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   One of the surprising things when getting questions from artists and students is the sometimes shocking recognition of how my approach to painting has inevitably evolved over the years. No doubt at some point I was asking similar questions of my teachers, but I really can't recall just when some of those 180 degree turns in my thinking might have come about.  Often someone will ask me to list the order in which to paint various objects within a composition and especially in regard to backgrounds. Although it's probably not possible to shift somebody's thought process in a single email reply, I try my best to at least plant a seed in the direction of getting people to approach observing the subject, less in terms of 'things' (i.e. flower, leaves, background) and more in terms of which notes coming together (colors, values, shapes and edges) will be the most useful in building a strong foundation for the rest of the composition.

    When starting a new painting, my priority is establishing the visual signposts that will help me make comparisons easily --lightest light, darkest dark, hardest edge. In an arrangement of flowers, I will focus on a primary flower or group of flowers and then notes of whatever is touching the edges of that flower. This gives me clear parameters as to how the pigments I'm working with will be capable of translating the subject in front of me, and I then have something solid to relate the rest of the painting to. If leaves are behind the flower, I put in a note of the leaves. If background is behind the flower I put in a note of the background. If both are touching the flower then I will paint both. Whatever will help me establish key notes to relate to is what I paint first. My focus is so much on these initial spots of color, the edges they create, and getting them accurate, that I think I've almost disabled the part of my brain that knows or cares whether, for example, a spot of green behind a flower is a stem, a leaf, a vase, a bottle, or part of the background. If it's there in my field of vision I simply try to get the effect of those 2 notes coming together as closely as I am able, given the materials I have to work with. Once I can see clearly how those initial choices will appear on my canvas, then I have something to define specific shapes with. Spots of color first, objects second. Why? Because if I try to paint what my brain thinks is there and I let it go with it's preconceived ideas, the notes of paint won't have the same sparkle of light, depth and overall unity that I'm hoping to achieve. In a typical start, I indicate some notes of the background as I'm establishing the edges of the objects, but will often fill in the rest of the background toward the end when I have a better idea of what will work best to balance or compliment the rest of the painting.

   Learning to think and observe in this way can also be a game changer in the area of composition. When I'm trying to set up an arrangement, a lot of my attention is on making sure things will read well --- defining enough key areas of the silhouettes to make them distinct and recognizable to the viewer but also planning for other areas where the outlines of the objects are obscured and not so distinct. Those areas where things blur together can always be found where the values are closest. I want every object to be a part of the conversation -- readable enough that the viewer has no trouble telling what they are,  yet connected enough to everything else that they become part of the whole.

"Starting with a note of truth in a picture is the important thing -- the first color you put down influences you straight through. Do not put things down approximately -- you will take a wrong thing and unconsciously key everything to it, making it all false." -- Charles Hawthorne

"The artist must never forget that he is dealing with the entire canvas, and not with any one section of it. Regardless of what he sets out to paint, the problem remains one and the same. With his own creative originality, he must fill in his canvas and make of it an organic whole." --- Nicolai Fechin

      This is sort of an advanced technique I'm going to talk about here, so if you're in the beginning stages of color mixing, just take this post as an introduction into a concept you can look into further down the road. Basically, I'll be discussing how to use paint in a way that can expand it's limited range, while at the same time using techniques that can make the paint quality more interesting. In other words -- this is all pretty nerdy.

    One of the primary things I try to teach students is exactly how limited our range of pigments are, especially as compared to what nature has to work with. I don't emphasize this because I want people to feel confined in the way they're using their paints, but because I want them to be totally aware of the possibilities they have available and the importance of making informed choices. What people do with that knowledge and whether they use the full spectrum of their paints isn't any of my business, but when I watch students behave as though they have unlimited options left to save the important elements of their painting, when I can clearly see they've already used up the most powerful choices on their palette, it makes me want to cover my eyes and keep moving. Trial and error can be a terrific teacher but the students who can also think their way through some of these pitfalls before they come up are definitely the ones who make faster progress.

