ART TECHNIQUE

BRILLIANT COLOR
Julie Gilbert Pollard

BEYOND the
Ordinary
LET GO OF WHAT YOU SEE, and paint what you feel!
Brilliant Color reveals a new way of thinking about color,
brilliant COLOR
empowering you to push the envelope beyond ordinary
realism into bold landscapes full of life and energy.
The transformation begins by learning to see color as
value. Starting with short demos featuring diagrams, color

painting vibrant outdoor scenes

wheels and side-by-side visual comparisons, award-winning
artist Julie Gilbert Pollard shows you how to liberate your use
of color to capture the lively essence of every landscape. It’s
not about complex color theory or painstaking attempts to
paint exactly what you see. Rather, it’s about pushing color
to warmer or cooler extremes for stronger contrasts.
Julie’s signature style blends acrylic underpainting with
water-mixable oils to produce striking luminosity in less time
and fewer layers than traditional oil painting techniques.
Ten complete step-by-step demonstrations show you how
to paint gorgeous landscapes with an inspiring range of
settings and seasons.
Each in-depth demonstration features foolproof color
mixing charts, reference photos, initial sketches, and
numbered steps with detailed captions. Simply follow along
and give it a try. In no time, you’ll have what it takes to make
your colors zing and your paintings glow.
Dare to go bold! Brilliant Color gives you the skills and
confidence to break through creative boundaries and make
your paintings extraordinary.

US $24.99
painting vibrant
Pollard

Z1677 (CAN $27.50)

outdoor scenes
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-058-5
ISBN-10: 1-60061-058-7
ISBN 978-1-60061-058-5
For more creative ideas, visit 52499
www.artistsnetwork.com
EAN
UPC

9 781600 610585

Z1677 CM Brilliant Color PB.indd1 1 9/17/08 3:41:08 PM

 BRILLIANT COLOR: Painting Vibrant Outdoor Scenes

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Z1677i 001-009_Front_Matter.indd2 2 9/17/08 4:26:15 PM
 Julie Gilbert Pollard

BRILLIANT COLOR: Painting Vibrant Outdoor Scenes

NORTH LIGHT BOOKS

Cincinnati, Ohio
www.artistsnetwork.com

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 Brilliant Color: Painting Vibrant Outdoor Scenes.
Copyright © 2009 by Julie Gilbert Pollard. Printed in Singapore. All rights re-
served. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without
permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
brief passages in a review. The content of this book has been thoroughly reviewed
for accuracy. However, the author and publisher disclaim any liability for any
damages, losses or injuries that may result from the use or misuse of any product
or information presented herein. It is the purchaser’s responsibility to read and
follow all instructions and warnings on all product labels. Published by North
Light Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati,
Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art
supply store, online supplier or visit our website at www.fwmedia.com.

PB: 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1
HC: 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pollard, Julie Gilbert

Brilliant color : painting vibrant outdoor scenes /
Julie Gilbert Pollard. -- 1st ed.
p. cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60061-474-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60061-058-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Landscape painting--Technique. I. Title.
ND1342.P65 2009
751.45'436--dc22 METRIC CONVERSION CHART
2008029593
To convert to multiply by
Inches Centimeters 2.54
Edited by Kathy Kipp Centimeters Inches 0.4
Design and layout by Clare Finney Feet Centimeters 30.5
Production coordinated by Matthew Wagner Centimeters Feet 0.03
Finished paintings photographed by Melanie Warner Yards Meters 0.9
Meters Yards 1.1

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 About the Author Dedication
Phoenix artist, Julie To my dearly departed and much loved parents, Frieda and
Gilbert Pollard, paints Wayland Gilbert, who always made sure my sister and I
in oils and watercolor had materials with which to create, even when times were
in a fluid, painterly hard and money tight.
manner. Her painting
style, while represen-
tational, is colored Acknowledgements
with her own personal
I would like to acknowledge the following people:
concept of reality.
My late and very dear husband, John Pollard, who
“The eye may see as a
encouraged my dreams and would love to have seen this
camera sees, but the
book.
mind’s eye sees an
My wonderful and always-supportive husband, Bob
altered, imagined image, what it wants and hopes to see.
Cox, who even brings me meals when I’m chained to my
It’s that illusive image, uniquely mine, along with a height-
easel—thank you, love.
ened sense of ‘realness’ that I try to express in my paintings.
My beautiful daughters, Tammy Garcia and Traci
This world of ours is often a frightening and mysterious
Arellano, of whom I am so very and justifiably proud—
place, but it is filled with scenes and subjects that excite
and their beautiful families. In fact, my entire family—I
my eye and imagination! The magical allure of the natural
love you all dearly.
world, and my reverence for it, compel me to attempt to
Special thanks to my grandson, Nicholas Hampton,
capture its essence on canvas or paper.”
my computer guru, for ushering me into the digital age! I
Julie has given instruction in watercolor and oil paint-
don’t know how I could have completed this project with-
ing since 1985 and currently conducts classes and work-
out the technology and support he has provided me.
shops in the greater Phoenix area at The Scottsdale Artists’
My editor, Kathy Kipp. Thanks so much for your
School, Shemer Art Center, West Valley Art Museum and
friendly support, your lively and fun correspondence and
Cynthia’s Art Asylum, as well as occasional remote location
above all, your expertise.
workshops.
I so appreciate the support of loved ones, friends and
A frequent award winner, Julie’s oils and watercolors
students, gallery owners and personnel, collectors, editors,
have hung in numerous juried and gallery exhibits. Her
publishers, art school personnel and all art lovers every-
work is included in many private and corporate collections
where! It’s a great privilege and challenge to be a landscape
and is currently represented by Artistic Viewpoints Gallery
painter and we of that persuasion need all the encourage-
and Studio in Gardnerville, Nevada; Esprit Decor Gallery
ment we can get!
in Phoenix, Arizona and Windrush Gallery in Sedona,
I am especially grateful in a very personal sense for the
Arizona.
“green movement” that has finally gained more wide-
spread popularity and compliance. I am so in love with the
wonders of this planet. My fervent desire is that its beauty
be saved for future generations.

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 Contents

Introduction 8

CHAPTER 1: PAINTS, BRUSHES AND SUPPLIES 10

CHAPTER 2: SETTING UP YOUR ACRYLIC AND OIL PALETTES 16

Acrylics: Setting up the wet palette / Mixing acrylic colors
Oils: Setting up the oil palette / Mixing tube oil colors

CHAPTER 3: COLOR PRINCIPLES—SIMPLIFIED 18

Mixing colors / Using color wheels / Primary, secondary and intermediate
colors / Complementary colors / Warm and cool colors

CHAPTER 4: MAKE YOUR COLORS ZING! 22

Using color as value / How to achieve brilliant color / Warm or cool
predominance / Contrast makes color pop! / Pure color vs. neutralized
color / Analogous colors / The color trifecta / Where’s your light source?

CHAPTER 5: THREE WAYS TO BEGIN AN OIL PAINTING WITH ACRYLICS 26

1. Toning the canvas with an orange acrylic wash
2. Monochromatic underpainting to lock in shapes and patterns
3. Full-color, definitive acrylic underpainting

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 LET’S PAINT! 10 DEMONSTRATIONS IN BRILLIANT COLOR
1. Autumn Ablaze: Use unexpected colors to capture the brilliance of fall foliage. 28

2. Gone Wild: Learn to see colors in terms of light, medium and dark values. 38

3. Dutchman’s Gold: Balance cool violet shadows with sunny yellow flowers. 48

4. The Red Shed: Make objects advance or recede using shapes and values. 60

5. Ecola Cove: Use a variety of blues and greens to paint deep and shallow water. 70

6. La Siesta del Gato: Achieve the look and feel of hot sunlight on a lazy afternoon. 80

7. Twilight on the Creek: Use colors and values to portray the movement of water. 90

8. Sonoran Spring: Create pathways through the painting using repeating color patterns. 102

9. Butchart Gardens Gem: Use pairs of complementary colors to create vivid contrasts. 112

10. Through the Gate: Understand the emotional impact of color. 124

Line Drawings 137

Resources 142

Index 143

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Z1677i 001-009_Front_Matter.indd8 8 9/17/08 4:27:22 PM
 Introduction
9

When I first began to paint, I tried dili-

gently to match skin tones, foliage and
rock colors, etc. with what I thought I
saw in nature. Somewhere along the line,
though, I realized that—for me—that was
boring. As I gazed at and studied the many
paintings that really excited me, I found in
those wonderful paintings that pushed the
envelope of color, the permission to push
beyond my own color preconceptions. In
my studies, I was also taught that value
(dark and light) is of paramount impor-
tance, that if you get the values correct, you
can use some pretty wild colors and still
produce a realistic-looking painting.
In my current work, using color arbi-
trarily—color as value and color simply
for the pure pleasure of it—is a theme
running throughout my paintings and
possibly my main personal color concept
and practice. For example, if I want to
put purple or pink, or whatever, in foli-
age which my left brain tells me is green,
I make it work by using the correct value,
then putting whatever color I like where I
like. This satisfies my desire to paint rep-
resentational scenes, yet give them some
unexpected color excitement.
As you discover your own taste and
painterly voice, you must push yourself
in many directions until you find a set of
techniques and ideas that work for you.
Above all, enjoy the journey!

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 PAINTS, BRUSHES AND SUPPLIES
10

Acrylics
which is opaque. This works for me. I must stress that this
is my way, not—definitely not—the way! Please don’t be
concerned if your acrylic handling is more opaque—that
is a perfectly legitimate way to use the medium. You might
even find you want to try medium- or heavy-bodied acryl-
ics, metallics or some of the many acrylic “grounds” that are
available. Experiment—have a blast!
For the paintings in this book, I’m using Golden Fluid
Acrylics. They are professional grade paints that come in
bottles and are available at your local art supply store. The
one exception is, I use white gesso instead of white acrylic
paint. The Master Acrylic Color Chart on page 14 shows all
the colors we’ll be using in the demonstrations.

Paints The acrylic medium is an amazingly versatile Brushes For painting with acrylics, I use brushes by Winsor
medium. The manner in which we will be using acrylics & Newton, Connoisseur, and Royal & Langnickel in the
in this book merely scratches the surface of the possibili- following sizes:
ties. My personal favorite use of the medium is to use it in a • 1/2-inch (13mm) nylon aquarelle flat (Connoisseur)
fashion similar to the way watercolor is used—that is, trans- • 3/4-inch (19mm) nylon aquarelle flat (Winsor &
parently—occasionally using it a bit more like gouache, Newton)

4
5

6
7
These are the brushes I use for acrylics: 1) small sumi
brush; 2) medium sumi brush; 3) no. 12 sable/synthetic
blend round; 4) no. 8 natural hair round; 5) 1-inch (25mm)
nylon aquarelle flat; 6) 3/4-inch (19mm) nylon aquarelle
flat; and 7) 1/2-inch (13mm) nylon aquarelle flat.

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 11

Oils
• 1-inch (25mm) nylon aquarelle flat (Connoisseur) Paints My choice for oil paints is water mixable oil. For
• no. 8 natural hair round (Connoisseur) most of the colors I use Holbein Duo Aqua Oils, which I
• no. 12 sable/synthetic blend round (Winsor & New- love for its smooth creamy texture, handling properties and
ton Sceptre Gold Series 101) for the many beautiful colors available.
• small sumi brush (Royal & Langnickel) Water mixable oils are true oil paints, not “water
• medium sumi brush (Connoisseur) media.” Strangely enough, for studio work and even some
field work, I still prefer to use mineral spirits rather than
Miscellaneous Supplies The following supplies are what I water. I find that my brushes last longer and the bristles stay
use for painting with acrylics, but feel free to use whatever more supple when using mineral spirits. But I like the fact
is most comfortable for you: that I have the option of using water instead of a solvent
• Masterson Sta-Wet palette system, 10 x 14-1/2 inches when necessary.
(25.4 x 35.6 cm) The main thing is that I simply like these oil paints bet-
• Large water container ter than any others I’ve tried. The texture and consistency,
• Spray bottles—I use ones that had eyeglass cleaner drying rate and “oiliness” of oil paint varies from color to
fluid in them because of their fine mist spray. You color and from brand to brand, but these colors seem to
can see one of these little bottles in the photo at far be consistently less oily and dry a bit faster—additional
left with the Golden Acrylic paints. reasons for my choice. I don’t use a medium to mix with the
• Old towel, bath size or larger, for blotting my brush paints but use them straight out of the tube.
when needed and for sopping up drips

I use Holbein Duo Aqua Oils (shown in three colors at right)

for most of my tube oil colors, but I also use Winsor &
Newton tube oils (shown below) for specific colors: Artisan
water-mixable oils in Cadmium Red Hue and Permanent
Rose; and Griffin Alkyd fast-drying oil in Purple Lake.

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 12

On page 15, you’ll find the Master Charts of all the • Rose Grey = Titanium White + Lemon + Permanent
oil colors I used to paint the demonstrations in this book. Rose + Cerulean Blue (1:1:3:1)
Besides the Holbein colors, I also used Winsor & Newton • Blue Grey = Lemon + Permanent Rose + Cerulean
Griffin Alkyd Oil in Purple Lake, and Winsor & Newton Blue (1:2:7)
Artisan Water Mixable Oil in Cadmium Red Hue and • Green Grey = Titanium White + Lemon + Perma-
Permanent Rose. nent Rose + Cerulean Blue (1:2:1:2)
Unhappily, six of my favorite Holbein Duo colors—
Cream, Yellow Grey, Orange Grey, Rose Grey, Blue Grey Brushes Currently, my favorite brushes for oils are Winsor
and Green Grey—were discontinued between the time I & Newton Monarch flats and brights in a variety of sizes,
painted the demonstrations for this book, and the time the plus a small round brush for things like tiny twigs, my sig-
book went to press. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience to nature when the painting is done, and so on. They are:
you. As for me, I will greatly miss these colors! • nos. 0, 2 and 6 flats
Actually, grayed colors aren’t hard to mix yourself. Here • nos. 8, 10 and 14 brights
are some easy formulas for mixing those six discontinued • no. 1 round (Winsor & Newton Sceptre Gold II
colors using the tube oil colors shown on page 15. I kept the Series 404)
swatches of the discontinued colors in the master chart so
you could compare your mixes to them. Miscellaneous Supplies When painting with oils, I use:
• Cream = Titanium White + Lemon + Permanent • Odorless mineral spirits by Mona Lisa Products
Rose (3:1: a touch) (when using water mixable oils, plain water is okay
• Yellow Grey = Titanium White + Lemon + Perma- but I still prefer mineral spirits)
nent Rose + Cerulean Blue (2:3:2:1) • Two jars for the mineral spirits: a Silicoil Brush
• Orange Grey = Titanium White + Lemon + Perma- Cleaning Tank for use while painting, and an 18 oz.
nent Rose + Cerulean Blue (a touch:2:2:1) jar for the used spirits

These are the brushes I use with oils: 1) no. 1 sable/synthetic

blend round; 2) no. 14 bright; 3) no. 10 bright; 4) no. 8 bright;
5) no. 6 flat; 6) no. 2 flat; and 7) no. 0 flat.

3
4
5
6
7

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 13
pour the clean portion back into the Silicoil jar, being
careful to stop pouring when the sediment-laden bottom
portion begins to pour out along with the clean. Eventu-
ally—and it takes a long time—the paint sediment will fill
the jar. When that jar becomes too full of sediment to con-
tinue to use it in this way, I dispose of it in a manner that is
consistent with the regulations of disposing of hazardous
• Two disposable paper palette pads placed in 12 x material in my area. Additionally—and quite importantly
16-inch (30.5 x 40.7 cm) Masterson plastic palette to me—re-using the mineral spirits in this manner saves
holders money!
• Two trowel-type palette or painting knives, one
about 1 inch (25mm) long and one about 3 inches Canvas
(7.6 cm) long
Stretched canvas, archival canvas board or gessoed hardboard
• Old pen knife for scraping small details into paint-
For the paintings in this book, I used stretched canvases in
ings
the following sizes:
• 11 x 14 inches (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
I don’t use mineral spirits as a medium but to clean the
• 12 x 20 inches (30.5cm x 50.8cm)
brushes as I go along. In other words, I don’t wait until
• 16 x 20 inches (40.6cm x 50.8cm)
the end of my painting day to clean my brushes. Before I
developed this habit I used to hate clean-up. Now, when I’m
done for the day, I give the brushes a final rinse and squeeze
General Studio Supplies
them nice and flat between thumb and forefinger, pour my If you’ve been painting for a while, you already have your
used spirits from the Silicoil jar into the 18-oz. jar, put lids favorite supplies on hand, but here’s what I always have in
on both, cover my palette, take off my gloves and that’s it. my studio:
Easy peazey! • an apron and dispos-
I believe it to be of the utmost importance to use able latex or nitrile
solvents responsibly. Therefore, I never pour mineral spirits gloves
down the drain. At the end of a painting day, I pour the • a sketch book, 9 x 12
used spirits from the Silicoil Brush Cleaning Tank into inch (22.9 x 30.5cm)
another jar. The paint that is in suspension will settle to the • 2B drawing pencils, or
bottom of the jar. When beginning to paint again, I simply your personal choice
• pencil sharpener
• gum eraser or knead-
able eraser
• easel
• white facial tissues
and/or rags
• pliers for opening stuck-on paint caps
• “tube wringer” for getting out those last drops of
paint
• final picture varnish—I often use Blair Retouch
Spray Var as a temporary varnish, but when the oil
painting has had six months to a year to dry, then I
apply a final varnish with Winsor & Newton Artists’
Picture Varnish for Oil, Alkyd & Acrylic.

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 MASTER COLOR CHART: ACRYLICS
14

Golden Fluid Acrylics

HANSA YELLOW LIGHT NICKEL AZO YELLOW TRANSPARENT PYRROLE PYRROLE ORANGE PYRROLE RED LIGHT
ORANGE

QUINACRIDONE MAGENTA PERMANENT VIOLET DIOXAZINE PURPLE COBALT BLUE ANTHRAQUINONE BLUE
DARK

CERULEAN BLUE DEEP PHTHALO BLUE (GREEN TURQUOIS (PHTHALO)

SHADE)

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 MASTER COLOR CHART: OILS
15

Holbein Duo Aqua Water-Mixable Oils

TITANIUM WHITE LEMON CREAM LIGHT YELLOW MARIGOLD YELLOW GREY ORANGE GREY CARAMEL

YELLOW DEEP YELLOW JAUNE BRILLANT ORANGE ROSE GREY LIGHT MAGENTA ROSE VIOLET MAUVE

LILAC BLUE VIOLET LAVENDER ULTRAMARINE PRUSSIAN BLUE CERULEAN BLUE BLUE GREY GREEN BLUE
BLUE

PRUSSIAN GREEN COBALT GREEN ICE GREEN GREEN GREY YELLOW GREEN LEAF GREEN

Winsor & Newton

CADMIUM RED PURPLE LAKE PERMANENT

HUE (GRIFFIN ALKYD ROSE
(ARTISAN WATER OIL) (ARTISAN WATER
MIXABLE OIL MIXABLE OIL
COLOUR) COLOUR)

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 SETTING UP YOUR PALETTES
16

Acrylic Palette

It’s time to set up your palettes. We will start with the acryl- of some sort rather than putting your colors out just any
ics palette. You must remember that acrylics dry very fast. old place. I place my colors in the same order as in the color
This is why I use a Masterson “wet palette.” The Masterson wheel shown on page 18, where yellow is at the left and
palettes come in three sizes and each can be used for either the colors proceed clockwise around the wheel. There are
oil or acrylic. I use the medium size, 10 x 14½ inches (25.4 several reasons why I believe strongly in a system and why I
x 35.6 cm) for acrylics. The palette comes with a thin use this particular one:
sponge material and several sheets of palette paper. Before • it will help you to learn about the colors you use
squeezing out the paint, the sponge and a sheet of palette because they will always be in the same place
paper are both saturated with water. The paint is then • it will help you to learn color mixing
squeezed out onto the paper. If you mist the paint fre- • you will always know where your colors are without
quently and cover the palette with its lid when not in use, having to search
your paint will stay moist for many days. If you tend to keep • it’s part of developing good work habits—the logic
your acrylic palette for too long a time, the paint may form of using a system that makes sense to you is an idea
mold due to the constantly moist environment. If it does, that fits neatly into the organization of your painting
just throw out that sheet of palette paper and start fresh. process.
The sponge will be stained with paint, but you can continue Maintaining consistency with this system will be even
to use it for many painting sessions, though you might want more important with oils since we will be using so many
to rinse it out between times. more oil colors than acrylics.
Since we will be using the acrylics much like water- Furthermore, arrange your colors around the perim-
color, squeeze out only a small amount at a time—a dollop eter of the palette—don’t just place them willy-nilly. For
roughly the size of a pea. You can always squeeze out more acrylics, you will need that center area for mixing color. For
if you need it. oils you will need the center for your mixtures and possibly
I recommend that you use a system for the order in for additional mixing area as well.
which you place your colors. You might find a system that
works better for you than my system, but do use a system

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 17

Oil Palette

For oils I use two large you can always add

size, 12 x 16-inch (30.5 more if you run out.
x 40.7 cm) Masterson I usually squeeze out
palettes, side by side, approximately a quar-
into which I place 12 ter to a half teaspoon,
x 16-inch (30.5 x 40.7 depending on how
cm) paper palette much painting time I
pads—the kind with think I have before me
the waxy surface. (I do that day. The Holbein
not use the individual Duo Aqua Oils dry a
palette paper sheets bit faster than tradi-
that may come with tional oils, but remain
the palette, nor do I usable for a couple of
use the sponge.) days or more, quite
My “main” palette, unlike the acrylics.
shown at top, is used for the colors straight out of the tube. Here’s another tip for organizing your oil colors: use a
The other palette (above right) is used for any color mixing plastic utility case with compartments and stand the tubes
I need to do. I then transfer the paint mixtures to the center up in the same order as they go onto the palette. Then you
area of the main palette as you can see in the photo above. can easily find a color you need without rummaging for it.
I find that my painting goes much smoother if I have my There are so many things to think about when paint-
piles of paint—both tube colors and mixtures—ready for ing that we need as few distractions as possible. Logical and
me to dip my brush or palette knife into. practical work habits help to keep distractions at bay, allow-
The amount of oil paint you need to squeeze out will ing us to focus on the artistry of the painting more than
vary a bit from color to color depending upon the amount the nuts and bolts of it. Consistently arranging your palette
of each color you will need for your painting session. I try in a logical manner is just one simple thing you can do to
to find a balance between having so much that it might go smooth the way for creativity, but it is an important one!
to waste and having too little. Remember—you can’t paint
without paint! So don’t be too stingy. By the same token,

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 COLOR PRINCIPLES — SIMPLIFIED
18

ORANGE RED-
ORANGE

YELLOW-
ORANGE Secondary Intermediate RED

Intermediate Primary

YELLOW RED-
Primary Intermediate VIOLET This is the triad of primary
colors: red, yellow, blue.

