broken down into the following parts:

• Part 1 How to use the Front of the Colour Wheel
• Part 2 How to use the Rear of the Colour Wheel
• Part 3 Using the Colour Wheel for Colour Mixing – tips for getting it right every time (coming soon)

Let’s get started: –

HOW TO USE THE FRONT OF THE COLOUR WHEEL

As, previously mentioned above, we will be using the ‘Color Wheel’, which can be purchased from most good art stores and comes in three sizes as follows:

Here at the downstairs studio, we use the 9 ¼” diameter Colour Wheel and most of the students carry the pocket Colour Wheel in their oil painting kit.

We also use our own colour wheels, which we have included as a free download on this link:-

The front cover of the ‘Color Wheel’ is very handy in that, first of all, it lists as a reminder, what the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours are and how they can or cannot be made.

Secondly, at a high-level view, it explains some key colour terminology as follows: –

Most of their Colour Terminology is easily understood and self-explanatory. However, we have also included a ‘quick recap’ on Value for you below.

As you can see in the second image, the ‘Color Wheel’ also includes a Value Scale on the inner dial which is a grey scale from Value 1 (100% Black) to Value 10 (100% White).

To give you an idea what values certain colours are, we have included the colour palette that our students start off with here at the studio. Typically, yellows will be value 8, reds a value 5 and blues, greens and violets a value 2.

The ‘Color Wheel’ also notes what colours are warm and what colours are cool.

So, if you, look at the outer perimeter of the ‘Color wheel’ at the axis between Yellow and Yellow-Green at the top and Violet and Red-Violet at the bottom you will see an arrow going left for warm colours and right for cool colours.

For ease of reference, the extended list is as follows:

• Warm Axis Red-Violet, Red, Red-Orange, Orange, Yellow-Orange & Yellow
• Cool Axis Voilet, Blue-Violet, Blue, Blue-Green, Green, Yellow-Green

We have also included a visual ‘quick recap’ for you.

Finally, the ‘Colour Wheel’ has on one half of its inner moveable dial the following:-

• The Primary Colours – Red, Yellow, Blue,
• White,
• Black, and
• Little cut out windows to show the colour made when mixed with the primary’s, white or black and the 12 colours on the perimeter of the main wheel / disk.

So, if we take Red, in the image below it shows ORANGE, RED and then in the open window a RED – ORANGE colour which is to represent what happens when red and orange are mixed together.

You can move the inner wheel around each of the top colours and in this Window 1, it will show you the colour you will get when mixed with red.

This won’t be an exact replica of actual colours you are mixing, or hoping to mix, but it’s a helpful high-level guide to direct you in the right direction.

You can do the same for Yellow, Blue, White and Black and the combinations will be seen in the remaining 4 windows as shown in the image below: –

Yellow + (Yellow – Orange) = Bright (Yellow – Orange) (Window 2)

Blue + Yellow = Green (Window 3)

White + (Yellow – Green) = Pale Green (Window 4)

Black + Green = Dark Green (Window 5)

So that’s it for the front of the ‘Color Wheel’.

We hope that this provides a clear and easy guide, and we suggest that to get the full benefit of this blog to have the ‘Color Wheel’ or indeed any colour wheel in your hands as you read through the blog.

You may find these previous blog posts give a useful insight on colour too:

• The Art of Colour Mixing – 6 Key Tips for Oil Painting
• Is Black a Colour
• Shades of White
• Lets Talk Orange
• 5 facts about the Colour Purple or is it Violet
• Lets Look at Green Oil Paint
• A beginners guide to the primary colours – Yellow, Blue and The Colour Red
• Oil Paint colour mixing – 5 top tips

THAT’S IT FOLKS FOR THIS MONTH……

Until next month, when we will continue our oil painting journey.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes and a great St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Break!

Emily
March 2024

Welcome to this month’s blog on Pastel Drawing – A Beginner’s Guide. *

This Pastel Blog is to coincide with our new pastel drawing workshops we introduced before Christmas. They are half-day workshops, with all materials supplied for the session and they will take place once a month, usually the first week of the month. No previous sketching or drawing experience is required, just come and join us and we will guide you step by step through each drawing.

Introduction – What Are Pastels?

