How The Artist Uses Color

Color is the emotional counterpoint to the intellectual qualities of drawing, and is one of the most important elements of design. While paintings and drawings can be quite effective without color, the use of color adds an entirely new dimension to the piece. Without color, the artist is not a painter, but a draughtsman.

Although color theory can be complex, practical application is what matters, and in this article I will present a simple philosophy for achieving an effective use of color and color harmony in a composition. But first an acquaintance with the fundamentals of color theory is necessary, as I believe that no worthwhile accomplishments can arise from ignorance of the basic principles:

1. Buy an artist's color wheel, or make your own. This is an essential item for any artist. Be acquainted with the primary colors: red, blue and yellow; how they mix to make the secondary colors, and how the secondary colors mix to make the tertiary colors.

2. "Hue" is simply the name of a color; for example, red, blue, orange are "hues." "Intensity" is the purity of a color. "Value" is the darkness or lightness of a color. "Temperature" is the relative warmness or coolness of a color; this can also be affected by surrounding colors. A "key" color is the dominant color in a color scheme. "Palette" has two meanings for the artist: first, it refers to the surface on which the paints are mixed before being applied to the canvas; second, it refers to the range of colors which the artist has chosen for his painting. In this article I will use the latter meaning.

3. Be sure to understand the relationship between complimentary colors (colors directly opposite each other on a color wheel) such as red and green, blue and orange, red and violet. Mixed together, they create valuable greys that can help unify a color scheme. But be careful about including complimentary colors in your work: they can compete with each other unless one is more abundant than the other, or one is greyed a bit to lower its intensity. And if you want to increase the intensity of a color, surround it with its complement, or with a grey. In my painting, "The Triumph Of Mars," found on my website, you can see how grey is used to enhance the impact of red and yellow.

4. Black, white and grey are not colors--in fact, they represent the absence of color. Any color mixed with white is a "tint;" any color mixed with black is a "shade;" any color mixed with grey is a "tone."

5. The standard color schemes are analogous, triadic, tetradic, complementary, split complementary and monochromatic:

a. Analogous--three or more colors side by side on the color wheel.
b. Triadic--three colors equidistant on the color wheel, forming a triangle.
c. Tetradic--four colors equidistant on the color wheel, forming a square.
d. Complementary--two colors directly across from each other on the color wheel, such as red and green, and any neutral greys made from mixing the two.
e. Split Complementary--three colors, two of which are the adjacent colors to the complementary color of the third.
f. Monochromatic--a color scheme composed of only one color, plus black and white.

Don't worry about adhering to these formal color schemes too closely; the inclusion of neutrals and your own color preferences will ultimately play a more dominant role in shaping your use of color. Their main purpose is to introduce the artist to color relationships and how those relationships create harmony in a color scheme.

Finally, remember that warm colors advance and cool colors recede. For example, in a landscape you could use warm earth tones in the foreground to make it appear closer to the viewer, while in the background you would use cooler colors such as blues and greens to create the sense of recession and distance.

That completes a brief review of basic color theory. Now I will discuss the effective use of color in a composition, and how to harmonize the colors in that composition. To create harmony in a color scheme a painting should consist of warm, cool and neutral colors, with one group predominating. The use of neutral colors, such as greys made from complimentary colors or earth tones, are the key to the great painters' successful use of color in their compositions. Greys help to unify a color scheme by tying together the warm and cool colors. The works of two of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper and El Greco, are superb examples of the use of neutral greys to balance and enrich a color scheme. Black and white can also serve as neutrals in this context.

In determining your color scheme for a painting, first examine the subject before you. If you look carefully you will see that there is a predominate color in the scene. This is known as the "key" color, and this will be a good choice for the "key" color in your composition as well. Once you have determined this color, it will easier to establish the other colors of your color scheme in relation to it.

One of the most important principles of color harmony is keeping your palette of colors to a minimum--it's not how many colors you use; it's how well you use a limited number of colors. The greater the number of colors used, the more difficult it is to maintain control over them.

Once you have chosen your palette for a painting, try to mix all your colors with this limited number--avoid the temptation to add more colors. This is another way to achieve harmony in your color scheme. For example, try mixing your blacks, browns and greys with the some of the colors with which you mixed your greens, blues and oranges.

When mixing colors, use a minimum of colors in your mixtures--three or four at the most, or the result may be muddy. To maintain the freshness of the colors, avoid over-mixing your paints, and apply them to the canvas with minimal brushwork. The use of white should also be approached with caution; it can easily turn a color mixture muddy. Remember that it isn't always a good idea to lighten a color with white, or to darken a color with black. Other colors can be used for these purposes; a lighter color such as yellow ochre can lighten a green, and ultramarine blue can darken it.

If your subject is painted from life, remember that the colors of nature are only a guide; the painting is a separate entity from the subject--it has a life of its own. All that matters is that the use of color in your painting is effective. Of course, you should choose colors that help to express the mood and atmosphere of the subject; you would not choose bright Impressionist colors for a moody landscape.

The basics of color theory are applicable to any medium; however, some media such as pastel and colored pencil do not lend themselves well to the mixing of complimentary colors to create neutral greys. In these dry media, colors cannot be mixed directly as with paint; it will be necessary to blend colors visually, using hatching, stippling or scumbling techniques. You may also have to use a greater number of colors to compensate for this limitation.

In some media, such as oil or acrylic, different colors have different attributes: some colors may be transparent, semi-transparent or opaque. These qualities will affect how the colors can be used; for example, transparent colors are better used for glazes than opaque colors, but transparent colors will not provide adequate coverage to conceal an underlying color.

All paint, as it dries, changes color or intensity to some degree, or "sinks." Acrylic seems to be one of the biggest offenders in this regard; oil seems the most resistant to this. This is not to say that one medium is superior to another; every medium has its strengths and weakness, and should be used accordingly. However, I have found it more difficult to maintain color harmony in acrylic than in oil; the colors often change quite noticeably as they dry.

A final word about color; as with any aspect of art, there is no better way to study the use of color than to learn from the great masters. Study the works of artists whose paintings you admire; see how they used color. The works of Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edward Hopper, El Greco and Henri Matisse have always impressed me with their rich and sophisticated use of color.

If drawing is the skeleton of a painting, then color is its flesh. Color is the essence of the painter's art, and its application brings life to the artist's concept. As you gain experience you will instinctively gain a greater "color sense" and develop your own preferences. Equipped with a solid grounding in color theory and a study of the great artists' works, in time you will blend understanding with knowledge to create your own personal philosophy of color.