YELLOW- Intermediate Secondary VIOLET

GREEN

Secondary Intermediate

Intermediate Primary BLUE-

GREEN
VIOLET

BLUE-GREEN BLUE This is the triad of secondary

colors: orange, green, violet.
Mixing Colors
Mixing color in acrylics—especially when you use them like which simply show the TRIADIC COLOR SYSTEM. Here
watercolor—is very easy. You barely touch the colors to each is the triadic color system in a nutshell:
other and they mix immediately. Mixing oil paints, on the • All colors are combinations of the three PRIMARY
other hand, is a very physical and time-consuming thing. colors that make up the TRIAD of red, yellow and blue.
I have to admit that mixing oil color is my least favorite • Mixing two primaries together produces a SECOND-
thing to do when painting with oils, and is the reason I use ARY color—secondary colors are: orange, green, violet.
so many different oil colors. You will see that I use many Red and yellow produce orange. Yellow and blue produce
colors that are already mixed with white (or even with other green. Red and blue produce violet.
colors) in the tube—and that means less time I must spend • Mixing a primary with a secondary produces an
mixing the colors and values I will need for the painting at INTERMEDIATE color: yellow-orange, yellow-green,
hand. blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet or red-orange. These are
Nevertheless, even if you use all the colors on my the basics you see above. Going a little further:
list and all the mixture formulas in this book, it will be • TERTIARY colors are mixtures of two secondary
extremely helpful for you to learn some basic color mixing colors. They are olive, citrine and russet.
facts. You will use this information when using acrylics and • Mixing all three primaries together produces a gray,
oils both. black or NEUTRALIZED color.
• COMPLEMENTARY colors are those that are
Triadic Color System Color wheels are an easy and pleasant located directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
way to learn about the basic color principles we will be talk- Complementary colors provide the most color contrast
ing about in this book. Let’s begin by familiarizing ourselves possible. Mixed, they produce grays or neutrals and earth
with a few of the terms you’ll see on the color wheels above, colors. To slightly gray or subdue a color, you can mix a
little of its complementary color into it.

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 19

Warm and Cool Colors “Warm” and “cool” are terms used for
color that you will hear over and over, so let’s talk about
them. I think it is easier to understand the meaning of
warm and cool color when you realize there are really two
separate definitions of the terms.
The first definition is more or less absolute. According WARM
to this definition, the warm colors are red, orange and yel-
low; the cool colors are green, blue and violet.
On this particular color wheel orientation (at right),
the colors that are placed in the top half are considered to
be warm while the bottom colors are considered to be cool. COOL
The second definition describes the terms—“warm”
and “cool”—as being relative and means that any color can
be warmer or cooler depending on what color it is com-
pared to. For instance, one red can be warmer or cooler
than another red depending upon where it fits into the
color wheel.
Now look at yellow on the next color wheel (below Definition 1: The “absolute” definition of warm and cool colors says that
right). It’s easy to see which yellow would be considered yellow, orange and red are warm, and green, blue and violet are cool.
warmer and which cooler—the warmer yellow leans in the
direction of orange and the cooler yellow leans in the direc-
tion of green.
ORANGE
With red, the warmer red leans in the direction of
orange and the cooler red leans towards violet.
Warm and cool blue are harder to understand, I think.
Here’s why: If you add yellow to blue to make green, you’re
Warmer red
warming the blue up because yellow is a warm color. If you
add red to blue to make violet, you’re still warming it up Warmer yellow Cooler red
since red is also a warm color. If both directions are warmer
than the blue itself, how can one be considered warmer and Cooler yellow
the other cooler? I don’t know! And that is hard for some- VIOLET
one like me who likes to have every “i” dotted and every “t”
crossed! All I can tell you is that the greenish blue is gener-
ally considered to be the cooler and a violet-tinged blue is Warmer
considered to be warmer—even though many people feel Cooler blue
GREEN
that a greenish blue looks warmer to them. Just remember blue
that the triadic color wheel and the language used is merely
an attempt to organize color and explain how colors behave
in practical usage for the painter. Definition 2: The “relative” definition of warm and cool colors says these
terms are relative: any color can be warmer or cooler depending on what
color it is compared to.

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 20

ORANGE

Warm red

Grayed
Warm yellow orange Cool red

Cool yellow
Completely neutral

Grayed
green
Grayed
violet

VIOLET

GREEN

Warm blue
Cool blue

Bright and Grayed Mixtures Still speaking of warm and cool Completing the Triangle Now let’s study the color wheel
color and how this knowledge will help you to mix the shown at the top of the next page. Here we have a triad—or
colors you need, the color wheel above elaborates on the triangle—of three primary colors, indicated by the dark
theme. In addition to illustrating how bright secondary col- triangle, with a lighter, secondary triangle that is rotated
ors can be mixed, this color wheel shows some grayed mix- two color spaces (on a 12-color wheel), with the three
tures as well. Notice how cool yellow and cool red combine points marking the positions of the secondary colors. The
to make a less bright orange. Why? The cool yellow leans intermediate colors would be located between the primary
toward green—the cool red leans toward violet. Therefore, and secondary colors.
you are mixing red and yellow plus the tiny amount of If you examine the positions of the primary and
cool color that is inherent in each of these primary colors. secondary colors you will see that if you mix complements
Therefore, the orange is grayed down a bit, going toward together, you will actually be mixing some of each of the
brown and then to completely neutral, meaning no identifi- primaries together, what I call “completing the triangle.” For
able color in the mix. example: green and red are complements—red is a primary

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 21

color, green is a secondary color made up of yellow and

blue—voilà!—all three primary colors are represented. This
is why mixing complements produces grayed—or neutral-
ized—colors. Therefore, when you want bright, clean color
rather than “grayed down” color, avoid “completing the
triangle.”
By the same token, when you do require subdued
color, or perhaps grays and browns, you now know that
you will actually need to have all three primaries repre-
sented in those mixtures. Here’s an example: if you need
a more restrained red, mixing a bit of green—or yellow-
plus-blue—into it will subdue that red—a little or a lot. It
depends upon how much green (or yellow + blue) you add
to the red. It is the ratio that is important. If your mixture of
the three primary colors balances the mixture to the point
that your blend becomes a “non-color”—true gray—you
will need to un-balance it by adding more of the particular
primary color that is needed to nudge the mixture towards
the grayed-down (but not totally gray!) color you are shoot-
ing for. Note the beauty and symmetry of the triadic color wheel! The bold
The color wheel below right shows the complement of triangle points to the three primary colors; the fine triangle is rotated
each of the twelve colors on the color wheel—complements two color spaces over and points to the three secondary colors.
are directly across the wheel from each other.
The main thing to remember is that any time a third
primary color—even in the most minute amounts (as
in the reddish tinge of Ultramarine Blue, for example) is
added to a mixture, that mixture will begin to move in
the direction of neutral—which is what you get when all
three primaries are mixed together. This is neither bad nor
good—but simply a fact of how color usually behaves. I say
usually because there are some colors that seem to “break
the rules.” This basic premise of triadic color theory is
simply an attempt to make sense of color. Warm and cool
are the key factors. However, the purity of a color is also a
factor. You must combine theory with what you actually
discover in practice about how the colors that you have on
your palette mix with each other.
You may have noticed—if you have compared all of
these color wheels to each other—that the colors don’t
match exactly. One of the color wheels was painted with
the Holbein Duo Aqua Oils that the painting demos in this
book were painted with. One was painted with standard
color name oils, and one with acrylics. This points to the Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the wheel.
fact that, while colors may vary significantly among brands
and mediums, the basic color principles still apply.

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 MAKE YOUR COLORS ZING!
22

Gray and brown rocks do not have to be painted in those correct but
unexciting colors for them to look like rocks! I learned early on that value
(dark and light) is of overriding importance, that if you get the values
correct, you can use a wild color scheme and still produce a realistic-
looking painting. I pushed the color in the little study at left farther than
I usually do in order to make the point——the black and white version
(above) is the proof!

Using Color as Value

COLOR! Dazzling, delicious, seductive color! We artists do the true value or color. Once isolated, and compared to
love color, don’t we? And yet, using brilliant color success- the flat white of the card, you will immediately see the true
fully can be quite tricky. My goal is to simplify the basic light, medium and dark— the value—and the accurate
principles of color in order to make the use of color less color as well.
mysterious—and to make it easier to use color imagina- When using your index card tool to evaluate color or
tively and simply for the pure pleasure of it. value, remember that you are not necessarily assessing the
Here’s the most important thing to remember about “correct” color (or any other element for that matter) in
color: While color may be one of your highest priorities in order to slavishly reproduce it, but rather to understand
terms of emotional response, when compared to shape and the truth of the subject (at least as defined by your cam-
value, color is the least important element of the three. The era) before changing it to fit your own artistic vision. First
truth is that if you get shape and value right, you can use evaluating the factual elements of your picture makes any
almost any color scheme you please. change a conscious decision—not a formless idea without
You may be thinking, “This is a book about color and rhyme or reason—and conversely offers the first step to an
yet you tell me that color isn’t important?” No, I didn’t say alternative to simply copying a photograph.
that. It’s because color is so important to us color-lovers,
that it is vital that you get its value correct and then applied
to the canvas in shapes that “work” for the subject. This
shape-and-value idea is an essential key to using color to its
fullest, most delicious potential!
Are you familiar with the term value? Value simply
means the lightness or darkness of a color—a simple idea.
However, learning to correctly judge the lightness or dark-
ness of a color isn’t always easy. A simple tool that will help
is a white or gray card with a hole punched in it—I use a
white index card. When a sample area is viewed through the
hole in the card, it is isolated from the many, many values,
colors and other elements in the photo, painting, or even
the colors on your palette, that distract our eyes from seeing

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 23
Achieving Brilliant Color To achieve brilliant yet believable key principle is the word dominance. Warm and cool colors
color, it’s not enough to look at a rock, for instance, and say, should not be used half and half—one should dominate
“Well, I think I want this rock to be turquoise.” If you want over the other.
to learn to paint with brilliant, creative color, I encourage Practice these ideas faithfully and eventually they will
you to ask yourself the following questions when trying to become habit. This is the point where study and habit
decide which colors to use: become instinct and you are able to choose your colors
1. What is the accurate value of the area in question intuitively to suit your personal artistic taste. Allow your
and should I reproduce that value or make it lighter or pos- desire to use color simply for the pure enjoyment of it to
sibly darker? take over!
2. Is the area in question predominantly warm or
predominantly cool?
Now that these two important questions have
been answered, you have narrowed and simpli-
fied your choices, which makes the color decisions
much easier.
Here are two ways to make those final color
determinations:
1. Use the index card with the punched hole
to find the color of your subject—then “push” that
color beyond what you see. For example, if I see a
brown rock, I might paint it in tones of orange. The
color is pushed because brown is simply a grayed—
or less colorful—version of orange. I use the color
that I see—only more so. If the rock is gray, I might
paint it in blues and lavenders.
2. Or—allow your imagination full reign to
paint that gray rock any color temperature you wish
This little landscape is predominantly warm with a few cool colors.
as long as you adjust the value of that color appro-
priately.

Warm or Cool Predominance If you decide on “pre-

dominantly warm,” you have reds, yellows, oranges
in all their possible tones from which to choose. If
your decision is “predominantly cool,” then you
have blues, purples, greens and all their possibilities.
You still have a dazzling array of beautiful colors
from which to select, but the limitations of value
and color temperature give you boundaries of logic.
Combining logic with fancy is very comfortable and
reassuring—it allows you to play with color within
the safety of a logically defined parameter. It also
enables you to create vivid yet convincing scenes.
In order to make the color even more excit-
ing, I continuously switch back and forth between
warmer and cooler colors while painting. I’m Here’s the same landscape but with predominantly cool colors. The warm colors
careful, however, not to use equal amounts. The are obvious but they are still in the minority.

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 24
Glowing color can be achieved by putting same-fam-
ily colors together. Look at the color wheel below in which
the colors are painted in a continuum. Pick out any one
Yellow contrasted Red contrasted with Blue contrasted with
color and see how it seems to glow because of the analogous
with its complemen- its complementary its complementary
colors that lead up to it in a gradation of color—kind of like
tary neutralized violet neutralized green neutralized orange
(violet-gray) (grayed green) (orangey-brown) building to a color crescendo!

The Color Trifecta The three color ideas we have talked about
in this chapter are very different, yet all three are true. Put-
ting these ideas into practice in a painting is a juggling act
for sure, but so very well worth the effort of learning how to
use them:
1. Use color as value, regardless of what the “real” color is.
2. Use contrasts of:
Violet contrasted with Green contrasted Orange contrasted • complementary colors
its complementary with its complemen- with its complemen- • pure color versus neutralized color
neutralized yellow tary neutralized red tary neutralized blue
• value
(yellowish-brown) (reddish-brown) (grayed blue)
3. Use analogous colors in close proximity or create a
gradation of color from same-family colors.
Contrast Makes Color Pop! In order to make colors pop, it And there you have it—a veritable color trifecta!
is necessary to use contrasts. Value contrast is essential.
Color contrast—as between complementary colors—is also
important. There is another contrast that you may not have
thought of—pure color versus neutralized color. When red
and its complementary greenish gray are placed next to
each other, you get two types of contrast: complementary
contrast and bright/neutral contrast. Add value contrast
and the red pops right off the canvas!
You can see in the six leaf illustrations above that the
lightest color we have on the color wheel—yellow—is the
easiest color to make pop forward. Violet, its complement,
is our darkest color and easy to gray down, thereby mak-
ing yellow and neutralized-and-darkened violet the most
contrasting duo: value contrast, complement contrast and
bright/neutral contrast. Contrast on three counts—and to
the max!

Using Analogous Colors Analogous colors are three or four

colors that lie adjacent to each other on the twelve-color
wheel. They are related to each other—in the same family. This continuous color wheel illustrates the fact that yellow is the lightest
Each set of analogous colors has a common primary color. color of all and that the eye tends to go to the light. You can also see that
For example: yellow-green, yellow, yellow-orange and color gradation is very pleasing to the eye. Using analogous colors is one
orange all contain some yellow. Red-violet, violet, blue-vio- way to use color gradation.
let and blue all contain some blue. Analyze any set of three
or four analogous colors and you will be able to identify a
primary color that is common to all.

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 25
Where’s Your Light Source? Where’s ol’ sol? By examining The shapes of cast shadows are very difficult to make
your reference photo, can you tell where the sun is? If you up. I advise that whenever possible use a reference from
can’t, you will have to make it up. Your light source is a sig- which you can rely for the shadow shapes.
nificant factor in creating a believable landscape. Whether In nature, the colors of cast shadows are versions of the
you follow the light source in your photo or make one up, local color of the object upon which the shadow lays. For
you must remain consistent to the direction and quality of instance, if the local color of a rock is brown, the shadow
that light. would be a cooler, darker version of that brown at the ori-
The four illustrations below show the four basic light gin of the shadow, warming and lightening little by little as
directions. In actuality, the most beautiful lighting is usu- it moves farther away from the starting point. Additionally,
ally made up of more than one of these four directions. In color from the object casting the shadow will bounce into
“Dutchman’s Gold” (page 48), the sun is high in the sky but the shadow and vice versa. And a cast shadow is generally
not directly overhead and aimed so the shadows fall to the cooler than the out-of-light area of an object.
side; in “Gone Wild” (page 38) the sun is high in the sky but We usually think of light as warm and shadow as cool.
the shadows fall slightly to the front. T’aint necessarily so! I like to put lots of yummy warm color
“Cast shadows” and “modeled shadows” are dependent in my shadows—as shown in two of the demonstrations in
upon where the light is coming from. Modeled shadow is this book, “Dutchman’s Gold” and “La Siesta del Gato.” In
the light and shadow upon a form that gives that form the “La Siesta del Gato” I did, however, follow the rule of paint-
perception of depth on a flat canvas. When you “shade” an ing cast shadows cooler than modeled shadows—for the
object you are “modeling” it. Cast shadows are the shadows most part.
that lay upon an object where another object is blocking the Since I take great liberties with color, I often use
light from falling on it. Cast shadows and modeled shadows shadow colors that play loose with and at times are abso-
are different elements, yet they work in concert to produce lutely contrary to the “rules” but consistent with the
an illusion of depth on the flat picture plane. painting’s color scheme. It’s more fun that way!

Front lighting is usually Top lighting is almost

pretty unexciting. It’s as uninteresting as
often what you get front light, and is the
when you photograph reason experts advise
something with your photographing the
camera flash. landscape either ear-
lier or later in the day.

Side lighting Back light creates a

creates both halo of light around
interesting the rims of the sub-
modeled jects and can be very
shadows and dramatic.
cast shadow
shapes.

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 THREE WAYS TO BEGIN AN OIL PAINTING WITH ACRYLICS
26

Using Acrylic Under-Paintings

As you look through the demonstration paintings in this Toned Canvas As a landscape painter, my paintings tend
book you will see what may appear to be several different to have lots of cool colors, in the foliage especially. As I
starting methods. In actuality, I used three basic methods am drawn to warm colors, the glint of orange peeking
only. The fact that I have modified a procedure here and through the cool-color brushstrokes automatically adds a
there and have also done a bit of “mix and match” with the bit of color excitement that I would not get as easily from
three starting techniques may make it seem more complex. a background of white canvas. The overall tint also helps
Take a look at “Twilight on the Creek” on page 90. I started to tie the other colors together better than the white canvas
by toning the canvas, over which I then painted a mono- would do by itself.
chromatic under-painting. Also look at “Sonoran Spring”
on page 102. I began with a monochromatic blocking-in of Monochromatic Under-painting The almost instantly-dry
the value pattern, then commenced with a full-color acrylic acrylic “locks in” the composition, giving me a sense of
under-painting. security. What I mean by “locked in” is that the acrylic will
The illustrations you see on the facing page, however, not be smudged or altered by painting oils over it—only
are straightforward and simple uses of the three methods so covered up. And, until that oil paint dries, it can be easily
that you can see the differences among them quite clearly. wiped away to reveal once again the acrylic under-painting.
• Spring Arroyo I begins with a toned canvas and fin- It helps psychologically to know that the shapes and pat-
ishes in a conventional oil painting manner. terns are not lost.
• Spring Arroyo II begins with a monochromatic
under-painting and is completed quite traditionally. Full Color, Definitive Acrylic Under-painting Since color mixing
• Spring Arroyo III is begun with transparent acrylics with acrylics is so much easier than with oils, I can cover
and finished fairly conventionally, except that much of the the canvas with correct color much quicker, yet I know that
finished painting is still the original acrylic. I applied oil the acrylic and oil will mesh nicely in the viewer’s eye. And,
colors merely where needed in order to effect a finished again, the composition is locked in.
appearance, not necessarily to cover up all of the acrylic. I have tried many processes and learned how they
The addition of some thickly applied oil color added work. The techniques have become somewhat automatic
texture to the canvas, refined some shapes and actually for me, to the point that I now have a gut feeling for which
softened the definition of others. method or series of steps would create a process most help-
Why begin an oil painting with acrylic in the first place? ful for me to achieve the painting I’m hoping to produce.
I could make a good case for each of the three basic acrylic I strongly suggest that you study and practice all of the
under-paintings you see here and equally good cases for the methods you will find in this book. You will need to build
more conventional ways to begin an oil painting using oil your own repertoire of techniques and processes in order
alone, which I often do as well. The fact that acrylics dry so to learn what will work best for any given painting—and to
quickly allows for a faster start right off the bat. Let’s take a discover what suits your own painting personality!
look at the advantages offered by the three acrylic under-
paintings separately.

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 Spring Arroyo I—Toned canvas

27

This canvas has been toned with acrylic paint. I prefer a warm tone, usu- The painting is then finished in a conventional oil painting manner.
ally orange. Tone can be flat, variegated, or even multicolored.

Spring Arroyo II—Monochromatic under-painting

This is a monochromatic under-painting with a full range of values. The painting is then finished with oils, but the shapes and values have
been “locked in” with the acrylic under-painting.

Spring Arroyo III—Full color, definitive acrylic under-painting

This full-color acrylic under-painting locks in the composition. The painting is then finished with oils, but most of the acrylic under-paint-
ing still shows.

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 28

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 29

Autumn
1 29

Ablaze
My husband and I enjoy hiking in our
beautiful state of Arizona whenever we get a
chance. He is the very soul of patience with
my constant picture-taking! The photos are
invaluable to me as reference material and I
treasure them. The photo that inspired this
painting was taken in West Fork Canyon, an
off-shoot of Oak Creek Canyon up-creek
from Sedona, Arizona, near where we stay
every year for our anniversary week. It is
a magical hike as you can see. I have done
many paintings from photos taken in this
canyon.
On this day, the colors of the leaves were
so intense that the leaves acted as stained
glass through which the sun shone, rose-tint-
ing even the ground. Although the composi-
tion and colors in the photo were the vehicle,
my memory of the gold and rosy glow all
around us was my primary motivation for
painting this scene. The color was even in
the air!

Autumn Ablaze, 11 x 14 inches (28 x 36 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHARTS
30
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2 Mix A3 Mix A4
chart at right. Nickel Azo Yellow + Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange Quin. Magenta +
Quin. Magenta + Nickel Azo Yellow + Perm. Violet Dark Trans. Pyrrole Orange
1:a touch 2:1 3:1 3:2
Nickel Azo Yellow
Transparent Pyrrole Orange
Quinacridone Magenta
Permanent Violet Dark
Dioxazine Purple
Cerulean Blue Deep
Turquois (Phthalo) Mix A5 Mix A6 Mix A7 Mix A8
Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange Dioxazine Purple + Nickel Azo Yellow +
+ Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple Turquois (Phthalo) Cerulean Blue Deep
2:1 1:1 2:1 1:a touch

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use a
palette knife to create
the mixes shown in the chart
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
at right. White + Deep White + Deep Cream + Deep Light Magenta + Cream + Light Light Magenta +
Yellow + Marigold Yellow + Marigold Yellow Deep Yellow Magenta Rose Violet
4:1:1 5:1:a touch 3:1 2:1 2:1 2:1
Titanium White
Cream
Marigold
Yellow Grey
Orange Grey
Caramel
Deep Yellow Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Mauve + Jaune Lilac + Rose White + Lavender Cobalt Green + Cobalt Green + Cream + Cobalt
Jaune Brillant Brillant Violet + Orange Marigold + White Marigold Green + Marigold
Orange 2:1 5:1 1:1:a touch 3:1:1 1:1 5:1:1
Rose Grey
Purple Lake
Light Magenta
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac
Lavender
Cerulean Blue
Cobalt Green

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 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
31
Reference Photo
My husband and I take the same
hike through West Fork Canyon
near Sedona, Arizona, almost every
November and this was the most
beautiful we’ve ever seen it. I think
we accidentally hit it at the abso-
lutely perfect time that year and this
is what the foliage actually looked
like that day. It was a hike of seven
miles of oooh-ing and aaah-ing!
I used a digital camera but
none of the colors have been
altered except as through the
camera’s built-in image capture
system.

