I have blended and worked with color wheels before but I haven't used gouache paints. I bought a set of 12 at Michaels that visually had good color range, but when I tried to blend they became a lesson in frustration. I have blended dyes before and the colors seem pure and vibrant and blend into pure and bright colors. Goache colors don't seem to blend as purely and I ended up with very dull and browned colors for the most part. I don't think it's just my lack of ability. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the shades and the quality of the paints themselves. After a few evenings attempting to perfect it, I decided that what I had was close enough for now. I am obviously not a master at goache! I have been reading "Color Works" and some other related books. I think I want to try a color wheel using the Tsukineko inks and then create it in fabric swatches. I'm very visual and I think that the fabric swatches would help me to see the values and variations better in the future. I love the idea Rain had of constructing a color journal. I can't imagine constructing anything as ellaborate as hers was, but I will work it as I go and let it develop through the process.
I spent a good part of Saturday painting papers with my Mom and Georgia. I have choosen violet and gold as my complimentary colors. I was interrupted quite a bit by my kids who were painting as well, but I came out with a few good sheets. I think I want a couple more with more richness of color. I'll try tommorow to paint a few more.
Mom and I went to the Textile Arts Institute in Eugene yesterday. It's a wonderful studio for surface design and textile creation! We are definately interested in future classes there. Sean had a blast working the foot controls on a spindle - and may be available for rent in the future (haha)! The best find was Michael Wilcox's book "Blue and Yellow do not make Green." I have just started reading and already I feel like the science of color and light absorption makes sense as to why some of my blends were too gray. I will go back to color blending and the color wheel later and I think this book will help!
Cool! Oh, I see have have some wonderful things in store in Module 1. It's funny, I teach Design majors, and recently in their homework they write that they are so busy making color wheels (on the computer). They complain that they have to do it again and again until one of the more advanced students okays it. "Uh-oh," I thought when I read that we do one in Module 1, I'm going to learn just how my students feel! I've peeked inside more than one folder and asked how they did it. Anything to get some pointers ;-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting to learn that the actual paints do or don't lend themselves to easy mixing in the way you want them to. Could be useful at some point, probably, to NOT have them mix - if you need a quick gray(?).
Love the blues in the picture, Cyn.