     My online self-study course, The Puzzle of Painting, is organized in an identical way to how I've taught my in-person workshops for many decades. I take the 3 aspects of color individually ---value, chroma, and hue -- explain what the limitations are, and then talk about some of the techniques artists throughout time have developed to compensate for these limitations. By far the most limited aspect within our pigments is value, and that's why most representational painters emphasize simplifying value relationships over almost everything else.  Chroma can also be quite limited , especially with the cool red pigments, but aside from vibrant flowers that are prominent in the picture plane, this isn't a limitation that a lot of painters pay much attention to. For more on this topic and how I handle this aspect of color, check out the blog posts on CHROMA.

     Hue in the context of the Munsell Color System refers strictly to a color designation along the color wheel -- red, blue, yellow, green, purple, etc. While it may seem like there are no limits in that area, contemplate the problem of an object of one color --- for example a blue mountain --with sunlight that is close to its complement, warm yellow. I have seen artists simply leave out the warmth of the light source and others who choose to mix the hues together producing a somewhat neutral green, but what if, like the Impressionists, you really want to capture both? Basically , given the nature of our paints, the only practical solution will be putting both warm and cool colors down and allowing the viewer's eyes to visually mix them. In a basic sense, visual mixing is what might commonly be called an Impressionist technique although I've definitely seen examples of artists using broken color long before the 1800's when the Impressionist painters first began shaking up the art world.

Above you can see an example of using 'broken color' to expand the range of what my pigments are capable of, both in terms of hue and value. This is a close up of the highlight on the brass vase in the painting at the top of the page and my goal in using color in this way was to convey 3 things at once --- the sharp contrast in value of a highlight on shiny metal, the warmth picked up by the color of the brass, and the slight coolness of the light coming in from my north light windows. Had I thoroughly mixed these three notes together the result would be a somewhat greenish note and darker in value, which wouldn't have served me as well for the three objectives I had in mind. A mixture like that can end up looking more like a piece of light green tape stuck on a brass vase instead of a convincing illusion of a highlight.

      Painters can have all sorts of motives for employing color changes in their work. Sometimes color will add interest in an area such as a foreground where it might lead the viewer into the painting . Color changes can also help to enhance harmony, or be employed as part of a technique that allows the painting hang together as a whole. I'm sure a lot of people add in variations in color just because it's their personal taste or simply because it's fun. When an artist truly wants to create the strongest illusion of light and form that their paints are capable of though, a solid knowledge of the limits, and therefore the possibilities inherent in our pigments, will be essential.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see” -- Edgar Degas. 

      Color mixing is an intimidating topic for a lot of students, and a frustrating issue for teachers too, because it really is something that just requires a LOT of practice and patience. This probably explains the popularity of workshops where color mixtures are presented as formulas. While finding the right note of paint might be fairly straightforward if you can locate a tube of color that matches or comes close to whatever you're aiming for, depending on paint companies to create all of the variations in tone needed to complete a painting isn't very practical. Not to mention, to rely on that, or on formulas, means missing out on adventure, originality, and self expression. The only way I've seen people get really comfortable with color mixing is to face their fears, jump in head first, and not worry about wasting paint. For artists who aspire to speak in their own voice there aren't any good shortcuts, but a simple plan can help a whole lot.

       Relatively neutral notes can be some of the most beautiful areas in a painting and also help show off any touches of pure color to their best advantage. One of the ways to combine color that allows for more interesting and lively mixtures is by using a triad. Basically this refers to 3 hues that are roughly equidistant from each other on a color wheel, with the most common triad being our primary colors -- red, yellow and blue. There are secondary and tertiary triads but for the way I work and the effects I'm trying to achieve, the triad of primary colors works well. The mixtures I use can be a combination of any one of the reds on my palette (Cadmium Scarlet, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin or Permanent Magenta), either of the blues (Cobalt Blue or Ultramarine Blue) and any of the yellows (Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Indian Yellow, or Transparent Oxide Yellow). Generally speaking I'll use the lighter value pigments for high tints. For mixing middle to dark values, including many of the shadow areas, the darker value pigments (either Alizarin or Magenta with Ultramarine and Transparent Oxide Yellow) are a more efficient combination but the only rule is finding whatever works. 