Pastels are a fantastic drawing and painting medium. They come in three main forms, Soft, Hard and Oil. But you can also get pastel pencils and pan pastels which are pastels in a cake like form which are supplied in shallow tins and applied with sponges and brushes.

They are all made from finely ground / powdered raw pigment.

The only difference between them is the binder. In Soft and Hard Pastels gum is used. Whereas, in Oil Pastels, waxes and/or animal fat are used. Additionally, the difference between Soft and Hard pastels, is just the amount of binder used, hard pastels typically contain more binder.

Fillers can also be added to bulk up the medium and white extenders such as talc or kaolin are proportionally added to create ‘tints’ which are gradations in colour from dark to light.

They come in two grades, student and artist / professional. The student grade is usually much cheaper as it will contain less pure pigment, more fillers and tend to last a little longer as they are not as crumbly.   Good student brands include Faber Castel, Inscribe and Jacksons and good artist / professional quality brands include Rembrandt, Unison, Schmincke, Sennelier, Terry Ludwig, Art Spectrum and Richardson.

A Little History

The first documented inventor of pastels was Leonardo da Vinci (1451-1510). It’s not 100% certain, but it’s now viewed that between 1493 and 1499, he was on a quest to be able to draw with dry colour.

In 1495, he notes in his Codex Altanticus of his intention ‘to get the way to draw with dry colour’ from Jeahan De Paris (Jean Perréal),[1] King Louis XII’s royal court painter, who at the time was working in red, white and black chalk on paper, to record, on the spot drawings, as King Louis’s war campaign made its way through Italy. Leonardo, eventually got his wish in 1499 when King Louis invaded Milan, where Leonardo, was at the time, artist in residence at the court of the Duke of Milan.[2]

Prior to this, however, in earlier documents, the Codex Madrid 1, he mentions ‘pasteli’ or pastello (paste in Italian) and describes a mould for making pastel sticks and in his Codex Forster he provides a recipe for making these pastel sticks:- [3]

“…[mix] … with a little wax and it will not rub off, a wax that will dissolve with water…the distilled water will evaporate in steam and only the wax will remain…the colours must be ground …’ [4]

Between the 16^th and 18^th Century, Pastel, drawing or painting, had become an extremely popular medium, even more so when it was being commercially manufactured and distributed and ‘merchants expanded their range of colours, tints and shades to fulfil the needs of the portrait painters highly modulated flesh tone palette…and new binders, fixatives and paper with fine tooth were introduced.’ [5]

However, by the mid-nineteenth century, pastel drawing had fallen out of fashion [6] and didn’t see a revival until Jean Francois Millet and his followers made it popular once again.

Then, when the impressionists, in particular Edgar Degas and Mary Cassett began to utilise and develop the medium, it was forevermore, a medium loved and embraced by every generation thereafter.

Additional Accessories for Pastel Drawing

Paper

When it comes to pastels, you can pretty much use them on anything to draw on, including, drawing / cartwright / sugar and watercolour paper, actual pastel paper of various colours, weights and texture, pastel boards, sanded pastel paper, gesso primed boards / canvas and hessian and calico fabric. Popular brands of paper / board include Sennelier, Ingres, Ampersand Pastel board, Pastelmate, Fabriano and Daler Rowney Murano.

Blending Stumps/Stomps

Blending stomps are tightly woven paper to form a pencil like shape that can be used for blending pastels. If the stomp has only one pointed end it’s called a Tortillon, which can be used for more detailed work as the paper used is harder than in a stomp which tends to be more velvetier in touch.

They come in various sizes / widths, normally #1 – #6. You can sharpen the ends with sandpaper which is usually sold in the art store and clean the tips with a putty rubber or just use a new one as they are quite inexpensive.

Erasers

I find putty rubbers to be the best, they can sometimes be hard to find. The Faber Castell brand come in a little plastic case to prevent them drying out and you can tear off little pieces as you need them. You can also use the corner of a piece of kitchen paper but test it before using on your drawing as different grades can have different results. If you would like to further explore the various uses and types of erasers on the market, Jacksons Art Supply store in the UK has a very good article on Comparing Erasers.

Sharpeners

If you need to sharpen your pastels, care needs to be taken, especially if the pastel is very soft, but you can use sandpaper or craft knife/scalpel. Also, for your pastel pencils which can also be quite fragile Derwent pastel pencil sharpeners come highly recommended.

