MIXING LOW INTENSITY COLOR

For these  two sessions I want to focus on Portabella mushrooms with their  neutral, low intensity color and a black-and-white Paper Kite  butterfly.  Using these two natural subjects I want to demonstrate how  we can mix our watercolor paints or watercolor pencils to make vibrant  blacks and soft, interesting grays and browns.  While there is a lot of  low intensity color in each of these, we don’t need to just use flat,  uninteresting black, gray, and brown paint.  I think adding more color  will really add interest and excitement to our work!   

 PORTABELLA MEDIA

Graphite Pencil=B, 2H and/or 4H

Watercolor Paints--Aureolin,  Burnt Sienna, Light Red, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Pink, Cobalt  Blue (possibly adding French Ultramarine and Sepia)  

Watercolor Pencils--Ivory and/or Cream, Warm Gray II, Raw Umber, Middle Purple Pink, Burnt Ochre, Venetian Red, Light Green, Earth Green Yellow

Graphitint option—Mountain Gray and Juniper

PAPER KITE BUTTERFLY MEDIA:

Watercolor Paints--Aureolin,  Sap Green, Phthalo Green, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Quinacridone  Red, Quinacridone Pink, Burnt Sienna, and Sepia

Watercolor Pencil--Prismacolor  White and/or Watercolor Pencil White, Cream, Light Yellow Glaze, Light  Green, Earth Green Yellow, Permanent Green Olive, Bark, Dark Indigo,  Helioblue Reddish, Light Purple Pink, Pale Geranium Lake, and Derwent  Watercolor Madder Carmine

 In  this class I want to demonstrate using two “birds”.  One is an actual  bird, a Lessor Goldfinch, and one is a flower “Bird of Paradise”.  

I  will demonstrate the Bird of Paradise focusing on its beautiful color,  with only a minimal background so the viewer can examine the simple  beauty of this subject.  

I  will demonstrate the Lessor Goldfinch while attempting to suggest his  natural habitat.  This will involve combining our subject with  background grasses and flowers.  

BIRD OF PARADISE MEDIA

Watercolor Paints: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Pink, French Ultramarine, Sap

Watercolor  Pencils: Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Orange, Dark Cadmium Orange, Pale  Geranium Lake, Light Purple Pink, Middle Purple Pink, Purple Violet,  Helioblue Reddish, Earth Green Yellow, Permanent Green Olive

LESSER GOLDFINCH MEDIA

Graphite Pencils: B or HB and a hard pencil such as 2H or 4H

Watercolor  Paints: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold or Raw Sienna, Cobalt,  Light Red, Quinacridone Red, Scarlet Lake, Azo Orange, Sap

Watercolor  Pencils: Cream, Light Yellow Glaze, Dark Cadmium Yellow, Raw Umber,  Burnt Ochre, Inktense Baked Earth, Venetian Red, Light Purple Pink,  Middle Purple Pink, Olive Green Yellow, Earth Green Yellow, Light Green,  Inktense Apple, Warm Gray II

You can see my  Graphitint chart above.  The Graphitint possibilities are across the  top.  They include Ivy, Meadow, Sage, Green Gray, Cool Brown, and Port.

The  other layers show the Graphitints applied on top of some the watercolor  pencils I might have used in the first layer of my painting.  The  colors I mixed from top moving down include Light Yellow Glaze, Raw  Umber, Light Green, and Burnt Ochre.  

Remember,  you don’t need to use my choices.  Any of your golds, soft browns,  oranges, or reds should work in either paint or watercolor pencils, as  long as you apply them very lightly.  You can always add more later, but  it’s harder to remove.