Begin With the Drawing

Loosely draw or transfer the composition onto the canvas using a soft pencil. Use your finger to smudge the tree trunks and some of
the darker areas of the foliage. A traceable line drawing for this painting is available on page 137.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
32
1. Tree Trunks
With fluid acrylics used as you would use
watercolor, begin by painting the tree trunks.
First, “paint” with clear water, then drop in
mixtures of medium and dark colors using
Permanent Violet Dark and acrylic mixtures A3,
A6 and A7.
A note about acrylics: Since we are
using fluid acrylics as watercolor most of the
time——and adding various amounts of water
to adjust their values from light to dark——the
colors will be continually mixing and running
together. Refer to the acrylics chart on page
30 only to get a general idea of the colors and
strengths you are aiming for, rather than trying
to mix the colors exactly.

2. Branches and Twigs

Paint the smaller branches and twigs, using the
same color mixtures as before. There’s no need
to paint every single twig—it’s the pattern that
they create that’s most important. You will paint
over some of them with oil later, and probably
add some more as well. Allow some of the
twigs to be lighter and some darker.
This is a good time to step back and take
a look at what you have accomplished to this
point. You have established a critical element
to your painting: a pattern of dark colors, a
structure upon which the entire painting will
“hang.” Your composition is “locked in.” As you
proceed through the paintings in this book, you
will find that this technique is common to all of
them and you’ll notice how this method helps
keep you from losing your composition during
the painting process.
2

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 33
3. Patterns of Brilliant Color
Now the fun really starts! Brush clear water over
the entire canvas. While it’s wet, loosely apply
patterns of brilliant color. Have the same colors
on your palette that you used for the branches but
dilute them with more water. Apply the paint right
over the trunks and branches, allowing the differ-
ent colors to mingle and merge at the edges. Tilt
your canvas this way and that to encourage the
washes to run. Splatter orange and yellow——and
even clear water——into the washes when the
paint has reached the point where it is just begin-
ning to dry. Use Nickel Azo Yellow, Transparent
Pyrrole Orange, Quinacridone Magenta and acrylic
3 mixes A1, A2, A4 and A8.
As I begin this painting, I have it on my table
rather than my easel. I often don’t transfer the
painting to the easel until I begin with the oil
painting stage. To me, the acrylic stage is more
like a watercolor, which I usually paint almost hori-
zontally, with the table at a slight tilt. I personally
find this to be more comfortable. For one reason,
I like for the acrylic washes to run and mingle, just
like with watercolor.

4. Recessed Areas
Still using the same colors and adding acrylic mix
A5, paint the recessed areas of the foliage at the
bottom of the painting.

5. Darker Areas
Create more depth in those same recessed areas
by darkening the bottom portion even more with
4 the same colors. Don’t allow the darker color to
creep more than halfway up to the highest parts
of those areas. Let dry.
We are now finished with acrylics on this
painting and will switch to oils for the remainder
of the steps.

Z1677i 028-037_P01_Autumn_Ab.ind33 33 9/17/08 4:36:23 PM

 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
34

7. Tree Trunk and Twigs

Add color to the far left tree trunk with Deep Yellow, Lilac, Lavender and
oil mix 8. Remember that it is fine—even desirable—to allow the acrylic
under-painting to show through. Add more strokes to the foliage and
background. Paint some twigs into the wet foliage with Purple Lake.
Continue to fill out the leafy canopy on the far left and don’t neglect
the background around the main tree trunk.

6. Background and Foliage

With Jaune Brillant, Light Magenta and oil mixes 2, 3 and 4, paint the
background between the branches on the left and use Deep Yellow
to create an orange leaf mass at the upper left. Throughout all of the
stages, apply paint with both brush and palette knife, going back and
forth between the two implements. This will add exciting variations of
texture to your painting.

8. Upper Tree Canopy

Working your way across the top of the painting, use oil mixes 4 and 6 to 9
create more colorful foliage in the upper tree canopy.
9. Lighter Foliage in Center
Add lighter foliage colors in the center top to create a leaf mass, allowing
twigs and branches to show on either side of the mass. First paint with
oil mix 3, then brush over it with mix 2, taking care not to “dig” into the
wet paint. Remember to “frost the cake” with the lighter color. Likewise,
create another leaf mass a bit lower, at about the center of the painting.

Z1677i 028-037_P01_Autumn_Ab.ind34 34 9/17/08 4:36:25 PM

 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#1:HERE
Lesson USEAHD HERE AHDCOLORS
UNEXPECTED HERE TO DEPICT BRILLIANT FALL FOLIAGE
35
When I’m painting a scene with lots of beautiful fall foliage, I don’t ety of yellows creates a nice glow of color. I had a beautiful reference

C OLOR LE SS ON
reach for the usual leaf colors you often see in such paintings. photo to work from. That, paired with my memory of that glorious
Instead, I have a lot of fun using color that isn’t exactly what you place and the astounding glow of color all around me, led me to use
would expect to see. Let me point out the three main instances of this method to record not only what I saw, but also the joy I remem-
this arbitrary use of color in Autumn Ablaze. ber feeling during that hike, snapping photos every few minutes!
Example 1: Color as Value. First, look at the tree trunks, Example 3: Contrast. Finally, with all that bright color in the
especially the most prominent one on the left side of the painting. upper two-thirds of the painting, some balance in the lower right was
Because of its value, it still reads more or less as brown. But it was called for. I chose to add a few touches of cool blue, set off by grayed
painted with purple, orange, magenta and Purple Lake. and darkened orange. Again, not exactly what you’d expect, but
Example 2: Analogous Colors. Next, in the trees’ canopies, the appropriate in value for the shadowy area and with a strong enough
use of analogous colors of light magenta, peach, orange and a vari- contrast to help provide balance in the painting.

Here’s a quick study of the same

scene done in the usual fall colors,
the ones painters often grab just
out of habit. Compare this study to
Autumn Ablaze below. Can you see
the difference?

Autumn Ablaze puts

into practice three of
the ways we learned
about on pages 22-24
to add brilliance and
excitement to our
paintings. Example 2: Analogous
colors (see page 24).

Example 1: Color as
value (see page 22).
Example 3: Contrast
(see page 24).

Z1677i 028-037_P01_Autumn_Ab.ind35 35 9/17/08 4:36:40 PM

 36

11. Foreground Bushes

With a palette knife, add Light Magenta
and oil mixes 5 and 6 to the background
area to the left of that same tree. Also
use your palette knife to add Orange Grey,
Caramel, Purple Lake and Lilac to the foli-
age in the lower bushes.

10

10. Trunks and Foliage

Begin adding purples and oranges to the trunks on the right side of the painting
and add more Deep Yellow and Orange to the upper right foliage. Curve your strokes
around clockwise towards the right edge of the canvas in order to create a leaf canopy.
Add a larger strip of orange to the sunlit side of the far left tree trunk.

11

12

12. Foreground Bushes

Apply more colors to the bushes with strokes of Cream, Yellow Grey, 13
Orange, and touches of greens using mixes 10, 11 and 12. “Scrub”
some Cream and Marigold over the tops of the bushes to the left. Work 13. Foreground Bushes
the background right up to the edges of the main trunk. Continue to flesh out the bushes with more strokes of the same colors,
making sure to add some lighter flicks of color over the darker shades
to indicate leaves that are closer to the viewer. Put touches of Cerulean
Blue and Lavender in the darker recesses of the bushes. Use Lilac for
the far lower left branch in the bush.

Z1677i 028-037_P01_Autumn_Ab.ind36 36 9/17/08 4:36:56 PM

 37

14

14. Unexpected Colors

Strokes of Lavender and mix 9 along with mixes 4 and 5 will
add a touch of the unexpected in that lower right foliage. 15
Add a branch hanging down from the middle trunk of the
grouping of trees on the right, plus some additional twigs on 15. Sunlit Background
the lower far right. Add a bit more sunlight—notice where I have added a lighter color, mix 2—to the
background right up next to the far left tree trunk, carrying it to the opposite side of
the trunk as well. Also, look up under the canopy just left of center to where I added
the same color to the background, around and between the twigs.

16. Check Your Work

Take a final look at your entire
painting to see if there are any
areas that could be improved.
After careful consideration, I
decided that the far left tree
didn’t really look finished. So I
added another branch. As you
add your new branch, make sure
to overlap the twigs of the upper
part over the previously painted
twigs so that it doesn’t look like
a last minute add-on. Now the
painting is finished!

16

Z1677i 028-037_P01_Autumn_Ab.ind37 37 9/17/08 4:37:10 PM

Z1677i 038-041_P02_Gone_Wild_A.i38 38 9/17/08 4:37:21 PM
 39

Gone Wild
2 39

The month of May in Victoria, Canada!

Vacation spots are wonderful sources for
paintings, needless to say. The famous
Butchart Gardens near Victoria, British
Columbia, are glorious and this simple little
picture is not at all definitive of their exceed-
ingly manicured array of flowers, shrubs and
trees. Although this small area had absolutely
not been allowed to “go wild,” the simplic-
ity of this visual snippet in contrast to the
magnificence of the whole appealed to my
artistic sense. I painted it as if one could
enjoy a picnic lunch in the dappled sunshine
under the tree, which one would definitely
not be allowed to do—you must stay inside
the roped paths at all times. The title Gone
Wild is my little attempt at humor.

Gone Wild, 12 x 20 inches (30 x 51 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

Z1677i 038-041_P02_Gone_Wild_A.i39 39 9/17/08 4:37:28 PM

 COLOR MIX CHARTS
40
ACRYLIC COLORS Acrylic Mixes
USED

Place the following

acrylic colors on your pal-
ette as you need them.
Mix A1 Mix A2 Mix A3 Mix A4
Use a brush to create Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange Quin. Magenta + Trans. Pyrrole Orange
the mixes shown in the + Quin. Magenta + + Quin. Magenta + Phthalo Blue (Green + Phthalo Blue
Phthalo Blue (Green Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) (Green Shade)
chart at right. Mix A2 is Shade) Shade) 1:a touch 1:1
the same as Mix A1, just 1:1:a touch 1:1:a touch
diluted with more water.

Nickel Azo Yellow

Transparent Pyrrole
Orange
Quinacridone Magenta Mix A5 Mix A6 Mix A7 Mix A8
Phthalo Blue (Green Phthalo Blue (Green Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange
Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) + Trans. Pyr- Shade) + Nickel Azo + Phthalo Blue + Phthalo Blue
Shade) role Orange Yellow (Green Shade) (Green Shade)
1:a touch 3:1 1:1 1:a touch

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube

oil colors on your palette.
Use a palette knife to
create the mixes shown
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6 Mix 7
in the chart at right. White + Lemon Lemon + White White + Lilac + Yellow Grey + Jaune Brillant + Jaune Brillant White + Yellow
1:a touch + Marigold Jaune Brillant + White + Lilac White + Marigold + Grey + Light
3:2:1 Light Magenta 2:1:1 2:1 White + Cad- Magenta +
Titanium White + Marigold mium Red Hue Marigold
Lemon 4:3:1:1:1 1:1:1:a touch 6:4:4:1
Cream
Marigold
Yellow Grey
Jaune Brillant
Cadmium Red Hue Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12 Mix 13 Mix 14
Rose Grey Jaune Brillant + Light Magenta Cream + Lilac Lavender + Per- Lavender + White + Laven- Cerulean Blue
Purple Lake Cadmium Red + Jaune Bril- + Rose Grey manent Rose Jaune Brillant + der + Lilac + Prussian
Hue + Marigold lant + Cream + 3:2:1 3:1 Blue Violet 4:1:1 Green
Permanent Rose 2:1:1 Rose Grey 1:1:a touch 1:1
Light Magenta 1:1:1:a touch
Lilac
Blue Violet
Lavender
Cerulean Blue
Blue Grey Mix 15 Mix 16 Mix 17 Mix 18 Mix 19 Mix 20 Mix 21
Green Blue White + Ceru- Cobalt Green + Cobalt Green Cream + White Lemon + Cream + White Cream + Cobalt
Prussian Green lean Blue + White + Mari- + Marigold + + Cobalt Green Cobalt Green + Marigold + Green + Mari-
Cream + Cad- gold White + Cad- + Marigold 3:1 Cobalt Green gold
Cobalt Green mium Red Hue 3:3:1 mium Red Hue 1:1:touch:touch 2:1:touch:touch 2:touch:touch
1:1:1:a touch 3:2:2:a touch

Z1677i 038-041_P02_Gone_Wild_A.i40 40 9/17/08 4:37:32 PM

 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
41
Reference Photo
I cropped this photo
down from the stan-
dard 4 x 6-inch (10 x
15cm) format to long
and narrow, one of
my favorite formats. I
felt this to be in keep-
ing with the stripe of
bright sunlight that
runs the length of the
picture.

Begin With the Drawing

Loosely draw or transfer the composition onto the canvas using a soft pencil. A traceable line drawing for this painting is available on page 137.

Z1677i 038-041_P02_Gone_Wild_A.i41 41 9/17/08 4:37:49 PM

 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
42

1 2

1. Value Pattern 2. Orange Wash

With fluid acrylics used as you would use watercolor, begin by painting Now apply a diluted orange tone with Transparent Pyrrole Orange over
the cool, medium-to-dark value pattern that runs through the painting the entire canvas, going right over the previous washes. Paint the tree
using loose, “juicy” washes of acrylic mixes A3, A4, A5, A6, A7 and A8. trunk and branches with mixes A2 and A3. Use mix A1 to paint the
Paint around the foliage clumps, flowers, a few stems, rocks, etc. Using spaces between the rocks. (Note that the acrylic mix recipes do not
much less water, define the tree’s canopy using mix A4. include water—dilute these mixes with water as needed to achieve the
right values. Mixes A2 and A7 require the most dilution.)

3 4

3. Red Tulips, Rocks and Shadows 4. Tree Leaves and Orange Tulips
Paint the tulips with Quinacridone Magenta. Paint the shadows that fall Model the clumps of leaves in the tree canopy with Transparent Pyrrole
on the grass in front of the rock border. Then paint the rocks, leaving light Orange and mix A2, leaving the tops light where the sun is striking. Also
areas for sun spots and modeling with darker color where the rocks turn block in the yellow and orange tulips with Transparent Pyrrole Orange.
away from the sun.

5. Foreground Rock
At this point, after carefully checking the composition, I see that the
line of the rock border could be improved by adding another rock in the
foreground. I draw it in with dark paint and paint darker greens around
it to make it stand out. To make this rock look like the others, glaze over
it with the same pure orange. It is important to note that everything at
this point has been done with transparent or translucent applications of
acrylic—no opaque paint at all.
Do you agree that the addition of this last rock has made the com-
position more pleasing to the eye? Are we ready now to proceed with
oils? I think so!

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i42 42 9/17/08 4:38:05 PM

 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
43

6b 6c

6. Tree Foliage, Twigs and Tulip Stems

Starting in the upper left corner of the painting, apply broken color strokes of Yellow Grey, Blue
Grey, and oil mixes 7, 10, 12 and 21, plus touches of mix 20, to the tree foliage. Start painting in
some twigs and branches with Rose Grey, Purple Lake and Lilac. Paint the orange tulips in the far
left with mix 6 and the surrounding blue flower mass with Lavender, using Prussian Green at the
base. Very loosely extend the orange and blue flowers through the tree trunks.
6a
The three photos above show how you can use three different implements—a dull pen knife,
a palette knife and a brush—to remove paint as well as add it. In photo 6a at left, I’m using a pen
knife to scrape away tulip stems out of the darker paint, leaving the underlying acrylic color to
show through. In photo 6b above, I’m using the edge of a small palette knife to apply thin twigs.
Photo 6c above right shows using the brush
and some violet to add unexpected color. The
green is expected in the shadows of a green
tree, the violet is not. I like to spice things up a
bit with “creative color.”

7. Sunlit Leaves and Grass

Continue to use these three techniques as you carry the tree foliage across to the right as
shown, then paint the sun-struck grass with mixes 20 and 21 between the red tulips under 8
the tree. Refine the shapes of the red and orange tulips as you paint the pale grass around
them. Feel free to use red—Permanent Rose—and orange mix 6—to re-claim the tulips if you 8. Treetop at Right
lose them in the negative painting process. Go back up to the leafy treetop at the right
Put some Cobalt Green in the shadow area to the immediate left of the tree trunk. Carry it side and add Cerulean Blue and mix 15 to the
through to the right side of the trunk. other colors you’ve been using in the foliage.

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i43 43 9/17/08 4:38:57 PM

 44

10. Dark Background

Carry on by painting the background further
down behind the red tulips and paint the tree
leaves down over the dark, partially overlap-
ping one of the tulips. This overlap will create
some depth.

9. Dark Background
Now add the dark background to the far right, adding Green Blue and mix 14. Again,
paint the background around the red tulips. Paint the suggestions of pink roses onto
that dark background with Light Magenta and mix 9.

10

11

11. Upper Tree Canopy

Finish painting the tree canopy at upper right, adding a few leaf strokes 12
over the background and a few more rose suggestions. Paint the red
flowered bush to the right, then bring the leafy branch down to partially 12. Light Grasses
overlap it. Paint a green and lavender mass to the lower right of the red Continue to refine that far right area with the path of light grass just
flowered bush, again painting around the orange tulips. beyond the foreground shadows, then extend the reds across as well.
Work these flowers and foliage that are in shadow down and around
the orange tulips at bottom right. Use mix 2 for the sun spots on
those tulips.

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i44 44 9/17/08 4:39:44 PM

 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#2:HERE
Lesson USEAHD HEREASAHD
COLOR HERE
VALUE
45
Use color as value? How does one do that? First, you must learn with an asterisk. In the black and white picture, notice how that light

C OLOR LE SS ON
to see colors in terms of light, medium and dark. Squinting your clump of foliage is made up of strokes of paint that are very close
eyes really helps you to see the value rather than the color. Another in value, creating a very believable foliage shape. Now look at the
tool that is helpful is a piece of red acetate. If you look at a subject same area on the color picture—that clump of foliage is made up of
through red acetate, you will see value only, not color. It takes a bit of pink, green, yellow-green, blue-gray and lavender. There are several
practice to train your brain to think and see in terms of value—but it complementary-color contrasts in that group of colors—and certainly
is so terribly important to your craft. not typical leaf colors. Yet, because they are so close in value,
Now, as you compare the full-color version of Gone Wild shown that clump of foliage “hangs together.” You can see that using this
below with the black and white version, I want you to look first at concept of color-as-value is an excellent way to become adventurous
the light area of foliage in the tree’s canopy. I’ve indicated this area with color!

Medium Medium

Light Dark

* Light Dark

Medium Light

Light Dark

Medium Dark

Medium Medium

Light Dark

* Light Dark

Medium Light

Light Dark

Medium Dark

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i45 45 9/17/08 4:40:31 PM

 13

46

14. Sunlit Grasses and Tree Leaves

Add strokes of mixes 1 and 18 to the strip
of sunny grass and a few strokes of the
same mixes up in the tree. This will add
flickering sunlight to the scene.

13. Rocks at Left

Start painting the rocks at the far left with Rose Grey and mixes 5, 7 and
10, plus touches of mix 6 where the shadow hits the rock that is right at
shadow’s edge.

14

15

15. Grass Below Rock Border

Now paint the grass below the rock border in
the lower left corner of the painting, following
the same sequence as you did for the grass
that runs through the middle of the painting.
Start with mixes 20 and 21. Second, add 16
strokes of mixes 1 and 18. Paint the shadows
with Cobalt Green and mix 12. Don’t forget the 16. Tulip Leaves and Blue Flowers
dappled light! Add some brushstrokes to suggest tulip leaves and perhaps some long grasses under the tree.
Add some dappled light to the rock at the tree’s base with Jaune Brillant. Add touches of Lavender
to suggest blue flowers under the tulips. To the blue flowers you just started, add touches of Ceru-
lean Blue to the darker areas and Lilac to the lighter ones.

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i46 46 9/17/08 4:41:22 PM

 47

17. Tulips, Shaded Rocks and Sunspots

Add some Light Magenta to the tops of some of the red
tulips and Jaune Brillant to the orange tulips to represent
sun splashing onto them through the leaves. Add some
Purple Lake and Blue Violet to the shaded rocks and a few
Jaune Brillant sun spots. Don’t use the lightest mix 5 for the
sun spots because the value contrast would be too jarring.
Use Cobalt Green and mix 9 to begin the lower right corner.

17

18. Tulip Leaves

Loosely brush in some various greens
for the long tulip leaves in the lower
right corner.
Check your tulips—do any of them
need refining? Try making a few of the
orange tulips a bit more interesting by
adding petal details rather than leav-
ing them as simple cup shapes.

18

19. Check Your Work

Take a final look at your
entire painting to see if
there are any areas that
could be improved. This
is where I decided that
the tree needed another
branch. This small branch
coming off the right side of
the trunk helps to balance
out the composition better.
I made sure to have the
branch and twigs overlap
some of the flowers. These
final touches make all the
difference in a painting!

16
19

Z1677i 042-047_P02_Gone_Wild_B.i47 47 9/22/08 3:59:11 PM

 48

Z1677i 048-059_P03_Dutchmans.ind48 48 9/17/08 4:41:58 PM

 3
49

49

Dutchman’s
Gold
Another hike, more painting material! My husband and I had
packed a lunch and as we ate our repast in this sandy wash,
we were totally surrounded by gold. It wasn’t a hot day, but
the sun and exertion of the hike caused us to look for some
shade in which to rest and dine. Cozied down in the gulch, the
yellow brittlebush hanging over our heads, the thick foliage
below the gold was deeply shadowed, the rocks and sand were
cool. I sometimes fancy that this gold is really what the gold of
the “Lost Dutchman Mines” is all about.
For me, painting is as much about reliving memories as
it is about creating a painting. When I paint, the memories
come back to me vividly, enabling me to almost be there—in
that moment and in that place—all over again. When I paint
from a photo taken many years ago, the experience can be bit-
tersweet. But there is always pleasure and fond reminiscence
along with the poignancy. In so many ways, painting is more
than simply making a pretty picture. I always advise that,
while there is much to be learned in terms of “nuts and bolts”
by following along with an instructor’s painting, eventually
you should paint from your own photos and your own experi-
ences. Your painting and life experience will be much richer
for it.

