There are a lot of opinions on premixing your colors. I have found that at times it is advantageous, but most of the time I don’t premix. I’m not talking about mixing tubes of paint, but mixing piles of paint on your palette. You can predetermine the colors that you will have in your painting… Continue Reading
Is your painting more about setting a mood than about the image itself? If your painting is about light, atmosphere or mood, give up the detail. The detail isn’t what is necessary in a painting, especially when it is about mood. The details can stop someone, keeping them from entering the world that you created.… Continue Reading
I started with a rudimentary drawing. Then blocked in the large dark shapes. The sun will come from the right, so that is the lightest side of the trees. dioxazene purple, sap green, cad red light, Permanent green light, cad yellow med and a little white. That’s it so far. Here I started adding my… Continue Reading
The featured painting is “Saguaro Moonlight” 30″ x 40″ oil on linen ©2012 Becky Joy The light from the moon is a weaker source than the sun causing the light to appear cool to our eyes. Unlike the sun, there is usually no reflected light. Although, in some instances snow will cause some reflected light on… Continue Reading
Have you wondered how to choose your palette of colors for painting? So many colors, how to choose. I’ll tell you my experience. I painted my first painting in oils when I was 12 years old. I don’t remember exactly which colors I used, but I do remember the painting, an old barn, and that… Continue Reading
Saturation of a color is how clean, vivid and pure the paint is. A color straight out of the tube is usually saturated. As an example Cadmium Red Light is a saturated color as opposed to a Mars Red which has all three primaries mixed into it to gray the color somewhat. Cadmium Orange is… Continue Reading
A reader asked me recently, “How do I know when I have a good composition? This question took some pondering. Here are some questions to help you “see” your painting composition. Does it look balanced? Are you looking all over the painting, but not specifically one place? Is there a place in the painting that… Continue Reading
First published on ezine.com on May 23, 2011 Are Your Focal Points Clearly Defined? A first, quick glance at your painting is important. Some questions to ask yourself may be: What is your eye immediately drawn to? Was this your intension? Does it make sense? How can you more effectively define your intended focal point? You might… Continue Reading