Discover How to Express Yourself Freely Using Playful Colour Techniques, Unique to You
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Discover how to express yourself freely using playful colour techniques, unique to you EXPRESSIVE COLOUR WORKBOOK with Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Hello and welcome to the Expressive Colour Workbook! My name is Chrissy and I am so excited to be sharing this inspirational topic with you. Colour is my all-time favourite way to express my feelings, inspirations and aspirations. It is truly a wonderful tool we can use to communicate and symbolise our intentions and it has the capacity to completely enhance the stories our Artworks have to tell. Work in Progress by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Expressive Colour techniques differ to usual colour theory. That’s because in addition to the ‘basic colour principles’ we’ll cover, we'll also be learning about colour from a uniquely personal 'feeling' perspective. Throughout this class, the expressive colour techniques will help you tap into your own unique colour preferences, through text, images, examples and playful exercises. These aim to help put your colourful new knowledge into practice. This is your chance to break free from using colour in ‘correct’ ways and discover meaningful and sublime colour inspiration to use in your own Artworks. I invite you to relax and enjoy our time together – that’s when you’ll most shine. Love, Chrissy x Your Expressive Colour Materials List This workbook is full of mini-exercises to discover new ways to use colour expressively. We will predominantly use Acrylic paint. It is vibrant, fast drying and perfect for expressive work, due to its water soluble qualities when wet and waterproof qualities when dry. You will need: Acrylic paint in Red, Blue, Yellow (primary colours) Acrylic paint in Purple, Green, Orange (secondary colours) Acrylic paint in White & Black Acrylic paint in at least one metallic colour A3 sketch book Dry media – e.g. pastels, pens or colour pencils A range of ‘Taklon’ Brushes in various widths and shapes (this is a great set HERE to get your started) A bucket of water for rinsing painty brushes and fingers An old rag for wiping your hands and brushes A Digital Camera for photographing nature A computer A Printer Internet connection And, an open, curious heart This e-book is designed to be printed and used as an inspirational workbook, to use on your expressive colour journey. Be sure to print out this book and keep it somewhere safe, to refer to throughout the rest of our time together. Expressive Colour is Freeing When we create Art, we are tapping into something inside us that wants to be expressed into tangible form. This means, our colour choices can become a visual expression of us and our feelings – almost like a biographical style of abstract portraiture. We can communicate endlessly with colour! A whole new and delicious realm of possibility opens up in our Art-making, when we let go of what we think our Art 'should' look like, or the need to make our Art look exactly like 'real life'. ‘Bulbous Blossoms’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Working with colour expressively means we can develop new and exciting ways to paint the world around us. It doesn’t need to meet anyone else’s standards, except our own, bohemian hearts. In Art making it is a beautiful feeling to use the world around us as inspiration. Rather than making our Art a goal to be tackled with utmost perfection, we can tap into the imperfect imperfection of nature. In my world, the delicate texture of a new leaf, or the space between two leaves, or the pattern on an orchid petal are all perfect starting points to celebrate and express feelings of wonder, through colour. Colour truly is a magical tool that can take us into new worlds and into ourselves more deeply … What Colour Means to Us Colour is deeply personal, expressive and emotive, and it influences the way we feel in the world around us. We all have relationships with colour in different ways – and this is a wonderful thing! Depending on our experiences and cultural upbringing, we all celebrate colour in different ways. Many Eastern cultures see RED as a sign of fortune and prosperity, whereas the Western world often associates RED with danger, action or even love. I see Red as a primal, core colour, that makes a real statement when I use it in my Art. The truth is, colour is completely subjective and whatever colour you feel influenced by in each moment is perfect! Using colour freely, intuitively and purposefully enables us to infuse our Artworks with deep, rich meaning, so we can enter a world in which anything is possible. We can literally invent the world in the way we’d truly like it to be! Mini-Exercise: Colour Association This exercise