Dutchman’s Gold, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

Z1677i 048-059_P03_Dutchmans.ind49 49 9/17/08 4:42:29 PM

 COLOR MIX CHARTS
50
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2
chart at right. Nickel Azo Yellow + Nickel Azo Yellow +
Trans. Pyrrole Orange Cerulean Blue Deep
+ Cerulean Blue 1:1
Nickel Azo Yellow Deep
Transparent Pyrrole Orange 1:1:1
Dioxazine Purple
Cobalt Blue
Anthraquinone Blue
Cerulean Blue Deep
Turquois (Phthalo)

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use
a palette knife to create the
mixes shown in the chart at
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
right. White + Lemon + White + Lemon + White + Marigold White + Marigold Yellow Grey + Lilac + Mauve
Marigold Marigold 1:1 + Yellow Grey Deep Yellow + 2:1
7:7:1 1:1:1 1:3:1 Rose Violet
Titanium White 3:3:1
Lemon
Cream
Marigold
Yellow Grey
Deep Yellow
Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Jaune Brillant Mauve + Jaune Lavender + Lavender + Ultra- Green Grey + Cobalt Green + Green Grey +
Orange Brillant Mauve marine Blue + Mauve Lavender White + Marigold Marigold
3:1 3:1 + Prussian Blue 1:1 3:2:1 1:1
Rose Grey 3:1:1:1
Purple Lake
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac
Lavender Mix 13 Mix 14 Mix 15 Mix 16 Mix 17 Mix 18
Ultramarine Blue Cream + Cobalt Lemon + White + White + Cream + White + Cream Yellow Grey + Lavender + White
Prussian Blue Green + Marigold Cream + Cobalt Jaune Brillant 2:1 Deep Yellow + + Orange
7:1:1 Green 1:1:1 Rose Grey 3:3:1
Blue Grey 7:2:2:1 1:1:1
Green Blue
Cobalt Green
Prussian Green
Green Grey
Mix 19 Mix 20
White + Ultra- White + Green
marine Blue Blue
3:1 3:1

Z1677i 048-059_P03_Dutchmans.ind50 50 9/17/08 4:42:34 PM

 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
51
Reference Photo
I think this is a wonderful photograph. Even
this photo, though, doesn’t do justice to
the place—a photo seldom if ever does!
What we “see” is heavily affected by our
emotions. A camera can only record a
morsel of the experience. This is one reason
that I exaggerate color: since color is so
emotional anyway, that exaggeration helps
me put the excitement back in!

Begin With the Drawing

Loosely draw or transfer the composition onto the canvas
using a soft pencil. Use your finger to smudge the trunks
and some of the shadowy areas in the rocks. A traceable
line drawing for this painting is available on page 138.

Z1677i 048-059_P03_Dutchmans.ind51 51 9/17/08 4:42:51 PM

 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
52
1. Rocks and Shadowed Foliage
With acrylic Anthraquinone Blue, paint the spaces between the rocks. In
the upper lefthand corner, wet the canvas with clear water, going around
the largest rock and extending the wet area to roughly two-thirds of the
way across the canvas and down close to, but not going past, the tops
of the rocks. Into this wet area, brush fluid acrylics in Nickel Azo Yellow,
Transparent Pyrrole Orange, Cerulean Blue Deep and Anthraquinone
Blue. Allow the colors to bleed into the clear water wash, keeping your
paint well clear of the edges where the clear water stops. You won’t be
mixing color on your palette with this painting, but allowing the colors to
mix where they touch on the canvas. However, you can refer to acrylic mix
A1 on the chart for the color approximation in the upper left corner.
Finish the “lock in” stage. Use the same blues to paint the deep
area of shadowed foliage that extends from the center to the upper right
corner.

2. Remaining Areas
Paint the remaining un-painted area in the upper foliage area with a
diluted Transparent Pyrrole Orange. Continue with the diluted orange
until you’ve covered the entire canvas. Let dry completely.

3. Rocks and Cast Shadows

Apply diluted glazes of Cobalt Blue over the rocks that are in the deepest
shadowed area. Continue that same glaze further down to include the 1
rocks and cast shadows closer to the front.

2 3

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 53

4 5

4. Overlapping Rocks 5. Cast Shadows

We will now begin to separate some of the rocks from each other. Using Use the same colors to paint some cast shadows over the boulders
glazes of Dioxazine Purple and Turquois (Phthalo), find rocks that are to the left. Run those washes down the sides of those same boulders
behind others and “push” them back by making them slightly darker in where they turn away from the sun. Paint the topmost boulder and the
the places where they are behind the other rocks. This creates depth and shadows that are cast upon it in the same manner. Then add a wash
the sense that some rocks are overlapping others. of green to the foliage areas as shown, using turquoise with a touch of
yellow—see mix A2 for an approximate color.

6 7

6. Foreground Rocks and Boulders 7. Darker Areas

Apply glazes over the foreground rocks and boulders using mixtures Make those same rocks and large boulder come forward by darken-
of blues, turquoises and purples, as you have already done on the ing the rocks behind and around them. You are now finished with
other rocks. your acrylic under-painting. On to oils!

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
54

8 9

8. Topmost Boulder and Foliage 9. Line Marks on Boulder

We’ll begin the oil phase with the topmost boulder. Use Yellow Grey, Lilac, oil mixes Working on the same boulder, use
18, 19 and 20 on the lower right, and add mixes 5 and 6 to do the remaining parts Purple Lake on the edge of your smallest
of the boulder, leaving the sun spots un-painted at this stage. Apply brushstrokes of palette knife to make line marks on the
Prussian Blue, Blue Grey, Prussian Green, Green Grey and mixes 7, 9 and 20 to the boulder.
adjacent foliage.

10. Smudgy Texture

Use the flat side of the
same palette knife to
make a smudgy texture
on the boulder.

11. Background
Flowering Bush
10
Scrub in transparent
Marigold at the top of
the prominent flowering bush in the upper background,
then Prussian Green a bit lower down. Paint a thick passage
of very dark Prussian Blue and Prussian Green in the deep
recess of the bush, then scrape some twigs into the wet
paint using the edge of your palette knife.
Add Lavender, Green Grey and mix 11 to the foliage
directly to the right of the largest boulder to serve as a base
for details to come later.
Apply mix 15 to the “sun spots” on both the top boulder
and its neighbor next door down, breaking up the lightness
with mix 18 where needed. Add Yellow Grey, Rose Grey and
mix 9 to the righthand side of the smaller boulder where it
is out of the sunlight. 11

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 55
12. Yellow Flowers and Smaller Rocks
Now add some yellows—Marigold and mix 2—
and yellow-green—mix 12—to begin building
the flower mass.
To begin building the mass of smaller rocks
to the right of that main boulder, use Rose
Grey, Purple Lake and mix 9.

12

13 14

13. Yellow Flowers and Rocks 14. Yellow Flowers and Rocks
Add more flowers, some twigs over the boulder, and foliage. Brush some Brush more yellows over the far right bush, then go back to the bushes
yellow onto the far right flowering bush. For the flowers in direct sun, use on the left and add still more flowers over the largest boulder, plus more
Deep Yellow for their centers; for the rest use Yellow Grey or Rose Grey, sun spots and cast shadows.
and Purple Lake for the ones in deep shadow. Continue working on the rocks, adding both warm and cool medium-
In the upper left corner, “smudge in” some yellow—mix 4—to suggest value colors such as Rose Grey, Blue Grey, Lavender, and mixes 5, 6, 7,
flowers and add some brushstrokes with Cobalt Green and Blue Grey for 8, 9 and 17. Use Purple Lake for the deep crevices. Your goal here is to
a bit more leaf definition to the right of the boulder—a few more yellow strike a balance between treating the rocky area as one large mass of
flowers too! broken color that melts into the shadows, yet giving definition to enough
Down in the rocks, loosely add brushstrokes to the rocks that are individual rocks so that the area doesn’t look flat. With this combination
already formed by the acrylic under-painting. This will add texture and of techniques—defining and modeling and using lost edges—work your
a feeling of bulk and solidity to them. Be sure to paint the sunlit areas way down, finishing as you go.
(mixes 15 and 16) as well as the out-of-light areas.

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 56
15. Yellow Flowers and Sandy Wash
Jump over to the bush on the right and apply some
lighter yellow to the flower mass. Now start painting
yellow flowers. Most of the flowers should be on the
outer edges of the bush with just a few inside the mass.
It’s not necessary or even desirable to paint all the flow-
ers—the viewer’s eye will “fill in the blanks”!
Scribble some strokes of Lavender and mix 17 onto
the sandy wash. This will be mostly painted over later, but
some color will show through to add texture. Notice how
the texture goes around the top of the small rock, which
defines its shape. This will be a big help later.

15

16. Sandy Wash and Cast Shadows

Start painting the sand with mixes 15 and 16 and touches
of Cream here and there to liven it up. Don’t completely
cover the texture scribbles from step 15. Add some twigs
sticking out over the sandy area. Paint the top of the small
rock out in the middle of the wash.
Over that light sand area, add some strokes of mix 17
to indicate shadows cast by foliage or flowers that are to
the left of the picture plane and out of our sight. These will
contribute to the feeling that the viewer is down in a gulch
with foliage all around.
Model the larger of the two isolated rocks in the middle
of the sandy wash.

16

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 57

17 18

17. Flowers, Twigs and Rocks 18. Cast Shadows

Paint some flowers and leaves and a few more twigs out over the sand. Work further on the shadows cast over the sand, refining them if neces-
Having the flowers overlap in this way will push the sandy path down sary with both positive and negative painting. In other words, if the
and pull the flowers forward—more depth! Do that same “scribble thing” shadow gets too large, come back in against that shape with sand color
in the sand forward of the small isolated rocks. to refine and define it more to your liking. You can add more flowers too.
Add a few yellow paint dabs to indicate flower petals that have fallen Bring the sand on down further into the foreground and paint the
into the smaller rocks. Start painting the rocks to the left that haven’t yet cast shadows and small rocks as you go.
received any oil paint.

19. Sand and Rocks

Continue the sand on down to
the bottom of the canvas. Add
more brushstrokes to the rocks
as well.

19

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#3:HERE
Lesson PUTAHD
THEHERE AHDTRIFECTA”
“COLOR HERE TO WORK
58
Earlier in the book in the section called “Make Your Colors Zing!” we pop forward. Violet, its complement, is our darkest color and easy
talked about the color trifecta. The three color principles that make to gray down when necessary, thereby making yellow and neutral-
up the trifecta—using color as value, using contrast, and using analo- ized-and-darkened violet the most contrasting duo: you have value
gous colors—are all clearly shown in this painting. Use analogous contrast, complement contrast and bright/neutral contrast. Contrast
colors in the shadows to give them life; use complementary colors to on three counts—and to the max! The variety of cool (analogous)
create brilliant color contrasts; and, of course, use color as value. Or, colors—with violets figuring prominently—set off the yellow flowers
as I often do, use color just for fun! and the sun-struck rocks and sand quite dramatically.
This is a painting about sun colors and shadow colors, meaning Do you see how learning the basic color principles—and thinking
that it is necessary to use extreme color contrasts. Yellow and violet about them when you paint—will open up new worlds and present
are perfect for this color scheme. Yellow is the easiest color to make you with many exciting color possibilities?

Dutchman’s Gold puts

into practice the “color
trifecta” we learned
about on pages 22-24.
Compare this lesson
to Color Lesson #1 on
page 35, where you’ll
Example 2: Contrast
find the same color
(see page 24).
principles at work in a
very different painting!

Example 1: Color as
value (see page 22).

Example 3: Analogous
colors (see page 24).

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 59

20 21

20. Flowers, Twigs and Rocks

Paint the lower left boulder with strokes of
Yellow Grey, Lilac, Lavender and mixes 6,
9, 17, and 20. Run Lavender and mix 18
into the sand to create a cast shadow area
in a curving counter-clockwise movement
toward the left and up. This will cause the
viewer’s eye to travel around the bottom of
the canvas and back up into the painting
rather than down and out. We don’t want
the viewer’s eye to move out, but to keep
moving around within the painting.

21. Cast Shadows

Add some dark crevices in between some
of the foreground rocks and some cool
lights on their tops. Make sure to use mixes
18 and 19 and nothing any lighter. We
want those rocks to have form but to stay
in the shadows. If the tops of those rocks
are painted too light they will move into the
sunlight and out of the shadows.

22. Check Your Work

As I analyze the finished painting, I decide
that a few more twigs sticking out over the
rocks under the largest boulder might be a
good idea and add to the feeling of depth. I
try it—I like it!

22

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 60

Z1677i 060-069 P04_Red_Shed.indd60 60 9/17/08 4:44:06 PM

 61

The Red Shed

4 61

While taking a pleasant stroll down the street where my

husband grew up, I spotted this exquisite little gem of a photo
opportunity. If you could see the scene expanded, you’d see
that this is actually a very small portion of a large garage, an
old structure fitted to accommodate modern usage. I am so
happy that the owners had the good taste (in my view!) to
retain its picturesque artistic qualities as well. You will notice
when you look at the reference photo on page 63 that I deleted
the motion-activated light fixture. Many artists are wonder-
fully successful at putting into their paintings the modern
objects that reflect our times. That usually doesn’t work well
for me so I leave them out.
As it turned out, the owners are long-time fam-
ily friends, and they enthusiastically allowed me to wander
around to take pictures and gave me a tour of the old Victo-
rian-style home—a real treat!

The Red Shed, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm), acrylics on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHART
62
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2 Mix A3 Mix A4 Mix A5
chart at right. Please note that Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange Dioxazine Purple + Permanent Violet
the acrylic mixture recipes do + Quinacridone + Permanent Violet + Dioxazine Purple Trans. Pyrrole Orange Dark + Cobalt Blue
Magenta Dark + Quinacridone 5:1 5:1 1:1
not include the ratio of water 1:1 Magenta
to paint. It will be necessary to 1:1:1
dilute the colors with water to
achieve the lighter values.

White Gesso
Nickel Azo Yellow
Transparent Pyrrole Orange Mix A6 Mix A7 Mix A8 Mix A9 Mix A10
Quinacridone Magenta Permanent Violet Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple + Cerulean Blue Deep Cerulean Blue Deep
Dark + Turquois Turquois (Phthalo) Turquois (Phthalo) + Quinacridone + Trans. Pyrrole
Permanent Violet Dark (Phthalo) 1:1 1:1 Magenta + Trans. Orange
Dioxazine Purple 1:1 Pyrrole Orange 1:a touch
Cobalt Blue 1:touch:touch
Cerulean Blue Deep
Turquois (Phthalo)

Mix A11 Mix A12 Mix A13 Mix A14 Mix A15
Turquois (Phthalo) + White Gesso + Tur- White Gesso + Ceru- Nickel Azo Yellow + White Gesso + Nickel
Trans. Pyrrole Orange quois (Phthalo) + lean Blue Deep + Cerulean Blue Deep Azo Yellow + Ceru-
+ Quinacridone Trans. Pyrrole Orange Nickel Azo Yellow 1:1 lean Blue Deep
Magenta + Quinacridone 7:4:1 9:2:1
1:1:1 Magenta
5:1:1:1

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 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
63
Reference Photo
This photo presents a great opportunity to
study the different values of white. Intellectu-
ally, we know that the picket fence (in the sun)
and the door (in shadow) were painted with
the same can of white paint. So the natural
tendency is to use the same color of paint
for both in the painting as well—which would
be wrong. Therefore, we really need to focus
on value—the actual lightness or darkness
of that “white” to create believable light and
shade—which also produces the perception of
depth in the painting.

Begin With the Drawing

Loosely draw or transfer the composition onto
the canvas using a soft pencil. A traceable line
drawing for this painting is available on page
138.

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 1
PAINT ENTIRELY WITH FLUID ACRYLICS
64
1. Darkest Shapes
Using your acrylics transparently, first paint the darkest accents. Resist
with all your might the urge to make the window shapes too perfect!
The painting will have much more personality and character if you avoid
rigidly drawn shapes. Use various combinations of Dioxazine Purple
and Turquois (Phthalo) (mixes A7 and A8—mix A8 shows the two colors
thoroughly mixed while A7 shows the two colors separate on the sides
and mixing in the middle) with mere touches of Nickel Azo Yellow here
and there. For example, flick a few spots of Nickel Azo Yellow into the top
middle, upper right and lower right wet window panes to suggest leaf
reflections.
Note that all the dark shapes in the foliage in this step are negative
shapes. The window panes are positive shapes—however, since you
are painting around the window spacer bars and around the roses and
leaves, you are painting in a negative painting manner.

2 3

2. Remaining Shapes and Left Side Wall 3. Red Wall

Continue painting the dark accent shapes, now adding some rose bush Using mix A2, paint the wall, painting around the flowers, leaves and
canes and stems and leaves to the tiger lilies. Again, note that these are door. Keep the paint wet as you go up and around the top of the door
positive shapes where the darks you painted in step one were mostly and down the other side. Do not homogenize your mixture—allow some
negative shapes. variegation (as shown in the color swatch on page 62) for more eye
The underlying structure of the painting is now in place. entertainment. A dark wet-in-wet stroke of mix A3 in the upper right (see
Using mix A1, establish the light, left side of the building. Allow the where I allowed it to run down?) will coax the viewer’s eye back into the
color to overlap the corner of the building—soften the right edge of the painting.
wash with clear water to prevent a hard edge to the color.

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 65

4 5a 5b

4. Shed Door 5. Shed Door

Now with mix A9, run this blue-gray wash over the door. Allow Let’s create even more depth. With mix A5, paint the top of the door jamb beneath
the color to be darker behind the foliage areas. It’s OK if it gets the little lip that juts out (see photo 5a above left). Soften the edge of that strip by
on the window panes, but try to avoid the flowers and leaves. running a wet brush along the length of that darker area while it’s still wet. Allow to
You now have depth already. That blue-gray really pushes the dry with your painting tilted—the top lower than the bottom—to keep gravity from
door back a few feet. Also paint the thin strip of overhanging pulling that new darker wash too far down. Paint the door jamb on the right using
roof with the same blue-gray. the same colors.
Now referring to photo 5b above right, darken the door just above the window
with a bit more blue-gray. While this area is still damp, drop in some Nickel Azo
Yellow. This will give the feel of light bouncing up under the door frame from the
sunlit area.
Also darken the lower left side of the door and glaze over the bricks at bottom
right as well, using the same blue-gray.

6 7

6. Shed Door and Bricks 7. Roof Shadows

In a “hit or miss” fashion, add some refining medium-dark lines Add a darker value to the roof overhang, then drop in some yellow. When dry,
to the door details, then add yellow just under the recessed paint a shadow with mix A4 across the wall just under the overhang. The diagonal
area. angle of the shadow shape as it descends from upper left downwards to lower
Paint the bricks with the wall colors, leaving the tops of the right suggests the position of the sun. Even such a small detail can do much to
bricks light. tell the viewer about what’s going on outside the picture plane!

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 8 9

66

8. Foliage, Fence and Gateposts 9. Fence, Sidewalk and Foliage

With medium-dark colors, paint the small piece of the sidewalk that can With a slightly darker mixture, further refine the fence by adding a darker
be glimpsed through the overhanging plants. Use the same colors to glaze over the previous wash of color. This will provide even more depth
apply some loose strokes to the foliage directly below the central gate to the fence parts.
post, to suggest recesses between the leaves. Using “door colors,” paint the first application of color on the sidewalk.
With a blue-gray similar to the first washes on the door, and touches Apply variegated washes of mix A6 to the foliage to the right of the
of mix A5 here and there, paint the parts of the fence and gate posts door. Don’t forget that you can paint these transparent washes right
that are either turned away from the sun or have shadows cast on them. over the dark accents—no need to paint around them. Paint some cast
Add some yellow wet-in-wet as shown. shadows onto the sidewalk with the same colors.

10 10. Foliage, Shrubbery and Hosta

Glaze over the foliage directly beneath the door and around to the
foliage areas that are turned away from the light with Permanent Violet
Dark, Dioxazine Purple and Turquois (Phthalo), not mixing the colors,
only allowing them to merge on the canvas when you change from one
color to another. Paint around a few little spiky grass blades that are
sticking out into the sun.
Use mix A10 and the same modeling method to give depth to the
shrubbery at far left.
Still using mix A10 and a bit of Permanent Violet Dark, paint the
spiky plant to the left and the lower leaves of the hosta at the right, add-
ing Turquois (Phthalo) to the mix.

11 11. Hosta Leaves

Paint lighter versions of pale blue-
greens and lavenders up in the
part of the hosta plant where it is
receiving more light. Leave some
white canvas where the light is
the brightest on the leaves.

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#4:HERE
Lesson USEAHD HERE
SHAPE ANDAHD HERETO MAKE OBJECTS ADVANCE OR RECEDE
VALUE
67
I’ll bet you thought that warm colors always advance and cool are red but because of their shape, value contrast with the window

C OLOR LE SS ON
colors always recede. That may be true much of the time but now panes behind them, and their context within the composition. The
you know that it just “ain’t necessarily so” all of the time! In this warm colored building recedes for the same reasons. The light-struck
painting the lights pop forward regardless of how cool their color side of the building recedes because of the linear perspective in the
temperature. The red roses pop forward—not only because they siding. Shape, value and context trump color!

Dark value, receding shape

Advancing shapes, but
still behind the fence
Dark value, advancing from door but
still receding from foreground
Receding shape—
warm colors
Advancing from door, but receding
from foreground
Advancing shape—
cool colors Advancing shape—cool colors

Light value, advancing shapes

Advancing shape from red wall, but
receding shape from foremost space
Advancing shape—cool colors

Advancing shapes Dark value receding from leaf shapes,

but still farther forward than all other
shapes and areas

12. Hosta Leaves, Roses and Lilies

12 13
Apply a pale yellow glaze to the hosta leaves.
Apply the first washes to the spiky leaves at
far right. Glaze the roses with Quinacridone
Magenta and the lilies with Nickel Azo Yellow.

13. Foliage, Roses and Lilies

Glaze the remaining foliage (except for the
spiky plants) with pale yellow. Most of the
yellow will be painted over later and the
remaining yellow will create a warm sunny
appearance. Model the roses with strokes of
stronger Quinacridone Magenta for the larger
shapes, then even less diluted magenta for
the narrow strokes that suggest petals. Apply
glazes of orange to the lilies, leaving some
yellow to indicate that the sun is reaching parts
of their petals. Leave lighter sun spots on the
left sides of the flowers since the sun is coming
from that direction.

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 14

68
14. Siding and Foliage
Indicate the siding on the walls using the same “wall color”
mixes A1 and A2, but darker respectively. Wiggly lines in a
“hit and miss” approach will suggest the texture of the sid-
ing—very little detail is needed.
Now start glazing over the yellow foliage with mix A14,
leaving bits of yellow showing through here and there, espe-
cially in the sun-struck areas.
Glaze a bit of yellow over the spiky plants here and there.
Add the suggestion of leaves at the top of the bricks with
brushstrokes, then a little splatter.
Dramatize the sun-struck shrubbery at the foot of the
main fence post (near the center of the painting) by darken-
ing the shadow that it casts to the right upon itself.
The foliage to the top and right of the bricks is still flat, so
run some darker shapes of mix A11 through the larger shapes
to give some definition.