     What I like about the triad concept is that there are so many different ways to push the color without resorting to the addition of yet another pigment, so it just keeps things simple. The mixtures, especially in the lighter values, are cleaner and allow for more variation than what I would  get if I used grays or earth colors to modify. Complementary colors work very well to create neutrals but with any given combination there are only 2 directions to push the color. Below you can see a chart I created for my classes designed to illustrate the difference between mixing with a triad vs. neutralizing using complementary colors .

The circle at the top represents the various tints and degrees of neutrality that are possible when working with a triad. The mixtures were all created using Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue, and Cadmium Yellow Pale.  (White was added to both the red and blue to bring those 2 colors closer in value to the yellow). The bar across the bottom shows an example of neutralizing color using complements, which are found directly across from each other on the color wheel. The orange and blue together produces beautiful nuances in color temperature that would be ideal in some situations, but are limited to leaning warmer or cooler. In the triad example, the addition of one more color exponentially increases the mixing options to include the whole color spectrum.

      When I first started out in art school, I was taught to lay out a palette using strings of nine values for each color and any neutralization was achieved through the addition of grays or earth colors. It was a very academic approach and a great way to gain an understanding of values but my paintings didn't have some of the surface qualities and range of color possibilities I was yearning for. After adopting an open palette approach I then began experimenting with complementary colors and triads. With color mixing there's often several avenues to achieving the same or a similar result and actually all of these methods are now a part of my approach to mixing color. It's not something I think about as I'm working but it's just become more instinctive to use whatever path is the most direct for getting the effect I'm after. Trying to capture subtle color changes on a piece of white china, or indicate plane changes happening in a shadow area ---those are examples of when triad mixing can be particularly helpful. It certainly isn't something I invented and at this point I've been triad mixing so long I can't really recall when or where I picked it up. For the purposes of learning though, I do believe it is a good discipline to follow some sort of plan and not just continue adding more and more colors until a particular mixture is stumbled across and then hope that blob of paint on your palette stays wet until you finish the painting because there's no way to replicate it. The goal is to become fluent in color mixing and be able to match something you mixed previously if necessary. 

      At first it can feel more risky and complicated to mix color using a triad of primaries but there's almost infinite tweaks and adjustments that can be made to get wherever you need to go. A lot of artists today and throughout history have relied on the primary colors as the basis for a limited palette and especially in terms of simplicity I can understand the appeal. For me, working with the vivid colors of the subject matter I'm trying to capture, I find exclusively using a palette of just a few colors results in mixtures far less chromatic and much more opaque overall than what I'm able to get using a broader range of options. Still, if someone is trying to learn basic color mixing skills I can't think of a better place to start exploring than with a simple combination of primary colors. Certainly this approach can help minimize the trouble you can get into and won't require a huge investment in paint. Best of all, when you do hit on the right color, the result won't be due to totally random wandering so you'll always be able to retrace your steps and figure out how you got there.

For more information on the colors I'm working with now and why I've chosen them, check out the May 2022 blog post 'My Palette'.

"Don't try to flatten out one tone to cover the whole surface. Decide on one spot and then don't stop --- look again and then don't go back to the palette and take the same color. Do it entirely again. I want to help you out of making a plaster background."   --- from Hawthorne on Painting by Charles Hawthorne

Anyone who has browsed the paint aisle of an art supply store recently is well aware of the confusion. So many brands, so many colors, so many names, and quite a few will be calling out to you, promising that they are the missing ingredient for your next masterpiece. Learning about the various pigments and how to properly research them can save you a lot of befuddlement and expense though. There are far fewer pigments involved in the various tubes of paint than anyone would guess looking at the rows upon rows of options. The names are all over the map and without comparing the ingredients it's very difficult to know what you're getting. 

