Color Mixing & Theory

A Better Understanding of Warm and Cool Colors and How to Paint Them

http://www.robertlongwatercolors.com/

Odd that of all the languages, English is one which doesn't have different words to differentiate between warm and cool as they apply to things tactile and the same two terms when they apply to color. We have a difficult time in the beginning knowing which colors are cool and which warm. We like to tell someone who doesn't know: "If you are more likely to see a color in fire than in ice, it is a warm color. Conversely, if you are more like to see a color in ice than in fire, then it is a cool color."

Let's go a little further and think about what the Primary Colors are and why they are called Primary Colors. The Primary Colors are Red, Yellow and Blue. They are called Primary Colors because every color we have is made by mixing these three colors. Now what if we ask which of the Primary Colors are warm and which are cool. Applying the rule of thumb we stated above will show us that red and yellow are warm colors because we are more likely to see them in fire. Blue is a cool color because we are more likely to see it in ice. What we have concluded is that blue is the only source of cool colors in our universe.

Our Creator did us a big favor right from the start by giving us a light source. The Sun is yellow and a warm color. This Sun was placed in a vast space which is blue, a cool color. Thus we are provided with the balance of warm and cool which is so important to painting.

When mixing paints we should think about an object standing out in the open. On the side illuminated by the yellow Sun the warm colors are accentuated. Red and yellow and the colors in which red and yellow occur (green, orange and purple plus shades of red and yellow themselves) if the Sun illuminates one side of an object, the blue sky illuminates the other side. This accentuates the cool colors - the colors in which blue occur. To mix our paints, we simply use the warm colors which we used to paint the sunlight side and add blue to them to obtain the colors for painting the side away from the Sun. Think about it a while and then paint using it.

If you have any questions about this edition of “Watercolor Tips” or other editions, feel free to contact us at rlwatercolor71@aol.com. We will email an answer to you promptly. Enjoy painting.

If you have questions email us at rlwatercolor71@aol.com.

Enjoy painting!

Robert and Sharon