15

15. Foliage and Cast Shadows

The time has come for final adjustments. The foliage of the
rose bush looks a bit skimpy to me. If yours does as well, use
mix A11 to add some darker leaves behind the lighter bush
shape.
If any of your yellow foliage is still too yellow, now is the
time to make adjustments. In my painting I decided to glaze
a pale Cerulean Blue Deep over the bright yellow leaves at
the base of the central gate post.
Darken the cast shadows on the sidewalk at lower left if
necessary using mix A8 and diluting as necessary.

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 69

16 17

18

16. Foliage and Sidewalk

Add white gesso to some Cerulean Blue Deep and Nickel Azo
Yellow to make three opaque greens (mixes A12, A13 and A15)
and “beef up” the foliage here and there where needed. Splatter
a bit of the same mixture over some of the dark areas of the
foliage to break up the darks a little. Refer to the photo above for
placement.
Splatter some very dark purple over the sidewalk in the
shadow area to add texture and interest.

17. Opaque Leaves and Wall Splatters

Add some more opaque leaves and use the same opaque pale
green to splatter on the wall just above the shrubbery. This splat-
ter will visually balance with the splatter on the sidewalk and
shrubbery.

18. Check Your Work

Step back and take a good look at your painting to see if it needs
any final adjustments. I decided to add some pure white gesso
highlights on the tops and sides of the parts of the fence and
posts that are receiving the most direct sunlight. This will be a
little more striking than the white canvas alone. Compare the
fence and posts in this step to the previous few steps and you’ll
see the difference this makes—the “whiter white” of the added
gesso causes the fence posts to come forward even more than
before.

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Z1677i 070-073_P05_Ecola_Cove_A.70 70 9/17/08 4:47:01 PM
 Ecola Cove
5 71

In this painting of Ecola Cove along the Ore-

gon coast, I was striving for drama. Toward
this end I exploited the contrast of moods:
the sunlit cove with a few figures walking on
the beach versus the brooding, dark mystery
of the forest rising steeply behind. Dramatic
and mysterious, yes—but threatening I did
not want! Therefore, I made sure to use dark,
rich colors—very pure colors rather than
heavy, overly grayed colors. There’s a big psy-
chological difference between dark and rich,
and dark and somber!
The orange tone on the canvas also
helped to lighten a mood which could easily
have become cold and forbidding. And the
subtle suggestions of human figures walking
on the sand provide scale relative to the huge
boulders and landforms in the background.

Ecola Cove, 16 x 20 inches (41 x 51 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

Z1677i 070-073_P05_Ecola_Cove_A.71 71 9/17/08 4:47:28 PM

 COLOR MIX CHARTS
72
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2
chart at right. Mix A2 is the Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange
same as Mix A1 but diluted + Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple
1:1 1:1
with more water.

Transparent Pyrrole Orange

Dioxazine Purple

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use
a palette knife to create the
mixes shown in the chart at
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
right. White + Cream + Jaune Brillant + Orange + Mari- White + Lavender White + Lavender White + Ice
Jaune Brillant Light Magenta gold + Lilac 10:1 3:1 Green + Lavender
1:1:1 + Orange + Lilac 1:1:1 3:2:1
Titanium White + Marigold
Cream 4:2:1:1:1
Marigold
Yellow Grey
Orange Grey
Caramel
Jaune Brillant
Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Orange Cerulean Blue + White + Cream + Orange + Mari- Rose Grey + White + Cream Lilac + Yellow
Rose Grey Lavender + Blue Jaune Brillant gold + Light Orange + Mari- + Jaune Brillant Grey
Violet 3:1:1 Magenta + gold + Lilac 2:1
Purple Lake 8:1:1 Mauve + Cream 2:1:1 1:1:1:1
Light Magenta 1:1:1:1:1
Mauve
Lilac
Blue Violet
Lavender
Prussian Blue
Mix 13 Mix 14 Mix 15 Mix 16
Cerulean Blue Lavender + Lavender + White Prussian Green + Green Grey +
Blue Grey Mauve + Ice Green + Cream + Marigold Marigold
1:1 Orange 1:1:1 1:1
Green Blue 7:7:4:1
Prussian Green
Cobalt Green
Ice Green
Green Grey
Leaf Green

Z1677i 070-073_P05_Ecola_Cove_A.72 72 9/17/08 4:47:34 PM

 REFERENCE PHOTO AND ORANGE UNDER-PAINTING
73
Reference Photo
I took this photo at Ecola State Park
in Oregon. I was awed by the primeval
forest we drove through to arrive at the
beach. My imagination gave reign to
dinosaurs watching through the drip-
ping vegetation! Yet, when we emerged
from the wooded area, the sun was
shining and the water glistening and
frothing upon the beach. No wonder I
wanted to depict the idea of dramatic
contradiction in my painting.

Tone the Canvas

Begin by toning the entire canvas with acrylic Transparent Pyrrole Orange. Allow variations in the intensity of
the color. Let dry completely before transferring the drawing to the canvas.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
74

1. Transfer the Composition Line Drawing

When the orange under-painting is dry, draw or transfer the composition Because the composition is a little hard to see on the orange canvas,
onto the canvas using a soft pencil. here is a small version of the line drawing to help you place the main
elements. A traceable line drawing is available on page 139.

2. Main Shapes
Use acrylic mixes A1 and A2 to “set” the main
aspects of the pencil drawing, then paint some
of the smaller, but principal, shapes with the
same mixtures. Note that the color mix recipes
shown in the color chart on page 72 do not
include a water ratio. To get the light value of
mix A2, you will need to add significantly more
water than you do to mix A1. Your composition
is now “locked in.”

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
75

4. Land Forms, Sand and Tree Trunks

3 Start building up the texture of the land forms and the sand with oil
mixes 1, 2 and 3 and Lilac, using mix 13 and Purple Lake in the shadow
3. Background, Land Forms and Shrubbery area. Do the same with the forested background with brush and palette
Scrub in transparent passages of Green Blue, Prussian Green and knife strokes of Cerulean Blue, Blue Grey and Green Blue; and in the
Caramel in the deepest background area at the upper right. Add Cobalt sun-struck foliage areas with Cobalt Green, Ice Green, Green Grey and
Green to the spot between the two land masses that is receiving direct Leaf Green.
sunlight. Allow some of the Cobalt Green to work its way into the dark Continue in the same manner and with the same colors, moving
area just above. outwards and upwards. Add some tree trunks with mix 14. Remember
Begin painting the main land mass with Yellow Grey and oil mix 1, to alternate between using brush and palette knife and also to leave
and the shrubbery at the top of the sun struck area to the right with some of the toned canvas showing through here and there.
combinations of Lavender, Blue Grey, Ice Green, Green Grey and Leaf
Green. Paint the shadow cast by that jutting land form with Lavender and
Cerulean Blue.

6. Dark Cliff Face and Wet Sand Texture

The left hand portion of the cliff is very dark with very little value contrast.
Use all of the dark colors you have used so far plus the addition of mixes
7, 9, 10, 13 and 15. Use Prussian Blue for the very darkest darks—but
5
use it sparingly. These mixtures allow for just enough value contrast and
5. Upper Treeline warm/cool contrast to provide interest in an area that otherwise might
Use Lavender and Cobalt Green to paint the lighter tree area at the very be boring.
top of the canvas. Then use strokes of Blue Grey to suggest the tall coni- Start building up the texture of the wet sand with the same mixes 1,
fers growing on the hillside. 2 and 3 you used already in the sun-struck cliffs.
Smear a little Prussian Green at top left and Purple Lake below it at
water’s edge just to get a sense of balance going.

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 76

7. Wet Sand and Figures

Let’s focus on the wet sand. Drag the still-wet colors already on the can- 8
vas out horizontally with your brush to create a glistening appearance.
With minimal brushstrokes, create the suggestion of three small figures 8. Deep to Shallow Ocean Water
on the sand over on the right side using mix 12 for the one on the left Start painting the upper part of the ocean water with Cerulean Blue,
and Orange Grey for the other two. Add a rough reflection of the light on Blue Grey, Green Blue, Prussian Green and Cobalt Green. With Yellow
the cliff with mix 1 and vertical strokes. Grey and mixes 3, 9 and 10, paint the sand at the edge of the water.
Holding your brush horizontally to the canvas, use a waving, zigzag stroke
of Cream to indicate a spent wave receding from the shore.
Block in the foliage at the far right using Lavender, Cerulean, Green
Grey, Leaf Green and mix 13 for the lowest and deepest part. Use Cream
for the parts that the sun is catching.
Add another reflection of the light cliff face onto the wet sand using
the same colors used in the light cliffs.

9. Waves
Pull some strokes of mix 5 through the reflections on the sand. Now for
some wave action! Use Cobalt Green, Ice Green, a touch of Cream and
mix 5, move your brush in tune with the movement of the waves. Note
how the brush is not always used broadside but sometimes with the 10
edge to pull out slender horizontal shapes, such as the leading edges of
waves rolling onto shore. 10. Waves
To create spray from the waves against the distant dark cliff, drag your
brush quickly up in a diagonal movement.

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#5:HERE
Lesson USEAHD HERE
BLUES AHD
AND HERE TO PORTRAY DEEP AND SHALLOW WATER
GREENS
77
Ecola Cove is a study in the amazing variety of colors you can use beach and in the rocks and land masses in the foreground and

C OLOR LE SS ON
to depict water in all its forms, from the rich, dark blues of the deep background.
ocean to the light greens and sand colors you can see in the clear To help you sort out the rich variety of blues, greens and sand
shallow water that rolls up onto a beach. colors used in this painting, I’ve placed some swatches of the tube
There is also a wide range of color in the sand itself, depending oil colors and color mixes from the chart on page 72 next to the
on whether the sand is dry or wet, or if it is under a shallow layer of painting below. Don’t be afraid to use lots of colors when you paint a
water. Ecola Cove began with an orange underpainting, and you water scene—that’s what nature does!
can see that orange color peeking through many areas of the sandy

WATER COLORS SAND COLORS

Mix 7 Mix 13

Blue Grey Mix 10

Cobalt Green Mix 2

Green Blue Mix 12

Mix 4 Mix 1

Mix 6 Mix 9

Cream Yellow Grey

Mix 14 Mix 1 Mix 5 Ice Green

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 78

11

11. Waves and Rocks

To depict the crescent shape of the cove, direct the shapes of the waves
around in an elliptical clockwise movement.
Begin painting the rocks in the waves using the cliff and sand
colors you’ve used so far. Don’t neglect the water to the right of those
rocks—use light sand colors and touches of Ice Green.
12

12. Foreground Water

Add some color mixes 1, 5 and 6 to the foamy water to the right of those
same rocks. Add a bit of mix 14 to the water at the base of those rocks.
Pull the water colors Yellow Grey, Cobalt Green, some Ice Green and
Cream down into the foreground to form a base for the wave action we’ll
be working on in steps 14 and 15.

13

13. Foreground Water and Rocks

Add more of the same to the foreground water using more Yellow Grey 14
and some mix 1 so that the viewer has the sense of seeing the sand
under the water. This will make the water appear clear and shallow in this 14. Wave Action and Spray
area. Use Orange Grey and Purple Lake to begin painting the little rock With mix 5, splash some spray up onto the rocks as shown. Merge the
sitting all by its lonesome out in the water. splashes into the wave action. Save the lightest color—mix 4—for the very
Throw a few strokes of color and texture onto the rock mass at right lightest accents on the waves.
just to get it started. Use wavy strokes of mixes 1 and 6 to indicate swirling water. Don’t
Use wavy strokes to suggest the motion of the water as it moves cover up all the sand underneath, though!
around the foreground rocks and add some more strokes to the rocks Work a bit more on the rocks to the right.
themselves.

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 79

15

15. Wave Edges and Rock Colors

Now add strokes of mix 1 to the edges of the receding wavelets in the foreground. 16
Again, save mix 4 for the very lightest touches.
Bring some spray up over the dark base of the rocks jutting partway into the
16. Foreground Rocks
Continue refining the rocks. Pay close attention to the planes
shallow water using the brush technique shown in step 10.
of those rocks. A palette knife works well for describing the
Begin the process of refining the rocks. Continue to use Green Grey, Purple
planes and angles of a rockface.
Lake, and mixes 3, 7, 10, 12 and 13, and use the lighter colors of Jaune Brillant
Use the same colors and techniques to finish the rocks
and mixes 1 and 11 on the edges facing the sun.
closest to the viewer in the lower right corner of the canvas.

17. Check Your Work

Take a final look at your entire
painting to see if there are any
areas that could be improved.
I made two minor adjustments
to the foreground rock mass:
I adjusted the edges of some
of the rocks to make them less
rounded and more angu-
lar—you should be able to spot
them. Of that group of rocks,
I also added brushstrokes of
Lavender and mix 14 to the top
plane of the middle rock which
suggests blue sky reflecting
into a wet rock surface.

17

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 80
6 La Siesta
del Gato
A hot August day in Santa Fe. What better
way to express that idea than a cat dozing in
some precious shade and giving it a Spanish
title? “La Siesta del Gato” translates loosely
to “cat nap.” Simon the cat wasn’t with me
on that trip but I had a picture of him taking
a cat nap in my living room at home, and
the orientation of him on the table was just
about the same as if he had actually been
lying on the warm rock wall. When combin-
ing reference photos for your paintings, it’s
so helpful to find ones that actually work
together. If you have to change or make up
too much stuff to get the two photos to fit, it
may be more trouble than it’s worth!

La Siesta del Gato, 16 x 20 inches (41 x 51 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

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Z1677i 080-089_P06_La_Siesta.ind81 81 9/17/08 4:51:16 PM
 COLOR MIX CHARTS
82
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2
chart at right. Thin to transpar- Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange
ency with water as required in + Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple
1:1 1:1
the instructions on the upcom-
ing pages.

Hansa Yellow Light

Transparent Pyrrole Orange
Quinacridone Magenta
Permanent Violet Dark
Dioxazine Purple
Cerulean Blue Deep
Turquois (Phthalo)

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use a
palette knife to create the mixes
shown in the chart at right.
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
Cream + Jaune Jaune Brillant + Cream + Jaune White + Yellow Orange + Purple Orange + Mauve
Titanium White Brillant + Orange Cream + Orange Brillant + Orange Grey + Jaune Lake + Light Magenta
+ Blue Violet 4:4:1 + Purple Lake Brillant 6:1 + Cream
Lemon 1:1:touch:speck 7:3:1:1 4:1:1 1:1:1:1
Cream
Yellow Grey
Orange Grey
Yellow
Jaune Brillant
Orange Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Cream + Light White + Light Light Magenta + Mauve + Jaune Lilac + Mauve Lavender +
Purple Lake Magenta + White Magenta Rose Violet Brillant 1:1 Mauve
Light Magenta 2:1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 2:1
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac
Blue Violet
Lavender
Prussian Blue Mix 13 Mix 14 Mix 15 Mix 16
Cerulean Blue White + Lavender White + Cream + White + Yellow White + Green
1:a touch Green Grey Green Grey + Leaf
Blue Grey 6:3:1 2:1 Green + Orange
Cobalt Green 4:2:2:a touch
Ice Green
Green Grey
Yellow Green
Leaf Green

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 REFERENCE PHOTOS AND DRAWING
83

Rock Wall Reference Photo Cat Reference Photo

As soon as I saw it I knew I would want to paint this charming rock wall I love this photo in spite of the fact that the focus is not sharp. The photo
with its dressing of beautiful flowers. I shot it from several angles to make is blurry because I keep my flash turned off, especially when photo-
sure I had adequate material for a painting. I always come back from graphing something from which to paint later. I have learned to keep the
a trip or hike with hundreds of pictures. That may seem excessive, but camera pretty steady and often prop my elbows on a table to steady
I learned that it’s cheaper to take an overabundance of photos than to my camera—but it would take a tripod to achieve a really sharp photo
take another trip to catch what I didn’t the first time! in poor light. Therefore, I will often take another photograph with the
flash on in order to have an image in which I can see clearly any details
I might need later—but that photo will not be used for light and shadow
shapes. Flash photography is flat and boring!

Begin With the

Drawing
Loosely draw or trans-
fer the composition
onto the canvas using
a soft pencil. A trace-
able line drawing is
available on page
139.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
84

1 2

1. Cat and Rock Wall 2. Dark Foliage and Cast Shadows

Using acrylic mix A1, begin by painting the spaces between the rocks in Add Permanent Violet Dark, Turquois (Phthalo) and Cerulean Blue Deep
the rock wall, defining the brick edging, and painting the dark “points” to your palette and paint the cool dark foliage area behind the flowers
on Simon the cat’s face and front leg. Dilute mix A1 with water to get mix and iris blades above the cat. Also paint the shaded foliage beneath
A2, and begin to model his body, painting shapes to separate the legs the cat’s face, the shadow cast by his front leg and the shadow cast by
and define the belly. his rear leg that runs along the length of his body. Allow the three colors
Note: the cat’s back legs in the finished painting are a little different to mix and mingle as you change from one color to the next. Vary the
from what you see here and in the coming steps. After I completed the amount of water used to dilute the paint as well, so that you have some
painting I made some small changes in the position of Simon’s back darker areas within the light.
legs to make him seem more relaxed. You’ll see what I did in steps 18 Use the same colors—much diluted—and the same treatment to
and 19 on page 89. paint the first layer of color on the cast shadows to the left of the wall.

3 4

3. Cast Shadow and Flowers

Darken that same cast shadow with the same colors, less diluted, along
with mix 1. Don’t extend the darker color all the way to the edge of those 4. Magenta Flowers
shadows, though, because cast shadows lighten as they move away Again with Quinacridone Magenta, paint the magenta flower mass from
from the object casting the shadow. Make the ground a bit darker than the left over to the right as the shape diminishes. Use it also to paint
the brick edging so the bricks appear higher than the ground. the small flowers that rise above the mass on the left. Use a slightly less
Use Hansa Yellow Light to paint the yellow flowers and centers and diluted version of the same color to paint the red flowers with the yellow
Quinacridone Magenta to paint the magenta portions of the petunias. centers that are above the dark blue foliage area.

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 5 6

85

5. Orange Tone 6. Orange Tone

We’re now going to start toning the white areas of the canvas with Trans- Tone the left side of the white canvas with diluted orange, painting
parent Pyrrole Orange. In this step, paint everything in the large foliage around the outer edges of the cast shadow.
area that is still white canvas with diluted orange. Continue the orange
tone up and along the top of the canvas, painting right over the little
flowers that extend above the main flower masses.

7 8

7. Orange Tone 8. Petunias and Rock Wall

Tone the remaining white canvas, including the cat. Model the pink petunias with stronger glazes of magenta over the parts
of the petals that turn away from the light. Glaze over the lower left area
of the magenta mass as well.
Run a light Dioxazine Purple glaze over the rock wall, avoiding where
9
the sun is directly hitting that more-or-less central rock to the left of the
cat’s head.

9. Rock Wall
Further enhance the modeling of the rocks with glazes of Permanent
Violet Dark to shade and shape each individual rock.
We are now ready to switch to oil paint for the remainder of the steps.

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
86

10 11

10. Flowers and Background 11. Flowers and Background

Let’s begin the oil painting stages by starting on the orange flowers to Continue with the background, using mixes 4, 14, 15 and 16 to paint
the left of the wall. Paint the small pink flowers that rise above the mass around flowers, stems, etc. You can also scrape in some stems with the
with Light Magenta, Rose Violet and mix 7. Start painting in the “sky” with tip of your palette knife or a dull pen knife. Use Green Grey and touches
mixes 4 and 14, painting around flowers and stems. Paint into the flower of Lilac and Lavender to fill in a loose triangle of foliage towards the
area with Orange and Light Magenta, but leave lots of the acrylic under- center of the painting and pull some stems up into the background with
painting showing through. Work your way into the rock wall and shadows the same colors. Loosely paint some flowers, leaves and stems in the
on the ground. Notice that there is no horizon line between the ground sun-struck area, work on the rocks and paint the sun-spots on the tops
and sky. The background might not even be sky. It’s just background— of the rocks.
subject to interpretation by the viewer.

12 13

12. Flowers and Foliage 13. Cat and Rocks

Carry on painting flowers and foliage, moving across the canvas from Begin painting the cat using Yellow Grey, Orange Grey, Purple Lake and
left to right. Take full advantage of the acrylic under-painting. Remember mixes 3, 4 and 5. Use mix 6 for the inside of the cat’s right ear and a
that all the important shapes are set in stone, as it were, with an acrylic touch of Light Magenta on the left, to indicate the sun shining through
under-painting that isn’t going anywhere! Work back and forth between that very thin membrane. Use a combination of brush and palette knife
the background and foreground flowers and leaves so that the edges to describe the cat’s fur. Paint the rocks just beneath and to the left
between the two areas are soft. of the cat using the very same colors plus mixes 7, 10 and 12, and
touches of Cerulean Blue and Jaune Brillant for the areas in full sun.
Don’t neglect the foliage growing in the crevices.

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#6:HERE
Lesson AHD HEREORANGE
A UNIFYING AHD HERE
TONE CREATES WARMTH
87
A unifying orange tone on the canvas creates an allover glow and paint doesn’t completely cover the canvas. This creates a feeling of

C OLOR LE SS ON
warmth, perfect for depicting the heat and bright sunlight of a lazy warmth on a subconscious level, since your conscious attention is
afternoon. Toning the canvas is a time-honored technique, but is focused on the top layers of paint. One could, of course, adjust the
more traditionally done using a color less bright than the orange that colors to warm the painting sufficiently—the orange tone already
I use. I prefer orange for almost every painting because orange is in place simply makes it easier. An allover tone of color also has a
such a warm, happy color. It works well for everything I paint. In the strong unifying effect, tying the whole painting together with the one
case of this painting, you can see from looking at the example below color that glimmers through the subsequent layers of other colors.
right that the orange tone peeks through in the places where the oil

Painted on White Canvas Painted on Toned Canvas

In this little study of the rock wall and flowers in “La Siesta del Gato,” I While the starting method does not dictate the outcome of a painting,
left out the orange tone and just painted on plain white canvas. Com- it does influence it. I think you can see in this demonstration that the
pare this to the painting at right. Notice how the feeling of hot sunlight is way you begin a painting can head it in the right direction. Toning the
not as evident in the study above. canvas with orange is very much in keeping with the mood I am aiming
for. I could compensate for the cooler color of the white canvas by using
hot colors in top layers of paint, but would have to work a bit harder to
achieve the feeling of warmth, especially in the cool green foliage. If you
look very closely, you can see orange glinting here and there through the
cool colors. I did in fact have to overcome the warm orange in the cat,
though—he was a very hot cat there for a while!

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 88
15. Rock Wall and Sunlit Ground
After you’ve finished painting the rock wall, paint the sunlit area on the
ground to the left of the wall with Jaune Brillant.