Fixatives

The jury is out on the question to use or not use fixatives. They usually come in a spray can and are applied to the final finished painting/drawing to help keep it in place, as pastels can have a high dust transference. They can also be applied to the various layers as the painting is being built up. Some say they can dull or change the intensity of the colours. If you are using them, make sure you have a mask and are spraying them in a well-ventilated room. Typical brands included Sennelier, Spectra fix, Finalfix, Lascaux, Schmincke and Jacksons.

Boxes

As your collection builds up it’s very handy to have storage boxes for your pastels to protect and keep them clean.

Storing Drawings

We will look at storing and framing your pastel drawings in another blog, however, a lot of pastel artists keep their drawings in between sheets of Glassine or acid-free tissue and then sheets of strong cardboard to keep them flat. You can use pocket folders which are okay, however, the drawings can smudge as you insert and/or remove them.

Conclusion

I hope that this blog, has inspired you to take up pastel drawing this year. To get started you don’t need a whole ton of supplies just a small pack of pastels, a few sheets of sugar paper and perhaps a putty rubber or a piece of kitchen paper. A few books that might help inspire you, and ones I like to flick through include: –

If you would like to join us here at the studio for a pastel workshop, we run half-day workshops throughout the year.

[7]

Until next month, when we will resume our journey into the world of oil painting, we wish you nothing but the very best of wishes for 2024!!!

Emily
January 2024

Introduction to the Art of Colour Mixing

Welcome to this month’s Oil Painting Blog for Beginners. *

The art of colour mixing, is a complex process. For the Beginner artist, it can be a difficult and mysterious skill to master. However, within this issue, we hope to remove some of the mystery for the beginner and provide a few clear guidelines to ensure successful colour mixing every time.

Tip 1 – Work With A Limited Colour Palette

A limited colour palette is usually working with three to five colours and perhaps Titanium White and Ivory Black.

Normally, if I’m working with a limited palette, it will consist of two blues, two reds and a yellow as follows:

At the school, the students start off with Titanium White and Ivory Black. This allows them time to learn to mix and create various shades from just two colours. (See tip 2 for a further note on black and white.)

These shades are known as values, which is basically how light or how dark a colour is.

After week one, the student’s palette is extended to include the following colours – Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Deep, Phthalo Blue and Sap Green.

Then after a time, they move on to different colour palettes, for example, complementary colour palettes (colours opposite each other on the colour wheel) were used to create some of the following: –

By working with a small number of colours, akin to the students here at the school, over a period of time, you will get to see and understand the particular characteristics of each colour, its shades and:-

• how it mixes with white (tints) and black (shades),
• to know if it’s a warm or cool colour,
• how to manage transparency and opacity,
• how to brighten and darken the colour without using white or black.

In addition, your eye muscle has time to learn these shades of colour, which it can then easily identify whether you are doing a study of another painting, painting from a reference photograph in the studio or painting on location – plein air style.

Tip 2 – Learn To See Colour Bias When Mixing Colour

There are six main colours/hues in oil paint: –

However, there are many shades for each of these colours.

To get a high-level understanding for just how many shades there are for each colour refer to our blogs on red, yellow, blue, green, orange, violet and indeed black and white.

Just a note on: –

• BLACK AND WHITE
  Neither are deemed a hue or a colour.
  Instead, they are known as achromatic’s, as they are not true colours given that they often have a tinge or bias towards one of the above hues. For example, if you add a little white to ivory black you will note it has got a bias towards blue. If you get a black marker and add water onto a mark you have made on a piece of paper, you will see a different colour run from the water mark – very often it will be slightly violet/purple.

• BROWN
  All browns are known as oranges and that is how they are represented on the Colour Wheel. Here at the school, we get the students to mix various shades of the primary colours to see how bright or dull they can mix the secondary and tertiary colours.

So, in the above example, cadmium red and cerulean blue have very little purple in either of them, so it’s going to give you a duller purple.

For bright colours, really bright ones, your best and only bet is from a tube of paint.

If you want a really bright vibrant orange, then you would go for a Cadmium Orange which you can then vary the intensity or chroma by mixing it with a yellow orange such as a Cadmium Yellow Deep and/or a red orange such as a Cadmium Red.

