The ART of THICK PAINT

28. Remedial Color

FORMULATING A REMEDIAL PALETTE

If you find that you're having a problem with a certain color you can design a palate that will remedy that weakness. For example, many people have problems with the color green, especially in the field. I'm currently using a palette that only happens Viridian Green. Viridian Green is much grayer than Thalo Green, for example. Therefore it becomes almost impossible to mix up an overly saturated green. Another color I'm currently using my palette is cobalt blue. Cobalt blue is a very gray blue and when mixed with yellow it is difficult to mix an overly saturated green. However, another problem I have in the field is that my reds fade into the background and become insignificant. This lack of red allows to the greens to predominate. To remedy this situation I've added two fairly potent and highly saturated reds to my palette; Napthol red and Quinacridone red (of the two Quine Red is the strongest). These two strong reds will hold their brightness even when mixed in complex mixtures. Since I'm often remiss in not adding enough red to my color mixtures these two colors compensate for my weakness. Over time I become habituated to seeing this beautiful red mixed in with my greens, blues, and purples. When I have developed the habit and need to see a pleasing balance of red in my paint I can move on and add other varieties of red should I desire. The point is to get myself to use the right balance of colors, including red, right now in my paint despite my inclination to ignore red.

I normally don't have a problem with yellows or oranges so I picked two colors that cover a nice range; cadmium lemon, which is a light cool yellow and cadmium yellow deep, which is a darker and more orangey yellow. I'll so like the cadmium yellow because it acts as an orange on my palette. It is often convenient to have colors that are ready to go without a lot of mixing.

The final color, one that I have trouble living without, is Dioxizine purple. It is a purple of such deep Q it almost looks black out of the tube. This is useful for laying in the shadows where you want the dark and the cool to persist through subsequent players.