       I'm old enough to remember when the full name of the pigments were right there on each tube but now those have usually been replaced by a standardized code of numbers and letters (for example  -- Cobalt Blue, 3rd from left,  is listed as PB28).  

Brands (L to R) are Winsor Newton, Winsor Newton, M.Graham, Rembrandt, Holbein, Holbein

As you can see in the photo above, the pigment designations are standard, but the placement and tiny print can make them challenging to find. Even within the same brand sometimes the information will be in a somewhat different location, as is the case with the 2 tubes at the far left. 

Another helpful bit of information on almost all paint tubes is the degree of transparency. Sometimes it is written out but more commonly signified by either a square or circle. If the square is totally filled in, that's an indication the pigment is opaque whereas a line across or a partially filled in shape will indicate varying degrees of transparency. An empty circle or square signifies maximum transparency.

Fortunately some of the pigments commonly used many years ago have been replaced by similar colors that are generally more permanent and less toxic but I think it's still a smart idea to check the lightfastness rating before loading up on a new color, avoiding those with a low or fugitive ratings. 

Again, the information will almost always be on the tube somewhere but not necessarily in the same format. Some companies have a rating system from 1-5 while others will use plus signs or asterisks. Winsor Newton also adds a permanence rating which is basically the same as the lightfastness from what I can tell. That can be found on the front panel and their recommendation is to stick with AA or A unless you don't mind your colors fading.

    Those are the 3 important things to look for on a tube of paint with much of the other stuff having more to do with price, inventory control, etc. So now that you know how to find this info, here's how I would suggest applying it. Transparency affects the working properties and therefore is good to know before you purchase. I always advise sticking to pigments within the top 2 lightfastness categories if possible. Last but not least are the pigment designations. You can figure out the full pigment names by typing the code letters and numbers in a search bar or by studying the manufacturer's color charts. More than the names, I'm usually more concerned with how many pigments are listed on the label. If there is more than one, there's a good chance that I already have the pure, unadulterated version of that color on My Palette. In other words, I already have what I need to create that same mixture but if I buy another version of it already mixed it isn't possible to unmix it. My idea has always been to preserve as much range as possible without a lot of unnecessary duplication. 

     Something to watch out for is the word 'Hue' on a paint label.  'Hue' by definition is that color's position on the color wheel -- red, blue, yellow, etc. Manufacturer of artist's colors however, put hue on the label to indicate that the paint in that tube is a mixture that replicates where a pigment lands on the color wheel. For example, genuine Cobalt Blue is a fairly expensive pigment so it's common to find less expensive tubes marked Cobalt Blue Hue that may basically just be a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and white. As far as permanence goes the 'hue' mixtures might be just as lightfast but they won't have the same properties of transparency and depth of color that you would get with the real Cobalt pigment, not to mention most people already have Ultramarine and white on their palette already. 

     The bottom line is this -- learning more about pigments can be an enormous help in organizing your head and improving your mixing skills. You will come closer to knowing when you have made the best statement possible with your paint and instead of scrambling around to find a tube of paint to save the day, that knowledge of your limitations can instead lead you to discovering another path for creating the illusion you're after. As a side benefit you can save money and start making progress on unclogging your paint box. My best advice would be to check your paint assortment and the color charts before you go shopping or at the very least take along a good pair of reading glasses and study the labels. I know....not as much fun as randomly throwing pretty colors into a basket, but in the long run, just a tiny bit of research and planning can definitely be of more benefit to your painting.