14

14. Rock Wall

Concentrate on the rocks now, working around towards the left to meet
up with where you left off earlier. Continue to use the same colors as in
Step 13 and model the rocks by painting their front-facing planes lighter,
the side planes darker, and the crevices darkest (Purple Lake). Allow
some of the spaces between rocks to be smudged (or “lost”) to give the 15
wall a bit looser finish.

16

16. Sunlit Ground and Shadow

Brush a random-looking pattern of strokes of Yellow Grey over the Jaune 17
Brillant to keep the ground from looking too flat. Brush some Cerulean
Blue and mixes 11 and 12 to the cast shadow at the bottom. Break the 17. Cat
ground up even further with brushstrokes of mixes 4 and 14 over parts It was at this point that I thought the painting was finished, even though
of the Yellow Grey. This will boost the effect of sunshine on the earth. I wasn’t totally happy with the cat. I showed it to my editor, who told me
Using Jaune Brillant and mix 4, refine the cast shadows a bit by painting she was sorry to say it but the cat’s lower body looked a bit like a dead
the sunlit color right up to the edges—or over, if necessary—to give them chicken. Well! No point in getting huffy, though—she was right! These
better shapes. next few steps will show how I attempted to fix that darn cat. First I tried
to fluff up the fur a bit, as shown above.

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 89

18 19

18. Cat 19. Revised Cat

Then I added a tail draped across his legs. This actually didn’t After spending a lot of time studying photos of cats in similar positions, I settled on
look too bad. However, now I was on a true mission to create this pose. I scraped the paint off of the offending areas and re-painted the bulk of
a great looking cat, not just an OK cat. So I threw caution to the body with medium value Yellow Grey. I also repainted the background of flowers,
the wind and began painting spontaneously the cat you now foliage and rock around the new cat shape to create the new body contour. I then
see in the finished painting below. proceeded to model the body by darkening the belly with Orange Grey, and used
Purple Lake for the dark markings and to separate the legs. On the darker fur over
his ribs I allowed the Purple Lake to mix with the underlying Yellow Grey so it is not
too dark. I used mix 4 for the sun-splashes on the top of his head and arm, his
shoulder, back, haunch and feet. I laid the light value over the darker paint under-
neath as if I were “frosting a cake” to keep the layers from mixing together.

20. Check Your Work

So—here’s the final version
of the painting. There must
be a lesson here somewhere.
The one that springs to mind
is paint it ‘til you get it right.
Something you will hear quite
often is that a painting looks
“overworked.” And it’s true that
a painting can become muddy
and unattractive when worked
on for a long time, especially
if during that time the painter
is unable to accomplish the
desired objective! But I think
the word “overworked” is defi-
nitely overused. By working over
a problem area of a painting,
you can correct and freshen
if you do it right. It just takes
practice. You won’t get that
practice if you fear overworking.
You must be willing to make a
lot of messes in your paint-
ing career in order to become
a practiced and confident
20 painter.

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 90

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 91

Twilight on
7 91

the Creek
I spend at least a week every year in Oak Creek Canyon above
Sedona, Arizona, and this is one of my favorite spots along the
creek. I love to poke around among the rocks, take pictures,
paint “en plein air” and just sit and listen to the music of the
water. I have sat for many hours—often with pencil or brush
in hand—staring at the action of the water as it runs swiftly
and smoothly, then cascades, then splashes and burbles into
decreasing concentric circles, internalizing this movement
until I not only see it but feel it. The experts usually tell us to
paint what we know. A complex subject such as this demands
this intimate familiarity. Spending time with a musical creek is
also balm to the soul!

Twilight on the Creek, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHARTS
92
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2
chart at right. Thin to transpar- Trans. Pyrrole Orange Trans. Pyrrole Orange
ency with water as required in + Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple
1:1 1:1
the instructions on the upcom-
ing pages.

Transparent Pyrrole Orange

Dioxazine Purple

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use
a palette knife to create the
mixes shown in the chart at
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
right. White + Lavender Lavender + White Yellow Grey + Lilac + Rose Yellow Grey + Rose Grey + Light
+ Orange + Orange Lilac Violet Orange + Rose Magenta + Rose
3:1:a touch 3:1:a touch 1:1 2:1 Violet + Mauve Violet
Titanium White 6:1:1:1 1:1:1
Cream
Marigold
Yellow Grey
Caramel
Deep Yellow
Jaune Brillant Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Lilac + Mauve Jaune Brillant + White + Lavender White + Blue Cream + Mari- Cream + Yellow
Orange 1:1 Mauve 1:a touch Grey gold + Lilac Grey + Marigold
Rose Grey 1:1 1:a touch 2:1:1 3:2:1
Purple Lake
Light Magenta
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac
Lavender
Blue Grey
Prussian Green
Cobalt Green
Green Grey

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 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
93
Reference Photo
This was taken in Oak Creek Canyon on
a late afternoon in November. The sky
was luminous as the sun was still shining
somewhere beyond the canyon walls, giving
me enough light to take pictures and then
make it the half mile back to the cabin
before dark. But the canyon itself would
get no more direct sun that day and it was
getting pretty chilly. I usually paint in full sun
and shadow, so painting this ambience was
a departure for me.

Tone the Canvas and Transfer

the Drawing
Tone the canvas with diluted washes
of Transparent Pyrrole Orange. You
can wet the canvas first with clear
water if you want a smoother and
wet-into-wet look. Let dry.
Draw or transfer the drawing
onto the toned canvas. A trace-
able line drawing for this painting is
available on page 140.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
94
1. Shadowed Areas
Acrylic colors Transparent Pyrrole Orange and Dioxazine Purple, when
mixed, produce a color very similar to the oil color, Purple Lake. Use this
mix A1 and a more diluted version, mix A2 (see the acrylic color chart on
page 92), to paint a monochromatic under-painting that will map out the
shapes and many of the correct values for the finished painting.
Begin by painting some of the spaces between the rocks just under
the tree and the darker waterline of those rocks. Then drop down to the
boulders in the foreground and darken parts of the lower left rock, the
recess under the boulder at far right and parts of adjacent rocks as
shown here.

2 3

2. Rocks, Boulders and Flowing Water 3. Tree Trunks

Using the same two acrylic mixes, continue modeling the shapes of the Paint the main tree trunks, keeping them lighter on the right side
rocks and boulders, and the water where it flows over unseen rocks. because of the direction of the light source. The slender tree trunks to
the right behind the largest boulders are too spindly to warrant this kind
of attention—just paint them flat.

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 95
4. Dark Background
Loosely paint the background around the large
foliage area to really push that background
back into the woods. Slightly darken the
interior of the tree foliage, going around the
clumps of leaves that are in front of the trunk.
Notice how each step gives the painting more
depth.

5. Water Movement
Study the movement of the water in the
background for a moment, then paint, with your
brushstrokes moving to the rhythm of the water.
Try to feel that serene current. Do the same
with the choppier texture of the water after it
has fallen to the lower level in the foreground.
Feel the agitation of the water in that area.
Sometimes it is helpful to imagine a leaf float-
ing down the creek—picture the movements of
that leaf as it travels down the quiet, smooth
water; then plummets; then bounces around in
the rapids and comes out of that turmoil and
down the quieter stream once again. The suc-
cessful drawing and painting of water in motion
requires internalizing the visual information of
that action and energy.
Now, look at what you have accomplished
with just two colors: The whole picture is
there—just waiting for some beautiful color and
texture to be added with oils.

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
96

6 7

6. Tree Foliage 7. Rocks and Tree Canopy

Scrub first Mauve, then Rose Violet transparently to add richer color to Start painting the rocks in the top half of the painting using Yellow Grey,
the foliage. Rose Grey, Purple Lake, Lavender, and oil mixes 1, 3, 5 and 7.
Working on the upper left corner, brush in dark Prussian Green and Carry on painting the tree canopy, using purples in the out-of-light
purple mix 7, then Deep Yellow (which actually looks very orange) and areas and continuing the dark background to the right side of the tree.
mix 5 to begin painting the fall foliage. Scrape some branches out of the foliage with the tip of a palette knife.

8. Rocks and Reflections

Paint in some branches and twigs with Lavender. Paint
the light side of both large and smaller tree trunks
with Jaune Brillant.
As you develop the rock shapes, pull some of the
same rock color down into its reflection in the water
using vertical brush strokes. Note that reflections
are mirrored directly under the object that is being
reflected.
Also notice that the rocks are darker where the
water has lapped up against them just above the
waterline—use Purple Lake for these areas. That dark
is often reflected into the water as well. Additionally,
where the water meets the rock, it curves up ever so
slightly against the rock and that curve forms a sliver
of a plane that reflects light back into the viewer’s eye,
so paint a fine, broken line of light at water’s edge
with oil mix 1.
These three aspects—reflections, a darker band of
color above the waterline, and a fine line of reflected
light—do wonders in capturing the look of water.

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 97

9
10
9. Boulder and Yellow Tree
Being conscious of the light and dark planes of the boulder on 10. Orange Leaves
the far right, paint them with appropriate values of Caramel, Rose Paint the orange leaves in front of the yellow tree and over some of the rocks,
Grey, Purple Lake, Lavender, Cobalt Green, Green Grey, and mixes thereby pushing the smaller tree and the rocks back—more depth in the paint-
1, 2 and 4. Allow some of your colors, such as Rose Grey and ing! Add some more twigs using a combination of painting with Purple Lake
Lavender, to mix on the canvas to make a dark gray. Begin to and Orange Grey and more scraping if needed.
flesh out the small yellow tree above that far right boulder using Add lighter colors of Cream and Jaune Brillant to the sides of the trees that
Deep Yellow, Yellow Grey, and mixes 3, 5 and 12. are in brighter light.

11a

12

12. Small Creek and Whitewater

11b Add more reflected color as needed. Surround the small whitewater area with
Prussian Green. Begin painting the small area of creek leading to the white-
water with Blue Grey and touches of mix 1, allowing your brush to imitate the
11. Rock Reflections
flow of the water, especially where the water falls down to the bubbly area.
Begin developing the reflective quality of the water by pulling the
colors of the rocks down into the reflections. In order to make
water look wet and reflective, a combination of horizontal (top)
and vertical (bottom) brushstrokes is needed.

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 98

13 14

13. Whitewater and Orange Reflection 14. Rippling Water

Now paint the whitewater itself, using mix 9, not pure white! Coming Extend little ripples of whitewater over the orange reflection.
forward in the creek, paint the orange reflection of the tree above the
water using Deep Yellow.

15 16

15. Boulder, Rock and Waterfall 16. Large Boulder at Far Right
Paint the boulder and rock just to the right and left of the main Begin working on the large boulder at far right, taking care to remem-
waterfall using Yellow Grey, Lavender, Blue Grey, Prussian Green, ber the direction of the light source. Paint the dark water under that
Green Grey, Purple Lake, and mixes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Use diagonal boulder with Purple Lake, then use the chisel edge of your brush with
downward strokes to begin the waterfall itself, using the same colors. mix 9 to create a water line.

17. Boulder at Left of Waterfall

Apply more color to the boulder at far left that is hidden by the water
that is cascading over it. You’re actually painting the water here; the
way you shape it will indicate that there is a boulder just under the
flow of the water.

17

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 99
19. Waterfall
Paint the lighter values of the water that is gushing into the central pool
from between the rocks on the right, using mixes 1 and 2. Move your
brush in the same direction the water flows.

18

18. Waterfall
Notice how the water is plunging into that central area from several
directions? Paint the splashes that occur there. For the darker water, use
Blue Grey, Cobalt Green and touches of mix 7. For the lighter, use mixes
1, 2 and 10, plus a bit of Lilac.

19

21. Choppy Water and Splashes

Add to the undulating water that is forward of the whitewater with darker
values of Blue Grey inside—not completely covering the earlier strokes
of Green Grey. Using mix 2, add strokes that will provide a base for the
whitewater to come.
Using mixes 1 and 9, bring in some water splashes from the left.

20

20. Choppy Water in Foreground

Following the acrylic under-painting, use choppy strokes over the “dips”
in the foreground water using Green Grey.
Start painting the small wet rock on the left, using dark colors—Pur-
ple Lake, Green Grey and mix 7—on the left, out-of-light side and Deep
Yellow and Jaune Brillant on the top and right side to reflect the autumn
color of the tree above. Also use some Lavender and mixes 2 and 3 to
keep it lively and not a solid orange.
21

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 AHD
olorHERE AHD#7:HERE
Lesson AHDMOVING
PAINT HERE AHD HEREUSING VALUES AND EXPRESSIVE BRUSHWORK
WATER
100
When you look closely at the painting in this demonstration, Twilight ate between calm reflective water, cascading water, and very active
C OLOR LES S ON

on the Creek, you can see many different aspects of water as it flows whitewater. Second, use expressive movement in your brushwork to
downstream through a rocky creek bed and over a small waterfall. make the water come to life.
In the background, the water moves slowly and serenely along tree- In this lesson, we’ll look at some of the colors and values that
lined banks, and the calm water reflects the colors of the rocks and were used for the water and rocks in Twilight on the Creek. Refer to
foliage above it. Then it suddenly cascades over a small waterfall, the color charts on page 92 for the mixes. You’ll notice that some of
creating whitewater and foam as air bubbles mix with the active the same colors were used for both; that’s because the colors of the
water. The fast-moving water causes small waves and choppiness in rocks are often reflected in the water!
the foreground as the creek comes toward the viewer.
So how do you portray all these different aspects of water in one
painting? First, choose colors in appropriate values to differenti-

ROCK COLORS

Deep Yellow Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 1 Mix 4 Mix 2 Green Grey Lavender

WATER
COLORS

Cobalt Green Lilac Mix 10 Mix 9 Green Grey Blue Grey Mix 1 Purple Lake

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 101

22 23

22. Whitewater 23. Reflections and Bubbles

With mixes 9 and 10, paint the whitewater below the waterfall using Add some Lilac to the water on the right to create a hint of reflection
choppy strokes. Add a few touches of whitewater splashes against from the boulder above. The water has too much movement here to
the darker rock and water to really produce a frothy look. The very last show much reflection. Also, begin painting some gestural strokes to
step on the whitewater is to add—very sparingly—touches of pure white suggest the concentric circles of bubbles that fan out from the area of
anywhere you want a little extra sparkle. whitewater.

24. Check Your Work

Take a final look at your entire painting to see
if there are any areas that can be improved.
I decided to refine the foreground water with
strokes that reflect the movement of the water
as it swirls towards the viewer. Notice the almost
scalloped brushstrokes that add a little more
“swirl” to the water. I used mix 9 for this—pure
white would take too much attention away from
the waterfall area.

24

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 102

Z1677i 102-111_P08_Sonoran.indd 102 9/17/08 4:58:44 PM

 8 103

Spring
I can’t talk about this day, this place, without
using a profusion of exclamatory statements.
All of the weather elements had conspired
that season to show off Arizona’s Sonoran
Desert in unbelievable glory! I chose to paint
this particular scene for its composition, but
other photos I took that day show flowers
in an abundance of color that actually rival
my painting. This painting may look like
I took extreme artistic license but I really
didn’t have to! It’s usually hard to get both
composition and details that you want in
the same photograph, which means that it’s
often necessary to combine photos, so that’s
what I did. This was a painting I simply had
to get out of my system after that spectacular
day, so I allowed myself to go wild with the
flowers.

Sonoran Spring, 16 x 20 inches (41 x 51 cm), oils over

acrylic on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHARTS
104
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic col-

ors on your palette as you need
them. Use a brush to create
the mixes shown in the chart at
Mix A1 Mix A2 Mix A3 Mix A4 Mix A5
right. Thin to transparency as Nickel Azo Yellow Nickel Azo Yellow Pyrrole Orange + Dioxazine Purple + Dioxazine Purple +
required in the instructions on + Quin. Magenta + + Quin. Magenta + Dioxazine Purple Turquois (Phthalo) Turquois (Phthalo)
Dioxazine Purple Dioxazine Purple 1:1 1:1 1:1
the upcoming pages. 2:1:a touch 2:1:a touch

Nickel Azo Yellow

Pyrrole Orange
Pyrrole Red Light
Quinacridone Magenta
Permanent Violet Dark Mix A6 Mix A7 Mix A8 Mix A9 Mix A10
Nickel Azo Yellow Nickel Azo Yellow White gesso + Ceru- White gesso + Dioxa- White gesso + Nickel
Dioxazine Purple + Turquois (Phthalo) + Turquois (Phthalo) lean Blue Deep + zine Purple Azo Yellow
Cobalt Blue 1:1 1:a touch Nickel Azo Yellow 1:1 1:a touch
3:2:1
Cerulean Blue Deep
Turquois (Phthalo)
White gesso

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use
a palette knife to create the
mixes shown in the chart at
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5
right. White + Cream + White + Cream + White + Lemon + Yellow Grey + White + Jaune
Lemon + Lilac Lemon Light Yellow Deep Yellow Brillant + Cream
2:1:1:a touch 3:1:1 2:1:1 1:1 3:1:1
Titanium White
Lemon
Cream
Light Yellow
Yellow Grey
Yellow
Deep Yellow Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10
White + Jaune Jaune Brillant + Jaune Brillant + Rose Grey + Lilac Rose Violet +
Jaune Brillant Brillant + Cream Cadmium Red Lilac 1:1 Cadmium Red
Orange 1:1:1 Hue + Deep Yellow 1:1 Hue + White
1:1:1 2:1:a touch
Cadmium Red Hue
Rose Grey
Purple Lake
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac Mix 11 Mix 12 Mix 13
Lavender Mauve + Lilac White + Lemon + White + Leaf
1:1 Cream + Cobalt Green
Blue Grey Green 1:1
Cobalt Green 3:1:1:1
Leaf Green

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 REFERENCE PHOTO AND DRAWING
105
Reference Photo
Lost Dutchman State Park,
Arizona. Wow—a color explosion!
This particular photo doesn’t
show the lupine, blue dock and
purple phacelia that were also
blooming in profusion every-
where—except in this photo! So
I simply “planted” them into my
painting from my other reference
photos taken that day.

Begin With the Drawing

Loosely draw or transfer the composition onto the canvas using a soft pencil. A traceable line drawing for this painting is available
on page 140.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
106

1 2

1. Darkest Shapes 2. Mid-value Shapes

This demo will be painted mostly with acrylics with some oil colors Use a diluted version of this same mixture—mix A5—to put in a pattern
added in the last stages for texture, richness and possibly some of medium values. Add some darker color to the shadow at the bottom.
correction. Using Dioxazine Purple and Turquois (Phthalo) in a very Your value structure is now established.
dark mixture—mix A4 on the acrylics color chart—paint all the darkest
accent shapes.

3. Background Trees and Bushes

With Nickel Azo Yellow, lay a wash over the yellow
bushes. Use diluted Pyrrole Orange for the bank
and tree trunk. Lay a wash of mix A7 over the
tree twig tangle on the right side. Paint right
over the monochromatic under-painting. Use
Turquois (Phthalo) to run a glaze of color over
the upper left corner, then add a little yellow
as you move further right and into the base of
the yellow bush. Carry the turquoise and violet
into the tree to push some of the tangled twigs
back into the shadows. You can add a touch
Permanent Violet Dark, too, for more color inter-
est. Model the bank with washes of mixes A1
and A2, making sure to save the planes that are
facing the sun. Note that mix A2 is the same as
mix A1, just diluted with more water.
Paint on across the top of the painting, using
Quinacridone Magenta and Permanent Violet
Dark for the red chuparosa bushes and Cobalt
Blue for the lupines below them. Add a little red
splatter if you like. 3
Bring the Cobalt Blue lupines on down
around what will be the orange flowers (see step 7). Darken the same area of the wash with mix A1, going around the
Continue with the same blue, painting clockwise down and around to large rocks. The lighter rocks against the darker sand will really make
the right of the orange-flowered bush. them come forward.
Jump over to the left side of the painting and paint the narrow part of When this is dry, model the rocks with mix A2, perhaps a little less
the sandy wash with diluted orange. diluted this time.

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 107

4 5

4. Red Bushes 5. Red Bushes

Begin painting the red bushes in the center and to the left of the sandy Paint the sunny sides of these red bushes with Pyrrole Red Light. Accentu-
wash with Permanent Violet Dark in the areas where they are not receiv- ate the out-of-light sides of the bushes with splatters of Permanent Violet
ing full sun. Dark.

6 7

6. Orange Flowering Bush 7. Orange Flowering Bush

Paint the green foliage on the orange flowering globemallow bush with Add the orange flowers with Pyrrole Orange.
mixes A6 and A7.

8 9

8. Red and Orange Flowering Bushes 9. Sandy Wash, Rocks and Boulders
Continue modeling the red bushes with Permanent Violet Dark. Use Glaze over the foreground sandy wash, rocks and boulders with diluted
Dioxazine Purple in the deepest recesses of the bushes. Model the orange. Model the rocks in the foreground wash with Pyrrole Orange, a
foliage of the orange bush by glazing over the out-of-sun leaves with mix bit less diluted, and diluted Cerulean Blue. Darken the wash around the
A6—a bit less diluted—and with mix A4 in the deepest areas. rocks and boulders with mixes A1 and A2.

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 108

10 11

10. Foreground Wash 11. Foreground Wash and Boulders

Add still more depth and texture to the foreground by painting the dips Further model the rocks in the foreground wash and the boulders on the
in the wash with the darker values of mix A1. right using the same colors you’ve been using all along.

12 13

12. Yellow Brittlebush and Poppies 13. Yellow Brittlebush and Poppies
Paint the yellow brittlebush on the left and the poppies on the right Glaze the foliage around the poppies with mixes A6 and A7. Paint in a
with Nickel Azo Yellow. When the poppies are dry, glaze over them with couple of orange poppies on the left in front of the yellow brittlebush.
diluted Pyrrole Orange. Model the brittlebush with a less diluted version of Nickel Azo Yellow.

14. Tiny Yellow Flowers

Paint the deep parts of the poppies with Pyrrole Orange.
We’ve been painting transparently up until this point. But
now, add some white gesso to make opaque mixtures and
paint a few tiny yellow flowers with mix A10—and leaves with
mixes A8 and A9—at the base of the big red bush in the center.
The painting could actually be considered finished at this
point. Compare this stage with the final version. In my opinion
the addition of some oil strokes (coming up on pages 110-
111) adds a finish that I find desirable. You may wish to leave it
as it is here—looking more like a watercolor painting.