will help us tap into our own embryonic colour associations, which we can then use as tools for expressing ideas in our Artworks. Below is a list of colours, with blank space beside them. Write down any feelings, sensations in your body, or words you associate with each colour below: RED … SKY BLUE … GOLD … TURQUOISE … … CHERRY RED … PURPLE … KERMIT GREEN … SAND … TERRACOTTA … BLACK … Use these associations as a kind of ‘colour language’ to express yourself in your Art. Play with this idea in your sketchbook using simple colour blobs to communicate a simple story about how you are feeling today. You can use paints or pastels for this. For example, if I was feeling playful and free, I might use Kermit Green with Turquoise, because that’s what those colours mean to me. Chrissy’s example: Below I have filled in my associations with each colour. There is no right or wrong here. These are purely the ideas and feelings that come to mind, for me. RED … Tummy area. Core. Primal . Fiery heart. SKY BLUE … Inner forehead . Expanse. Flying heart. GOLD … Sparkles. Special inside. Gift. TURQUOISE … Freedom. Flying. Heart. Feel. See. Allow. … Pure. Possibility. Letting go. Surrender. CHERRY RED … Fun. Playful. Cheery. Kiss. Front of chest. PURPLE … Friendship. Spirit. Kindness to self. Shoulders. KERMIT GREEN … Laughter. Childhood. Knees. Play. SAND … Texture. Between my toes. TERRACOTTA … Power. Powerful heart. Commanding. BLACK … Embracing unknown. Contrast. Unsure what’s next. What could this Artwork symbolise? This Artwork here is called ‘The Night Tree’. Can you interpret what I might have been feeling when I created this painting, based on the colours I have used? The amazing thing about Art is that we all make our own interpretations. Both as the viewer and maker, we add to the Artwork! Identifying your existing colour preferences Have you ever noticed how your mood affects the way you dress each day? I can always tell the kind of week I've had, simply by the colours on my clothesline … When we dress, we are using colour as a way to express ourselves, often without even being conscious of it. From the colour of our accessories to the colours we paint our homes with; we all have existing colour preferences that inevitably find their way into our Art-making. This can be both wonderful and limiting. Today I invite you to push your boundaries of colour, to see what new and interesting things might emerge. When we can identify our existing colour preferences, we are free to celebrate them and move beyond the boundaries of comfort, into new territory. Here is a simple exercise to do just this … Mini Exercise – Wardrobe Themes Open up your wardrobe and glance quickly at the garments you find in there. Do you notice a colour theme happening? What colours are predominant? Indicate these colours as blobs in your sketch book. You can use any media for this. I find pastels or crayons are best for jotting ideas down. Now, pick three new colours you are willing to ‘try on’ for size. Draw blobs of these new colours next to your existing colours in your sketch book, to create new colour themes … Or place them together to create a brand new ‘scheme’! You might like to buy yourself some new paints or outfits in these colours. Or keep them aside as a ready-made colour scheme for a future Artwork! Mini Exercise - Colour themes in nature Below are four simple colour wheels. Take this page for a walk in nature, with the intention of finding some new colour combinations. Use dots or lines on each colour wheel to represent these combinations. You can refer to colour schemes in future Artworks! Basic Colour Principles Understanding basic colour principles enables us to feel more at ease and brave in our colour choices, as Artists. In this section, we will learn the basic ‘categories’ that colours fall into: Primary Secondary Tertiary Warm Cool To keep it interesting, we will use the words colour and hue interchangeably, and refer to the colour wheel for example of our basic colour principles. I have included some of my own Artworks as reference points, to illustrate how these concepts work, in action. ‘Stargazing’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Basic Colour Principles - PRIMARY There are 3 primary colours, which are Yellow, Blue & Red. Primary colours are the ‘base colours’ from which all other colours can be mixed. Primary means ‘first’, which tells us that these colours cannot be ‘made’ by mixing other colours together. They stand alone in the colour equation. Primary Colours are Base Colours Only – unable to be created by mixing. YELLOW BLUE RED Primary Colour Schemes Primary Colours are spaced evenly around the wheel. When any three colours are evenly spaced this way, it is called a Triadic colour scheme. When Primary colours are placed together, they are punchy and vibrant.