      If you have a particular combinations of pigments you are partial to, it can be more convenient to buy it already in the tube, but otherwise, I would suggest sticking with the pure pigments and in particular, avoiding combinations with white already added. After all, you can always add white yourself but it's not possible to remove it once its in there. That way you can hang onto the option of using some colors transparently at their strongest chroma and come closer to capturing some of the stunning visual effects that nature provides us. 

For the brands I use the most, listed below are links to the paint manufacturer's info. These charts are also often made available at art supply stores and some of the better online vendors. 

https://www.winsornewton.com/na/education/guides/how-to-read-the-label-on-a-winsor-newton-colour/

Holbein Color Chart

Rembrandt Color Chart

   In this month's blog I'm going to talk about the colors I use and why I've chosen these particular pigments. As with most of my thinking, there's probably a lot more logic behind my choices than it might appear at first glance, and I've been happily working with this same basic palette for many years now. These pigments give me a broad range of mixing possibilities and allow me the flexibility I need when trying to capture the sometimes intense colors of a still life. Generally speaking I stick with full chroma pure pigments. Some colors are quite dense and opaque and others I have on my palette because even though I could easily mix that same hue, it wouldn't be as transparent as the color I have listed. I like having those options available to give my work more variation in paint quality. Any pigment, even white, can be made more transparent through the addition of various mediums but by using pigments that are already transparent, I'm able to play those areas against opaque ones without adding any medium and that allows me to achieve more interesting textures than I could create otherwise. The pigments I work with are chosen because of the subject matter I'm painting and what it is I'm trying to accomplish. Being up close to the brilliant colors of flowers, as I am when painting still life, I make different choices than I might make if I were having to carry all of these tubes out on location for painting plein air.

 Here are the colors I use listed in the order I lay them out on my palette and I've added add a few notes:

Flake White Replacement -- this white is pure titanium pigment and manufactured by Gamblin. It has a relatively heavy body compared to most whites and works well when painting with a knife.

Cadmium Lemon -- pale yellow without a hint of red. I use Winsor Newton brand

Cadmium Yellow Pale--again Winsor Newton. This one might seem like a duplicate color since it's close to Cadmium Lemon but it leans to the red side and they behave differently in mixtures. This comes out of the tube more chromatic than a mixture I could create with Cadmium Lemon and a touch of red. The Cadmium Yellow Pale however, mixes well with any of the reds so it's easy to add Cadmium Scarlet, for example, and create mixtures very similar to Cadmium Yellow Medium or Cadmium Orange without any noticeable drop in chroma.                              

Indian Yellow -- a deep and very transparent yellow with red undertones. I find it more useful than Yellow Ochre although they are very close to landing at the same spot on a color wheel. Of the transparent pigments I work with this is the lightest in value. I'm sure several brands have something similar but I use Winsor Newton.

Transparent Oxide Yellow -- Rembrandt. This is approximately the same hue and chroma as raw sienna except very transparent

Terra Rosa--Holbein,  I could mix this color but I can't mix it and have it be as opaque. I use this often juxtaposed with transparent notes to create more interest in an area that might otherwise be somewhat flat. It's also one of my favorites for signing paintings.

Mars Violet -- Same as Terra Rosa, Very opaque and fairly neutral. 

Cadmium Scarlet --Winsor Newton. In some brands this would be labeled Cadmium Red Light. This color leans toward orange but when mixed with Permanent Alizarin the results are as or more chromatic than Cadmium Red medium or dark. 

Permanent Rose -- Winsor Newton. A cool very transparent red. I use this a lot in mixing high tints but it is invaluable for capturing the effect of chromatic cool reds. The addition of white starts to dilute the chroma right away so often I'm using it transparently-- allowing the luminosity of the canvas to convey the brilliant color.

Permanent Madder Deep --Rembrandt. This same pigment is often labeled Permanent Alizarin in many brands. It's supposed to be more lightfast and less prone to cracking than traditional Alizarin Crimson

Permanent Magenta---Winsor Newton. Same as Permanent Rose but a darker value leaning more toward purple-- both pigments are from the Quinacridone family. This will come out of the tube more chromatic than I can mix using Permanent Rose and adding purple.