14

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 AHD
olorHERE AHD#8:HERE
Lesson AHD HERE
CREATE COLORAHD HERE OR PATHWAYS FOR THE EYE TO FOLLOW
PATTERNS
109
A painting like Sonoran Spring can look like an uncontrolled riot of between colors stops the eye. As the eye searches for a “stepping

C OLOR LE SS ON
color, but there is actually method to the madness! There are several stone” to jump to, tension is created. This is a wonderful device
color patterns that provide a pathway for the eye to follow through for creating a focal point. A “jump” in the wrong place, however, is
the painting. By arranging repeating colors in certain patterns, they disconcerting to the eye and interrupts the comfortable visual flow
act like stepping stones in a garden. If there’s a large gap between in the painting. When you learn to use color and value patterns and
the stones, it causes too big of a jump which can stop you in your jumps, you can literally take the viewer’s eye and lead it around your
tracks. The same thing happens in a painting: too large of a gap painting by the nose—so to speak!

attern
Red p

Orange
jump

mp
Red ju

ern
patt
e
Blu
Yel
low

Blu Ora
pa

e ju ng
tte

mp ej
um
rn

Here’s a quick study of the same scene we’re working on in this demo.
I’ve left out the details so you can clearly see the color patterns in the
painting. The straight black lines indicate “jumps” between reds, blues
and oranges. The curving black lines show the color patterns: follow
these lines and you’ll find the color pathways through the painting.

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
110

16

16. Flowers, Foliage and Rocks

15 Continue to “decorate” the flowers, foliage areas and rocks throughout
the upper half of the painting with strokes of matching oil colors. Use oil
15. Red and Yellow Bushes mixes 1 and 2 in the distant yellows; mixes 10 and 11 for the distant red
As you proceed with oils, don’t cover up all of the acrylic under-painting! bushes; Lavender in the blues; Yellow, Deep Yellow and Orange for the
We’re going to embellish it, not obliterate it. orange flowers; and Cobalt Green, Blue Grey and mixes 12 and 13 for
Brush on some Cadmium Red Hue and oil mix 7 onto the reds of the the foliage, with touches of mix 11. Use Purple Lake where you need a
bushes at left. Use oil mix 2 in the yellow bushes. very dark value.
In the bank of the wash below the tree in the distance, use Lilac and Add some mix 4 to the out-of-light sides of the rocks and boulders,
oil mix 4. Use some Cobalt Green and Blue Grey in the foliage to the left and some mix 6 to the light-struck spots between the shadows that are
of the bank and also above the red bush. cast over them.
Add some oil mix 11 to the out-of-light side of the little red bush up
at the center top of the painting.

17
18
17. Cast Shadow and Small Rocks
Scumble Lavender, Rose Grey and mix 11 over portions of the large cast 18. Sun Spots and Poppies
shadow in the bottom half of the painting. Bring some sun spots into the cast shadow on the sand with mix 6.
Add some smaller rocks in the depression in the sand directly below Dab some foliage colors into the poppy and foliage area at bottom
the large red bush. Use Yellow Grey and Jaune Brillant and mixes 4 and right. Add some Yellow and Deep Yellow to the poppies to give them
6. These are the basic “sand colors.” Begin painting the large boulder at some form. Use Orange for the centers of a few and Light Yellow for the
far right in the same manner as the other rocks and boulders, adding lightest parts.
mixes 8 and 9.

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 111
20. Tree Branches and Bank
Darken the tree branches at the top of the painting if they’re too light.
Mine were, and it detracted from the focal point of the painting.
Likewise, I decided the bank was a bit too strong so I softened it with
strokes of Lilac and mix 4.

19

19. Rocks, Orange Flowers and Yellow Bush

Use a small palette knife to add a rough sunlit texture to the tops of the
rocks and boulders at left using mixes 5 and 6. Add some Lavender to
the shadows at the bottoms of the rocks to balance the oil paint texture
throughout the painting. Speaking of balance, add another small spot of
orange flowers up in the far left, just above the yellow bush.
Flesh out the far left brittlebush with Light Yellow in the out-of-direct-
light areas and mixes 2 and 3 in the lightest spots. Use mix 1 sparingly
for the very lightest petals. Bring the suggestion of petals out over the 20
background rocks, sand and red bush just above for overlap. Add strokes
of color to the poppies and small rocks below the bush.

21. Check Your Work

Check the painting over. Are any more
adjustments needed? I have made a few
small ones to mine.
I felt that the orange was out of bal-
ance, so I made the small orange bush
in the upper left more pronounced—then
suggested some poppies with orange at
the base of the large red bush.
Furthermore, I softened the transi-
tion between the red bush and the large
orange bush. Studying the finished paint-
ing, you will see that the value contrast
has been toned down in that area with
strokes of medium-value colors over the
very dark accents that were there before.
Oh, one more thing: I added some
lighter green leaf strokes to the tiny yellow
flowers at the foot of that large red bush.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going
to stop right now! If you’ve managed to
leave much of the acrylic under-painting
untouched with oil, you have a painting
that has the flavor of both oil and water-
color, a look I particularly like.
21

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 112

Z1677i 112-123_P09_Butchart.indd112 112 9/17/08 5:01:40 PM

 9
113

113

Butchart
Gardens Gem
Here we are again at Canada’s lovely Butchart Gardens in
Victoria, British Columbia. The first time I painted this scene
I was sitting on a bench under the tree whose branch you see
at top left. We had taken the whole magnificent tour, I had
carried my portable painting equipment around on my back
for several hours and I was bound and determined to have a
“plein air experience”! The small watercolor sketch I was able
to produce wasn’t much to look at but the experience was
invaluable.
If you want to become a good painter you must paint—
and then paint some more. You must put a lot of mileage on
your brush. Try not to be upset when your paintings fall short
of your mental image of how you hope they will turn out—
mine always do fall short. Remember that your skills have to
catch up with your vision—and that our personal vision is the
prize that makes us persevere!

Butchart Gardens Gem, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHARTS
114
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic

colors on your palette as you
need them. Use a brush to
create the mixes shown in the
Mix A1 Mix A2
chart at right. Thin to trans- Pyrrole Orange + Pyrrole Orange +
parency as required in the Dioxazine Purple Dioxazine Purple
1:1 1:1
instructions on the upcoming
pages.

Pyrrole Orange
Dioxazine Purple

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use
a palette knife to create the
mixes shown in the chart at
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5
right. White + Cream + White + Cream + Jaune Brillant + Rose Grey + Light Rose Violet +
Jaune Brillant Jaune Brillant + Light Magenta + Magenta Cadmium Red
3:1:1 Light Magenta Lilac 1:1 Hue
Titanium White 6:3:1:1 3:2:1 1:1
Lemon
Cream
Yellow Grey
Orange Grey
Caramel
Yellow Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10
Light Magenta + Mauve + Light White + Leaf Leaf Green + Leaf Green +
Deep Yellow Rose Violet Magenta Green White White + Green
Jaune Brillant 2:1 1:1 4:1 3:1 Grey
4:2:1
Orange
Cadmium Red Hue
Rose Grey
Purple Lake
Light Magenta
Rose Violet Mix 11 Mix 12 Mix 13
Mauve White + Yellow Yellow Green + Leaf Green +
Green White Cobalt Green +
Lilac 3:1 3:1 Lavender
Lavender 2:1:1
Blue Grey
Prussian Green
Cobalt Green
Ice Green
Green Grey
Yellow Green
Leaf Green

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 REFERENCE PHOTOS AND DRAWING ON TONED CANVAS
115
Reference Photos
In another instance of photo combining, I chose a picture of ducks I
had taken in a nearby park in Victoria. Luckily, the water is the same
color and the photo was taken close to the same time of day with the
sun filtering through the foliage. The photos work well together. Of the
five ducks in the photo, I chose three for the painting that I felt made an
attractive grouping.

Tone the Canvas and Transfer the Drawing

Tone the canvas with Pyrrole Orange and allow to
dry. Draw or transfer the drawing onto the toned
canvas. A traceable line drawing for this painting
is available on page 141.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
116

1. Darkest Shapes
With acrylic mixes A1 and A2, begin by painting the tree
trunks, branches and twigs, then the dark parts of the ducks
and the negative dark shapes between the various plant
shapes and rocks in the plant edging.
When I tell you to paint the “negative shapes” I simply
mean to paint around the positive shapes. Take a look at the
tulip bed. The stems and flowers are “positive” shapes—the
dark spaces between and around them are so-called “nega-
tive” shapes. If you look at step 4 on the facing page, you will
see that I painted the light yellow-green background around
the branch and twigs. That is “negative painting” with light
color rather than dark. So remember that “negative painting”
merely refers to painting around shapes.

2. Cast Shadows, Reflections and Plant Forms

Use mix A2 to give the bushes and trees a bit more depth than
was achieved with just the darker accent shapes in step 1. This
is easiest to see in the bush mass above the bed of tulips. I
also used mix A2 to establish reflections in the water and the
shadows cast by the tree at lower right.
The composition is now locked in—time to bring out the oils!

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
117

4. Tree Foliage
Apply oil mixes 8 and 11 over parts of the previously painted foliage
area as shown. Some mixing will take place between the two layers. This
is called “wet into wet” and produces desirable results when you learn
to control the mixing that occurs. Continuing with mixes 8 and 11, paint
3 across the top, not covering up the twigs but painting around them. Add
mixes 2 and 3, plus Lilac, to the pink foliage.
3. Tree Foliage and Branch
With Caramel, Rose Grey, Blue Grey, Cobalt Green and Green Grey, begin
in the upper left corner to “smear in” some tree foliage. Then with Jaune
Brillant, Purple Lake, Lavender and oil mix 7, paint the large branch in
the upper left.

5 6

5. Pink Flowering Tree 6. Pink Flowering Tree

Continue in the same manner and with the same colors, adding mix Add some Lilac and Lavender to the shadowy areas of the same foliage,
4 for the darker areas, and work your way down into the large foliage then use mix 1 for the lightest and topmost leaves to indicate that the
clump of the pink tree. sun is hitting the tree from high in the sky. Add mixes 9 and 10 to your
greens.

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 118

7 8

7. Background Foliage and Water Reflections 8. Foliage and Tree

Work into the background beneath and behind the pink tree canopy with Work into the upper right foliage and twig area, using the same colors
the same cool colors plus Ice Green and mixes 10 and 7. Begin defining and methods, following the acrylic pattern already laid out.
some of the branches. Darken the deepest area with Prussian Green Bring the water down closer to the foreground. Further define the
with Blue Grey directly beneath. Then pull a Blue Grey reflection down trunk, branches and twigs of the pink tree as you go. Use a variety of
into the water, also with Blue Grey. Create a water line with the chisel colors that you have already used. Pure Lilac is used for the sun spots.
edge of your brush and mix 10. Jump over to the left side and begin painting the leafy branches
Pull down reflections of colors into the water to the left as well. Add a that are hanging down over the water using mix 13. Begin painting the
leaf or two over the darkest area just above the waterline. bushes to the right of the water also with mix 13.

9 10

9. Leaves and Background 10. Pink Tree, Bush and Water

Add lighter value leaf shapes to the hanging branches and some lighter Define the pink foliage and the bush a bit more. Paint the water on the
colors to the top of the bushes behind the pink tree. Add mix 12 to your left farther down, then paint some reflection color and value down into
greens. Work on the right side of the pink tree and the background down the water under the bush—the water and reflections must be painted
to the top of the mass of orange tulips. down to the top and around the sides of the ducks’ heads and bodies.

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 119

12

11 12. Orange Tulips

Using Deep Yellow and Orange, start painting the mass of orange tulips
11. Bush starting to the left of the pink tree trunk. Paint in a dark basecoat on
With mix 8, add some very light leaves to the top of the bush shapes to the bushes directly under the orange tulips using Mauve, Blue Grey and
indicate where the sunlight is hitting the strongest. Prussian Green. Add lighter reflection strokes under the green bushes
using mix 11.

14

14. Tulips, Small Bushes and Reflections

Starting on the left side of the tree trunk, suggest some stems and
leaves under the orange tulips and start fleshing out the small bushes,
using Blue Grey, Leaf Green, mixes 11 and 13, plus touches of Lavender.
Pull some of the same colors down into the water reflections.
13

13. Tulips, Bush and Water

Add Deep Yellow to the right side of the tulip mass and a few dabs into
the shadow area. Add more color to the small bushes beneath.
Back to the water: work it around the ducks and the ducks’ reflec-
tions and down to the top of the foreground flowers. Suggest some
movement in the water around the ducks with a few swirly strokes of a
lighter color.

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 120

15 16

15. Water Movement 16. Tulip Stems

Some horizontal strokes of a light color, mix 8, combined with the verti- Now go back over to the right side of the canvas and paint the darker
cal strokes already in place will give the water a wet, glassy appearance. values into the tulip stems using Mauve, Blue Grey, Green Grey and mix
It’s important to remember not to use only horizontal brushstrokes when 7. Leave some orange-toned canvas showing for some of the stems.
painting water—combining horizontal with vertical is the key! Using
horizontal to slightly diagonal strokes, sweep from left to right, painting
across the vertical reflections, both breaking them up and softening
them for a more natural look.

18

18. Ducks
Start painting the ducks with Cream, Yellow Grey, Rose Grey, Purple Lake,
17
Lilac, Blue Grey and Cobalt Green.
17. Large Leaves and Rock Border
Add some light sun spots to the tops of the tulips on the far right. Paint
some broad leaves up over the tulip stems. Paint a few spots of Deep
Yellow in behind some of the stems. Continue painting the patch of
foliage beneath the tulips with Lavender, Blue Grey, Ice Green, and mixes
8, 10 and 12.
Add some very light strokes to the tops of those same leaves. Now
paint the rock border and sunlit ground directly under, using mixes 1 and
4, Rose Grey and Purple Lake. Paint the ground around the cast shadow.

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 121

19 20

19. Flowers and Rock Border 20. Flowers and Rock Border
Refine the duck on the right with mix 7 and Lavender on her wing, and Continue the rock border and ground with the shadows cast upon it. Add
with mix 1 on the top of her back. sun spots on the tops of the rocks. Add Jaune Brillant, Light Magenta and
Begin painting the mounds of flowers under the tree, the rock border mix 1 to the flowers.
and cast shadow. Use Orange Grey, Rose Grey, Lilac, Lavender and mix 7
for the rocks and shadow. Use Lavender, Blue Grey and mixes 5, 6 and 7
for the flowers and foliage.

21 22

21. Dappled Light 22. Purple Flowers

As you carry on with the business of painting the mounds of red and Block in the shadow shapes of the purple mounds with mix 7.
purple flowers, pay close attention to how the light spots of color in
the appropriate places works in concert with the cast shadows on the
ground to create a dappled light effect.

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#9:HERE
Lesson USEAHD HERE
PAIRS OFAHD HERE
COMPLEMENTS TO CREATE COLOR CONTRASTS
122
Here’s another lesson on using complementary colors to create flowers, which pulls your attention even more to the ducks than
C OLO R LES S ON

brilliant color contrasts (we looked at the purple-yellow complements it otherwise might. If you examine the painting you will find many
in Dutchman’s Gold on page 58). This time the painting utilizes two warm/cool contrasts that may not be exact complements, but never-
outstanding pairs of complements, with the red flowers, the pinks of theless provide color excitement.
the cherry tree and reddish-brown rocks surrounding the greens of Tip: If you study the color wheels on page 19, you will see that
the foliage and water—the red/green duo—being most prominent. with every single complementary pair, one of the colors is warm
The color swatches shown below are some of the reds and greens and the other cool as defined by color definition #1, the “absolute”
from the Color Mix Charts on page 114. definition. For example, in the red/green complementary pair, red
Next in importance is the orange/blue duo—notice how your eye is on the warm side of the wheel and green is on the cool side. So
bounces back and forth between the orange tulips and the blue there you have two contrasts: color and temperature.

GREENS REDS

Cobalt Green Mix 2

Mix 8 Mix 3

Prussian Green Lilac

Mix 9 Mix 7

Mix 13 Mix 6

Mix 10 Mix 5

Blue Grey Light Magenta

Ice Green Mauve

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 123
23. Purple Flowers
Add some definition to the purple flowers with sugges-
tions of foliage and some lighter color—Lilac, Lavender
and Cobalt Green—on the tops and some darker
strokes in the shadowy recesses.
23

24

24. Flowers
Continue to add strokes of color and
value as needed. Mix a little Lavender
into some white and add just a few
lighter spots of this onto the tops of the
purple flower mounds, a few dabs of mix
2 on the red mounds, and mix 10 on a
few of the leafy areas to suggest dappled
light. These are small touches, but they
do add to the feeling of sunlight.

25. Check Your Work

Now we’re in the nitpicking stage! After
stepping away from my painting for
a while, I came back, studied it and
decided to make a few tiny changes.
First I added a few more leaf shapes
to the foliage under the tulips to give it
more dappled light.
Then I added some horizontal light
streaks in the water to the right of the
ducks, taking care not to lose all of the
vertical strokes that are already in place.
Finally, I added a few more spiky leaves
to the left of and behind the tree trunk
to create more depth. Now I think we’re
done!

25

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 124

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 Through
100 125

the Gate
As my husband and I were strolling through
Victoria, British Columbia, we came upon
a Victorian house with its lovely old iron
gate, invitingly open, begging to be painted!
I’m always on the lookout for subject matter
and I carry a camera with me at all times. I
do as much plein air painting as I can, but
most of the time I paint in my studio from
photos. Painting and photographing our
favorite places allow us to bring them home
with us. When I paint from my photos, my
memories—visual, auditory, olfactory and
emotional—become vivid. I’m there again.
I get to re-live those moments of time spent
in a magic place every time I paint. What
joy—what a job!

Through the Gate, 16 x 20 inches (41 x 51 cm), oils over acrylic on canvas

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 COLOR MIX CHARTS
126
ACRYLIC COLORS USED Acrylic Mixes

Place the following acrylic col-

ors on your palette as you need
them. Thin to transparency as
required in the instructions on
Nickel Azo Yellow Transparent Pyrrole Dioxazine Purple Anthraquinone Blue Turquois (Phthalo)
the upcoming pages. Orange

Nickel Azo Yellow

Transparent Pyrrole Orange
Dioxazine Purple
Anthraquinone Blue
Turquois (Phthalo)

OIL COLORS USED Oil Color Mixes

Place the following tube oil

colors on your palette. Use a
palette knife to create the mixes
shown in the chart at right.
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6
Lemon + White Cream + Lilac + Cream + Jaune White + Light Rose Violet + Light Magenta +
Titanium White +Marigold Marigold Brillant + White Magenta + Deep Lilac Lilac + White
1:1:a touch 5:2:a touch 2:1:1 Yellow 1:1 2:1:1
Lemon 5:1:a touch
Cream
Marigold
Yellow
Caramel
Yellow Grey
Deep Yellow Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 Mix 10 Mix 11 Mix 12
Lilac + Rose Mauve + Jaune White + Lavender White + Lavender Lavender + Mauve + Lavender
Jaune Brillant Violet Brillant + Orange 1:a touch Mauve + Ultramarine Blue
Orange 5:1 2:1 1:1:a speck 3:1 + Prussian Blue
4:3:1:1
Rose Grey
Light Magenta
Rose Violet
Mauve
Lilac
Lavender Mix 13 Mix 14 Mix 15 Mix 16 Mix 17 Mix 18
Cerulean Blue White + Cerulean White + Cerulean White + Cerulean White + Cerulean Cream + Lav- Cream + Cobalt
Blue Blue Blue Blue + Cobalt ender + Cobalt Green + Marigold
Ultramarine Blue 1:a speck 1:a touch 1:1 Green Green + Marigold 3:1:a touch
Prussian Blue 1:1:1 2:2:1:a touch
Blue Grey
Cobalt Green
Green Grey

Mix 19 Mix 20 Mix 21 Mix 22

White + Cobalt Lemon + White + Deep Yellow + White + Lemon +
Green + Marigold Cream + Cobalt Cobalt Green Cerulean Blue
1:touch:touch Green 2:1 1:1:a speck
7:2:2:1

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 REFERENCE PHOTO, VALUE SKETCH AND DRAWING
127
Reference Photo
Even though my reference photo shows a lovely Victorian
house in the background, I didn’t include the house in my
painting. Victoria, B.C., is a city of gardens and this painting
is all about an invitation to enter into a fabulous garden
through an open gate.

Value Sketch
Using a black water-soluble pencil, I first do a value sketch.
I re-compose it a bit compared to the reference photo by
adding more space at the top and shaving off some on both
sides, creating a format more proportional to the shape of
my canvas. I also re-design the composition by replacing
the house with the suggestion of a garden. Note that preci-
sion is not necessary—or even desirable—in a value sketch.
The pattern of light and dark is the whole point here.
The new value composition pushes your eye up to the
top part of the gate, rather than the shadow in the grass
below the gate. In the photo, the top of the gate gets lost
in the shadowed porch. The new sketch provides value
contrast for that important area and helps lead the eye
where I want it to go—which is through the gate and into the
imagined garden!

Begin With the Drawing

Carefully draw or transfer the composition onto the canvas
using a no. 2 pencil. Be precise with the delicate iron-work
shapes of the gate. A traceable line drawing for this painting
is available on page 141.

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 BEGIN WITH AN ACRYLIC UNDER-PAINTING
128

1 2

1. Gate and Fence 2. Vertical Gate Posts

Using acrylic of a fluid consistency, begin by painting the vertical shapes Paint the vertical gate posts with the same color. It is easier to paint a
of the fence and gate with Anthraquinone Blue. thin shape like a post by having the brush “aimed” at the edge from the
inside of the shape rather than from the other direction.

3. Horizontal Bars, Finials and Posts

Using the same techniques, paint the horizontal and curved bars, the
finials, and the large posts. On the left side posts, paint around the
flower shapes. For the larger posts and finials use Dioxazine Purple
and Turquois (Phthalo). Don’t purposely mix them together but allow
them to mix where they touch wet in wet. This adds color interest even
at this early stage because some areas will be more purple and others,
more turquoise. If you were to mix these two colors together the mixture
would be the same color as Anthraquinone Blue, so you might prefer to
continue using that color by itself, which would be fine.

4. Bricks and Grass

As you can see, the details of the gate need
not be perfect!
Again using the same colors, paint the
spaces between the bricks—also a broken
series of brushstrokes at the bottom of the
bricks to suggest little clumps of grass grow-
ing up along the edge of the bricks.

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 129

6. Foliage, Tree Trunk and Branches

5 Continue those foliage colors up and to the right, again
going right over the darker under-painting. Add the tree
5. Shadow, Brick and Grass Shapes trunk and branches that are behind the left gate. Paint
Using the same dark color you used on the ironwork, paint some stems and twigs to
these branches from the top down starting with diluted
support the flowering bush behind the far right post. Stop the twigs as they come up
Anthraquinone Blue and switching to Transparent Pyrrole
into the foliage area.
Orange. If your blue runs down into your orange like mine
Now use transparent mixtures of fluid acrylics in Nickel Azo Yellow, Transparent
did, the orange will become brown—not a problem.
Pyrrole Orange, Dioxazine Purple and Turquois (Phthalo), painting right over the previ-
ously painted ironwork and twigs. Alternating between warm and cool colors, allow
the colors to run into each other within the boundaries of the shadow, brick and grass
shapes. Treat these three types of shapes as one large shape. Don’t mix the colors on
your palette. Instead, brush in pure colors in appropriate dilutions and allow them to
mix on the canvas.

