Drawing lessons - illustrated lesson notes for teachers and students

The psychology of color No2

painting which is well worth remembering 'warm

light, cool shadows - cool light warm shadows.'

When considering this scheme also remember the unifying effect of the discordant note.

Painters use this is when applying ‘spot’ compliments (opposites to the unifying hue) which, as

in jazz music, has the effect of underlining or exaggerating the unity of the rest. In the painting

above I could have done this by making the bird's wings greener (removing all the red from

that hue). There is nothing psychological in this, it merely is a practical tool for the painter to

employ if the painting seems to lack some vibrancy. Turner was the master of this effect. He

would create a huge canvas of reds, oranges and golds then place in a strategic spot of blue -

or vice versa. The result can have viewers circling and muttering words like genius, awe-

inspiring and unforgettable! From a painter's point of view all it requires is great control and

restraint - holding back until that last, final, daub of pure paint. That is the real secret to

painting with color - the understated build up, the flat featureless, bland thing that has taken

six terrible controlled months to produce then becomes a vibrant masterpiece in the last five

minutes.

This brings me back to saturation. This is not, as most painters would have you believe, a post

exhibition, or after dark activity. Saturation, sometimes called chroma, is the redness of the red

or the difference between a pale blue and a deep prussian blue.

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