However, if you want to mix an orange colour, say a bright orange then you could try mixing Cadmium Red with Cadmium Yellow Deep and for a duller orange, Alizarin Crimson with Cadmium Lemon Yellow. Try mixing various reds and yellows together to see what oranges you can make.

Based on the principles above see if you can mix a bright green or indeed find a tube of very bright green on the market.

If you are still having trouble with green, as some students here at the school have, and have described it as their nemesis, we will be doing a follow-on blog dealing solely with mixing greens in the coming months.

Tip 3 – Consult Your Colour Wheel

The colour wheel is not a fix-all for mixing colour. However, it is a handy tool for you to refer to when asking yourself where the colours you are thinking of mixing lie in relation to the colour you want to make.

For instance, you want to make Violet, then a blue that is a blue violet and a red that’s a red violet is going to give you a brighter violet, than, a blue that is more blue-green and a red that is more red-orange.

Basically, the closer the two colours you are mixing, are to the colour you want on the colour wheel, then, the brighter the colour you are going to get from your colour mix. So, the further away on the colour wheel, the two colours you are using in the mix from the colour you want to make, then the duller your mix colour will be!

Tip 4 – Don’t Mix More Than 2/3 Colours

Generally, for clear colour mixes instead of muddy mixes, try to stick to two colours.

So, you can mix as many blues and yellows together but if you add in a red, orange or violet into the mix you will get a darker muddier colour. The same rule applies to reds and oranges and blues and reds.

Tip 5 – Watch The Existing Colours On Your Painting

Colours that are next to each other on the canvas/painting board can have a direct impact on each other including making the colour more or less vibrant or changing the colours overall temperature.

For example, in the image below you will see Emerald Green – in each example the same strength of Emerald Green is used – just straight from the tube.

However, when the Emerald Green is placed beside the bright purple (Quinacridone Magenta) it pops and is very vibrant and it looks warm. Whereas it’s less intense/duller and appears cooler, when placed beside the warm red violet (Alizarin Crimson and Ivory Black).

We will do more on this in future blogs.

Tip 6 – Artist Professional Oil Paint vs Student Oil Paint

If you are starting off as a beginner, I would suggest using Winsor and Newton’s student brand of oil paint, known as Winton. The colours are pretty true and they are much cheaper than artist quality.

After time, you can start to replace each colour with an artist-quality oil paint, there are many brands on the market to choose from including Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Sennelier and Williamsburg.

There is a difference between artist and student-grade paint and the vibrancy when mixing colour. This is because there is more pigment in the artist-grade paint than the student grade.

In the following example, I have taken lemon yellow from Michael Harding (artist grade) and Winton (student grade) and you should see that the colour mixes with the artist grade are brighter than the student grade, even though, the lemon yellow used is actually visually duller than the student grade lemon yellow.

Now, don’t go thinking you have to spend a fortune for artist quality oil paint. There’s a brand of artist quality Chinese Orange out on the market over €50 for a tube. It’s really vibrant, but it is also very difficult to use. When it touches or is mixed with any shade of blue, it turns a dirty green that’s impossible to use and indeed remove from the canvas/board!

So, if you are just starting out, check out our material list and start off with the student quality brand until you get very good at mixing colour. Then it’s time enough to extend your palette to include artist-quality oil paint.

That’s It Folks For This Month……

So, the key questions you want to ask yourself when starting to mix colour, is, what’s it’s: –

• HUE/COLOUR? – Is it RED, YELLOW, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE or PURPLE?
• VALUE? – Is it light, dark, where does it lie on the value scale?
• CHROMA? – Is it bright or dull?

We will be doing more blogs on colour mixing and colour theory over the coming months including, colour temperature, how to lighten and darken your colours without using black or white and how to read the colour wheel!

If you would like to learn more about painting in oils, getting started in oils or colour theory for beginners and want to attend our studio then feel free to sign up for one of our upcoming workshops. For heads up on when we are releasing our new colour workshop part 1 for beginners then click the link to sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Until next month, when we will continue our journey into the world of colour theory for beginners.

Wishing you nothing but the very best of wishes and a great summer!

Emily
July 2023