7 8

7. Background Washes 8. Background Washes

Paint some dark irregular marks to indicate the edge of the pathway. Using the Continue in the same manner into the large trapped shape
same colors, though with less orange, continue with the transparent washes as in of the gate on the left, painting the cool blues, lavenders
steps 5 and 6, extending up into the foliage area on the far left. Since it’s easier to and turquoises right over the bars and finials and middle
manage washes within “trapped shapes,” paint one section at a time. (Note that the curved bar until you get to where the edge of the path
previously painted dark acrylic ironwork subdivides the canvas into segments. These shows through the gate. At that point, switch to yellow to
segments are called trapped shapes.) Run your washes around a few flower shapes, create an under-painting for those yellow flowers. Try to
allowing them to remain white. If you “lose” a flower shape, don’t worry, you can paint around the upper curved edge where the sun is hit-
always get it back later with white or pink paint. ting it. If you lose this light-struck area, don’t worry. You can
always paint it back in later with oil.

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 130

10. Transparent Washes

Extend the blue and yellow colors to behind the
open gate on the right.

9. Transparent Washes
Now in steps 9, 10 and 11, paint the background that is still the original white
canvas thinly with clear water. Into this wet surface, brush light dilutions of Dioxazine
Purple, Anthraquinone Blue and Turquois (Phthalo) into the tree shapes, and Nickel
Azo Yellow into the flower area. To achieve a continuous wash, just paint right over the
ironwork—no need to paint around as long as your paint is thinned to transparency.

10

11 12

11. Transparent Washes 12. Tree Trunk

Continue working on the right side until the entire distant tree area plus the flowering Create depth by darkening the background where the tree
vine is filled in. Leave a few flower shapes unpainted to the right of the large gate trunk emerges from behind the foliage, using Dioxazine
post. Purple and Anthraquinone Blue.

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 131

13

13. Dark Leaves

Add some dark brushstrokes of Anthraquinone Blue, suggesting dark
inner leaves on the flowering vines on both sides of the gate.

14. Transparent Orange Wash

Thin down the Transparent Pyrrole Orange to a transparent consistency
and apply quickly over all of the remaining white canvas. Allow this
orange wash to overlap the previous washes to achieve a smooth look.
You can soften the edges with clear water out into the blues/purples.
14

15 16

15. Yellow Flowers 16. Dark Foliage

Deepen the yellow at the base of the yellow flowers at the path’s edge Deepen the colors in the dark foliage on the left using Dioxazine Purple,
using Nickel Azo Yellow with very little dilution. This will model the flowers Anthraquinone Blue, and Turquois (Phthalo).
into mounded shapes. This is the final step in the acrylic stages. We’ll be painting with oils
from here on.

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 PAINT IN OILS TO FINISH
132

17 18

17. Sky Colors 18. Sky and Large Finial

Starting with the sky, “smear” appropriate colors—oil mixes 14, 15 and Carry on with the sky and distant tree line at right. Allow the bound-
16—over the acrylic under-painting. Allow bits of the under-painting to ary between tree and sky to have a soft edge quality. Add some of the
peek through. Remember, your objective is not to necessarily cover up all lighter leaves of the vine to overlap the distant trees. Paint the large iron
of the acrylic but to allow the two layers to form one image. finial with Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue, Rose Grey, and mixes 9 and
10, keeping in mind the light source which is off to the right and slightly
behind the gate.

20

20. Tree Foliage, Yellow Flowers and Path

19 Using Lavender, Blue Grey, and mixes 2, 12 and 17, continue the tree
foliage across towards the left gate. Try to paint that foliage background
19. Finials and Flowers in between the iron bars. Swirl a few vines around the finial and add a
Continue painting the blue sky and clouds and the finials that are few new spring leaves. Add some Caramel to the lower and under-side of
sticking up into the sky. You will need to use both negative and positive the yellow flowers that edge the far side of the path. Further develop the
painting to refine both. With Light Magenta and mixes 4, 5 and 6, paint yellow flowers and begin painting the dirt path. When painting the path,
the lighter flowers over the dark foliage. Paint the lower leafy edge of the use “broken color” in two shades—Jaune Brillant and mix 3. Broken color
flower mass and the grass below it that can be seen through the iron will add interest to what otherwise could be a flat, unexciting space.
bars with Blue Grey, Green Grey, and mixes 18 and 20.

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 133

22

22. Path and Large Tree

Continue with the path, painting up to, around and inside the cast shad-
21
ows to refine their shapes.
Paint the large tree and the bushes in front of it using Lavender, Blue
21. Gate, Flowers and Grasses
Grey, and mixes 2, 12 and 17.
Continue to refine the gate spindles and finials and center post. Begin
Add the light-struck sides to the finials on the left gate and center
painting the lower portion of the center post by highlighting the light-
post towards the top with mix 13.
struck side of which only a sliver can be seen. Paint the lower portion
of the post on the right as well. For all of these areas, use Rose Grey,
Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue, and mixes 9 and 10.
Add some white stalk flowers behind the yellows, some brushstrokes
of Orange to suggest flowers, a clump of grassy plant material, and some
grass poking through the gate. Work some purple (mix 11) into the cast
shadow under the open gate. Add some lighter green (mix 20) to the
grass at the lower left path edge.

23 24

23. Pale Green Plant, Grass and Bricks 24. Large Finial on Left Side of Gate
Extend the pale green grassy plant to be seen through the left gate. Add Start painting the large finial on the far left. The shaded left side of the
some lighter brush strokes to the foliage under the tree. finial is painted with Prussian Blue and the sunlit parts on the right side
Add some blades of grass at the bottom of the open gate and begin are painted with Rose Grey and mixes 9 and 10.
working on the bricks in that area. Apply Rose Grey and touches of mix
12 to the faces of the bricks, and Jaune Brillant to the sun spots on the
tops of the bricks between the cast shadows.

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 134

25 26

25. Flowers and Leaves 26. Flowers, Post, Bricks and Shadow
Paint flowers and foliage around the left-side finial and boldly scrape a Continue on down with the flowers, foliage, post, bricks and shadow.
swirling vine into the air around it. Flick in a few lighter leaves above the With Light Magenta, and mixes 4 and 5 (for the centers) and 6, add
finials and behind the gate with mix 20. more flowers. With Cerulean Blue, Blue Grey, Green Grey, mixes 11, 12
and 21, create broken color around the flowers to suggest foliage. Use
Prussian Blue where needed to reclaim any of the iron post that might
have gotten lost. Merge the foliage into the brick area rather than creat-
ing a separation between the two subjects. This is an area that should
be rather loosely defined. Bring some of the white stalks of flowers
further left to be seen behind the gate.

27

27. Iron Work

Finish painting the iron work. Use Prussian Blue to re-establish iron bars 28
and small finials as needed. Then add touches of sunlight hitting on the
right side with mixes 9 and 10. 28. Lower-Level Path
Paint the lower level of the ground in both sunlight and shadow, using
broken color—Cream, Jaune Brillant and mix 3—as you did on the upper
level.

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 135

29

29. Bricks and Cast Shadow

Loosely add color and texture to the bricks, brushing on Rose Grey, Lilac, Blue Grey, mixes 7, 8 and 11 and even a few
touches of Orange here and there. Allow the dark acrylic that shows the separations between the bricks to show, rather
than painting the lines with oil. Add some lost edges by smudging over those lines in just a few places. Add more sunlight
shapes in the cast shadow.

30

30. Check Your Work

Step back from your painting and see if it needs any adjustments. I think the lower right edge of the brick wall is a little too strong and
attracts too much attention, so I will “plant” some sprigs of grass along where the brick meets the ground to soften that strong diagonal
shape and bring the eye back into the painting. Amazing how such a small change makes all the difference!

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 AHD
ColorHERE AHD#10:
Lesson HERETHE
AHDEMOTIONAL
HERE AHD IMPACT
HERE OF COLOR
136
Color invokes such strong emotional response that a book about • The sunlight and flowers tell us it’s a warm and comfortable
C OLOR LES S ON

color would be incomplete without talking about emotional impact. day—a happy day.
The conundrum is this: Every painting you undertake has subject
The second most obvious element used is color and color
matter that has “spoken” to you somehow. We all have an elusive
temperature. Cool colors predominate here, yet the painting does not
mental and emotional picture of what we would like to express in
look cold because the cool colors are balanced by the warm colors
paint. Yet, all a painter has at her disposal with which to create her
of the sunlit path and the yellow, pink and red-orange flowers. The
“dreamscape” is a flat canvas and a few tubes of paint. The fact is,
sunlit parts of the path are painted with warm hues of pale peach
you must learn the nuts and bolts of painting—your skills must “catch
and yellow, which are “happier” colors than the earth tones that you
up” with your vision before you can put on canvas what you see in
might ordinarily associate with a dirt path. The shadow areas are
your mind’s eye.
painted with cool tones of blue, mauve, lilac and purple, adding a
One essential skill is that of analysis. Let’s analyze the emotional
feeling of mystery and romance. Still, there is some neutralized, more
impact of this painting created by subject and color.
“earthy” color as well, just enough to lend a touch of reality. Without
While this painting—as is true with every painting—has multiple
that balance, the painting might tip over the edge into saccharine
features that must be evaluated, the overriding feature of this paint-
sweetness.
ing is the subject matter and how it in itself evokes feelings:
A tip: as you paint cool colors, always add a bit of warm color
next to them and vice versa. The resulting contrast in color tempera-
• The wrought iron gate is strong with sharply pointed finials,
tures helps create brilliant colors and a lively, exciting painting.
meant to keep people out—yet it is open and inviting, making
So, I had several emotions I wanted to express. How well do the
you feel welcome, even privileged, important.
nuts and bolts—subject, drawing and composition, use of color and
• The open gate, path and flowers beyond are suggestive of hope value, brushstrokes and technique—support these ideas? There’s
and expectation. usually more to a painting than just a pretty picture!

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 LINE DRAWINGS
137

Demonstration 1: “Autumn Ablaze,” page 28. Enlarge at 130% to bring up to full size.

Demonstration 2: “Gone Wild,” page 38. Enlarge at 145% to bring up to full size.

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 138

Demonstration 3:
“Dutchman’s Gold,”
page 48. Enlarge at
208% to bring up to
full size.

Demonstration 4: “The Red

Shed,” page 60. Enlarge at
208% to bring up to full size.

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 139

Demonstra-
tion 5: “Ecola
Cove,” page
70. Enlarge at
169% to bring
up to full size.

Demonstration
6: “La Siesta
del Gato,” page
80. Enlarge at
169% to bring
up to full size.

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 140

Demonstration 7:
“Twilight on the Creek,”
page 90. Enlarge at
208% to bring up to
full size.

Demonstration 8:
“Sonoran Spring,”
page 102. Enlarge
at 175% to bring up
to full size.

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 141

Demonstration 9: “Butchart
Gardens Gem,” page 112.
Enlarge at 208% to bring up to
full size.

Demonstration
10: “Through
the Gate,”
page 124.
Enlarge at
167% to bring
up to full size.

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 RESOURCES INDEX
142

U.S. RETAILERS Miscellaneous Supplies Acrylics, 10

beginning oil paintings with, 26-27,
32, 42, 52-53, 74, 84-85, 94-95,
Blair Art Products
106-108, 116, 128-131
Acrylic Paints 4310 Cranwood Parkway
diluting with water, 42
Warrensville Heights, OH 44128 fluid, using as watercolor, 32-33, 42,
Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Ph. 1-866-833-7797 52-53, 64-69, 84, 128-129
188 Bell Road www.blairartproducts.com master color chart, 14
New Berlin, NY 13411 setting up palette, 16
Ph. 1-800-959-6543 Masterson Art Products, Inc. Analogous colors, 24, 35, 58
[email protected] P.O. Box 11301
Background
www.goldenpaints.com Phoenix, AZ 85017
dark, 44, 95
Ph. 800-965-2675 sunlit, 37
www.mastersonart.com Blues, and greens, to portray deep and
Oil Paints shallow water, 77
Mona Lisa Products Boulders. See Cliffs, Rocks
Holbein Artist’s and Houston Art, Inc. Bricks, 128, 133-135
Designer’s Materials 10770 Moss Ridge Rd. Bright mixtures, 20
[email protected] Bright/neutral contrast, 58
Houston, TX 77043
Brushes
www.holbeinhk.com www.monalisaarts.com for acrylics, 10-11
for oils, 12
Winsor & Newton Silicoil Brush Cleaning Tank removing paint with, 43
ColArt Americas The Lion Company Brushstrokes
11 Constitution Ave. 22 Carriage Drive dark wet-in-wet, 64
Piscataway, NJ 08855 Lexington, MA 02420 to depict water, 77-79, 95-96, 98-
Ph. (732) 562-0770 99, 100, 120
[email protected]
loose, to add texture, 55
www.winsornewton.com
Bubbles, 101
Tube Wringer Bushes, 36, 54, 66, 75, 106-108, 110-
Gill Mechanical Co. 111, 119
Brushes Eugene, OR
Ph. (541) 686-1606 Canvas, 13
Winsor & Newton www.tubewringer.com leaving whites, 66
(see address above) Canvas, toned, 26-27, 73, 85, 93
drawing on, 115
Cast shadows, 25, 52-53, 56-57, 59,
Connoisseur
www.connoisseurart.com
CANADIAN RETAILERS 68, 84, 88, 110, 116, 135
Cat, 85-86, 88-89
Cliffs, 75
Royal & Langnickel Crafts Canada Color(s)
www.royalbrush.com 120 North Archibald St. analogous, 24, 35, 58
emotional impact of, 136
Thunder Bay, ON P7C 3X8
“jumps” between, 109
Tel: 888-482-5978
lighter, “frosting the cake” with, 34
www.craftscanada.ca mixing, 18
reflected, 96-98
Folk Art Enterprises in shadows, breaking rules with, 25
P.O. Box 1088 simplified principles, 18-21
Ridgetown, ON, N0P 2C0 sun and shadow, 58
Tel: 800-265-9434 unexpected, 35, 37, 43
as value, 22-25, 35, 45, 58
warm and cool, 19-20
MacPherson Arts & Crafts Color, brilliant, 23
91 Queen St. E., P.O. Box 1810 for fall foliage, 35
St. Mary’s, ON, N4X 1C2 patterns of, 33
Tel: 800-238-6663
www.macphersoncrafts.com

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 143
Color charts, master, 14-15 Full-color acrylic under-painting, 26-27 Red acetate, using to see value, 45 allowing to show through, 86, 110,
Color contrast, using pairs of comple- Reference photos, 29, 31, 41, 49, 51, 132
ments to create, 122 Gate, wrought iron, 128-129, 132-134 63, 73, 83, 93, 105, 115, 127 monochromatic, 26-27, 73
Color Lessons, 35, 45, 58, 67, 77, 87, Gesso, 10, 108 Reflections, 76, 96-98, 100, 118-119 orange, 73
100, 109, 122, 136 Glazing, 66-67, 85, 108 Re-painting, scraping off paint and, 89
Color patterns, for eye to follow, 109 See also Washes, acrylic Resources, 142 Value(s)
Color temperature, 19-20, 136 Grasses, 44, 46-47, 128-129, 133 Rocks, 42, 46, 52-55, 57, 59, 78-79, color as, 22-25, 35, 45, 58
Color trifecta, 24, 58 Grayed mixtures, 20 94, 97-98, 110-111, 121 and shape, to make objects advance
Color wheels, 18-21, 24 Greens, and blues, to portray deep and See also Bricks or recede, 67
Complementary colors, 18, 20-21 shallow water, 77 Rock wall, 84-85, 88 using to paint moving water, 100
using to create color contrasts, 58, Intermediate colors, 18 Value contrast
122 Sand, 56-57, 75-76 and complement and bright/neutral
Completing the triangle, 20-21 Leaves. See Bushes, Foliage, Trees Scale, using human figures for, 71, 76 contrasts, 58
Composition Light. See Sunlight Scrubbing in, 36, 54, 75, 96 toning down, 111
drawing or transferring, 31, 41, 51, Light source, 25 Secondary colors, 18, 20-21 Value pattern, 42
63, 74, 83, 105, 127 from outside the picture plane, 65 Shadows, 25, 42, 65 Value sketch, 127
locking in, 26-27, 32, 116 Line drawings, 137-141 See also Cast shadows Viewer’s eye, directing, 59, 109
Contrast, 24, 35 Lines, wiggly, for texture, 68 Shape(s) Violet, and yellow, as extreme contrast,
color, 58, 122 negative and positive, 64, 116 58
to provide interest, 75 Mineral spirits, 12-13 painting by value, 22, 106
value, complement, and bright/ Mixtures, bright and grayed, 20 thin, 128 Walls, 64, 84-85, 88
neutral, 58 Modeling trapped, 129 Warm colors, 19-20, 23
Contrast. See also Value contrast balancing, with lost edges, 55 and value, to make objects advance Warmth, creating with orange tone, 87
Cool colors, 19-20 rocks, 88, 94 or recede, 67 Washes, acrylic, 107-108
predominance, 23 shadows, 25 Shed, 64-66, 68-69 allowing to run and mingle, 33, 84,
with washes, 106-108 Shrubs. See Bushes 129
Darks, 64 Monochromatic under-painting, 26-27, Sky, 132 clear water, 52
breaking up with splatter, 69 73 Solvents, responsible use of, 13 diluting with water, 42
establishing pattern of, 32 Sunlight sandy, 56
Depth Negative painting, 116 background, 37 transparent, 129-131
adding by overlapping, 44, 53, 57 Neutralized colors, 18 boosting, 88 Water, 118
creating and adding, 65 dappled, 46, 121 capturing look of, 96
depicting with darker glaze, 66 Oils, 11-12 depicting with unifying orange tone, choppy, 99
Ducks, working water around, 119 embellishing acrylic painting with, 87 deep vs. shallow, 76-78
110-111 foliage and grasses, 43, 46 moving, 95, 98-99, 120
Easel, vs. table, for acrylic painting, 33 finishing with, 34, 36-37, 43-44, 46- painting around, 129 portraying depth, 77
Edges 47, 54-57, 59, 86, 88-89, 96-99, strongest, 119 working around ducks, 119
lost, combined with definition and 101, 110-111, 132-135 sun spots, 42, 47, 54, 67, 110 See also Reflections
modeling, 55 master color chart, 15 Supplies, 11-13 Watercolor, using fluid acrylics as, 32-
softening, 65 setting up palette, 17 33, 42, 52-53, 84, 128-129
Orange tone, 73, 87 Tertiary colors, 18 Waterfall, 99
Fence, white picket, 63, 66-69 Overlapping, creating depth by, 44, 47, Texture Waves, 76, 78
Flowers, 43, 46-47, 54-57, 59, 67, 53, 57 building with brush and palette knife, Wet paint, dragging, to create glistening
84-86, 107-108, 110-111, 117, 34, 75 effect, 76
119-121, 123, 132-134 Paint from palette knife, 111 Wet-in-wet, 64, 66, 117
Flowering tree, 117-119 acrylics, 10 scribbled, 56-57 White, gesso vs. acrylic, 10
Focal point, device for creating, 109 oils, 11-12 smudgy, 54 Whitewater, 97-99, 101
Foliage, 66-69, 110-111, 117-120, 134 removing, 43 using loose brushstrokes for, 55
dark, 131 Palette knife from wiggly lines, 68 Yellow, and violet, as extreme contrast,
fall, 29-37, 96-97 creating texture with, 34, 54, 75, 111 Trees, 32-37, 43-44, 46, 75, 94-96, 58
seeing as values, 45 painting with, 36 106, 117-118, 129-133
shadowed, 52 removing paint with, 43 Triadic color system, 18-21
smearing in, 117 Palettes, setting up, 16-17
spring, 102-111 Pen knife, removing paint with, 43 Under-painting, acrylic, 26-27, 32, 42,
sun-struck, 75 Photos. See Reference photos 52-53, 74, 84-85, 94-95, 106-108,
yellow, 68 Predominance, warm vs. cool, 23 116, 128-131
See also Bushes, Grasses, Trees Primary colors, 18, 20-21

Z1677i 137-144_Back_Matter.indd 143 9/22/08 4:01:23 PM

 The Best in Painting Instruction and Inspiration
is from North Light Books!
Achieving Depth & Distance: Painting Landscapes in Oils unlocks the secrets to beautiful, realistic
landscapes you can step right into! Popular artist and teacher Kitty Gorrell shows you how to
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that take you from start to finish, you’ll learn how to paint near, middle and far distances in many
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ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-024-0; ISBN-10: 1-60061-024-2; paperback, 144 pages, #Z1308

If you are always looking to improve the way you visualize your art, artist Bob Rohm shows you
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ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-998-5; ISBN-10: 1-58180-998-0; hardcover, 144 pages, #Z0984

Nothing enhances a landscape like the play of light! Now you can capture its rich, illusive proper-
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Painting water effects can be a challenge for any artist! Robert Warren’s Guide to Painting Water
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Renowned artist and nationally televised teacher Robert Warren shares his own special secrets for
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These books and other fine North Light titles are available at your local art or craft retailer,
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Z1677i 137-144_Back_Matter.indd 144 9/17/08 5:07:34 PM

 ART TECHNIQUE

BRILLIANT COLOR
Julie Gilbert Pollard

BEYOND the
Ordinary
LET GO OF WHAT YOU SEE, and paint what you feel!
Brilliant Color reveals a new way of thinking about color,
brilliant COLOR
empowering you to push the envelope beyond ordinary
realism into bold landscapes full of life and energy.
The transformation begins by learning to see color as
value. Starting with short demos featuring diagrams, color

painting vibrant outdoor scenes

wheels and side-by-side visual comparisons, award-winning
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of color to capture the lively essence of every landscape. It’s
not about complex color theory or painstaking attempts to
paint exactly what you see. Rather, it’s about pushing color
to warmer or cooler extremes for stronger contrasts.
Julie’s signature style blends acrylic underpainting with
water-mixable oils to produce striking luminosity in less time
and fewer layers than traditional oil painting techniques.
Ten complete step-by-step demonstrations show you how
to paint gorgeous landscapes with an inspiring range of
settings and seasons.
Each in-depth demonstration features foolproof color
mixing charts, reference photos, initial sketches, and
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your colors zing and your paintings glow.
Dare to go bold! Brilliant Color gives you the skills and
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US $24.99
painting vibrant
Pollard

Z1677 (CAN $27.50)

outdoor scenes
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-058-5
ISBN-10: 1-60061-058-7
ISBN 978-1-60061-058-5
For more creative ideas, visit 52499
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EAN
UPC

9 781600 610585

Z1677 CM Brilliant Color PB.indd1 1 9/17/08 3:41:08 PM