Dioxazine Purple (a.k.a. Winsor Violet)  -- deep transparent purple

Ultramarine Blue-- Transparent deep blue. A standard on most palettes

Cobalt Blue --For this one I especially like the vivid chroma of the version manufactured by Graham. Also, it is ground in Walnut oil which is slower drying so I don't end up throwing away as much. Cobalt Blue is supposed to be more stable in tints than Ultramarine Blue so I often use it in mixing and especially for high tints. It's semi-transparent and lighter in value than Ultramarine. Because this is an expensive color you will often find less expensive versions labeled Cobalt Blue Hue. The word 'hue' on a paint label indicates the manufacturer has replicated a particular color using less expensive pigments and in the case of Cobalt Blue that will probably be Ultramarine with white. It's not that the mixture is bad but you can mix white and ultramarine yourself if you want. The difference is that the one marked 'hue' won't behave in mixtures the same or have the same qualities of transparency as the actual pigment.

Viridian -- I use Holbein because it's fairly dark in value. Some brands look like they have a touch of white mixed in. Since I can add white myself but can't take it back out, I go for the option that gives me more flexibility.

Greenish Yellow -- a transparent warm green made by Holbien. Most companies have something similar but the names will vary. This one could probably go in the 'convenience color' category. Those are colors I could mix but it's easier to buy already mixed and be able to trust how it will behave.

Greenish Umber --Rembrandt. This is definitely a 'convenience color' as I could take some Raw Umber and add a touch of Viridian. The problem is, with a dark value like this it's very difficult to tell just how much viridian is in the mix until you try to soften an edge up next to  a lighter value. That's the moment when I often realize I've got a halo of bright color exactly where I don't want it. It's easier to buy a tube already mixed and know I can trust it to be neutral. This color makes a nice cool grayish tone when mixed with white and is also useful in mixing neutral greens for foliage that compliment without drawing a lot of attention.

Sepia -- Rembrant. A slightly warmer version of black.

Transparent Oxide Red --Rembrandt.  A warm and very transparent deep red. I often mix this with Sepia to add warmth but it can work well in mixtures for any transparent areas. It also pairs well in combinations with Greenish Umber or Viridian in classic red/orange and blue/green complementary color schemes.

Raw Umber -- This is a color that has a dreadful reputation in some circles as being way overused. Probably that is true but I never think of it as brown. Basically Raw Umber is the same hue as Cadmium Yellow ---that's just how yellow looks at its darkest value.  Again, it could possibly be mixed but I don't want to stop and add white every time I mix a dark note just to see if I've got the mixture just right. I don't mind surprise bits of color in some places but along edges and accents, not so much. Color in those places can often diminish the feeling of depth and also can draw attention to areas that will end up competing with other areas I feel are more important.

       That's pretty much it. Aside from the convenience colors I've listed, which are for the most part darker values, everything on my palette is there because I can't mix anything quite that chromatic, quite that transparent, or quite that opaque. The exception to that would be the very intensely chromatic Pthalo blues and greens. I have those around but for whatever reason don't work with them very often. By having this range of colors I've listed, knowing their properties and how to make the most of them, I'm able to create some effects of light, form and interesting paint quality that wouldn't be possible with a more limited range of pigments. While there are thousands of different tubes of paint out there, if you start checking labels you will discover that many are actually mixtures of the same few dozen pigments. If you happen to like some particular blend of pigments and use it often then it may make sense to buy it already mixed and in tubes but otherwise by purchasing a pure version of each pigment and mixing them yourself, you can help eliminate confusion and duplications in your paint box.

This is the way I lay out my colors. You can see in this example how each pigment looks against a neutral gray mid value. I've also put a spot of each one on a white background so you can get an idea of the relative transparency.