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. This scheme works well for graphic design and logos, however, primary colours alone can become overwhelming when they dominate a painting.
‘Rise’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Consider breaking primary colours up with variation in tint and tone.
Example Artwork … in Primary Colours
Meet ‘Rise’, an Expressive Artwork I created in front of a live audience in 2013.
You can see the three main colours I’ve used are predominantly shades of BLUES, REDS & YELLOWS – a Primary Colour scheme.
To ensure the punchy Primary Colour scheme did not overpower in my ‘Rise’ painting, I used ‘tinting’ to create variation. ‘Rise’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch. 2013
Tinting is a simple technique of adding a little bit of white or cream to ‘tint’ colours to create softer tones, like pinks, sky blue and lemon yellow.
You will notice I’ve also brought in some aqua-greens and metallics, to break the primary colour scheme up a little.
Primary Colour Tips:
Always consider adding tints if you want to make your Artworks feel more ‘organic’, like the variations you see in nature. If you want to make your Artwork graphic and punchy, the full, saturated colour, straight from the tube, works well. I tend to use both techniques, for variation.
In their full, saturated form, ‘Rise’ would look like this > Basic Colour Principles - SECONDARY
There are three secondary colours, which are Green, Orange and Purple.
Secondary means ‘resulting from something else that is primary’ (e.g. following first or originating).
Secondary colours are made by mixing any two primary colours together.
YELLOW + BLUE = GREEN
RED + YELLOW = ORANGE
BLUE + RED = PURPLE (also known as violet)
Secondary Colour Schemes
Secondary Colours are spaced evenly around the wheel, just like primary colours are. When any three colours are evenly spaced this way, it is called a Triadic colour scheme.
To use a secondary, triadic colour scheme successfully in an overall painting, the colours work best when they are intentionally unbalanced. Pick one colour to dominate and then use the other two for ‘accents’.
Example Artwork … in Secondary Colours
Here in ‘Sea Dream’ you will notice that I have used Secondary colours as accents only, rather than the overall colour scheme.
Secondary colours can look punchy when used together in a triadic scheme, however as you can see here, I have used them sparingly, to accentuate detail, against the more subdued, pastel tones.
To add contrast, I have incorporated gold, which picks up different tones in different lights. Yummo!
‘Sea Dream’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch Secondary Colour Tips:
Have a play with contrast, by making your backgrounds in pastel shades and your accents in full- saturated colour.
Or you can also try vice-versa with strong, punchy backgrounds using subdued, secondary colour accents.
Remember, you can tint any colour with white to create variation.
Basic Colour Principles - TERTIARY
There are 6 main Tertiary colours.
Tertiary colours are created by mixing an adjacent Primary + Secondary colour together (e.g. red + orange = red-orange).
Tertiary colours are located between each Primary and Secondary colour on the colour wheel.
‘Tertiary’ means 3rd in order or level (e.g. primary first, secondary next, tertiary coming third).
Tertiary colours are typically named by combining the adjacent primary and secondary colours (see below).
Image source HERE
Example Artwork … in Tertiary Colours
Tertiary colours are the more ‘complex’ colours, often found in nature. I use tertiary colours in almost all of my artworks, because of my love for nature and experimentation. Mixing and arranging colours in new, personally expressive ways brings me a sense of pioneer-like discovery.
Here in Soul-Windows, I have used Tertiary colours, including blue- greens and red-oranges; along with Primary and Secondary colours in various tints and shades, just like in nature.
To create balance, I have white-washed large sections out in various degrees of transparency. This enables the under colours to shine through, without competing with each other. ‘Soul Windows’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch
Tertiary Colour Tips:
I regularly take photos of interesting shapes and colours in nature with my camera phone, to use in my paintings. This enables me to incorporate nature’s compositions into my own. >>>
Try this yourself by photographing some natural images that inspire you. Paint a tertiary-inspired expressive background, and draw your natural shapes over the top. Basic Colour Principles -WARM & COOL
Colour schemes are often described as ‘WARM’ or ‘COOL’.
When you are choosing colour schemes for your Artworks, selecting a warm or cool colour palette will influence the ‘feel’ of your paintings.
Colour schemes generally considered to be WARM, are those that give off a sense of heat or warmth, like the sun.
If you want your Artwork to be energetic, vibrant and attentive, you might use WARM tones:
YELLOWS ORANGES REDS
If you want to express a sense of tranquillity, calm or ease, you might use COOL tones:
GREENS BLUES REDS
Colour schemes generally considered to be COOL, are those that give off a sense of calming freshness, like the rainforest, ocean and flowers.
{ WARM & COOL HAPPENS IN EVERY COLOUR }
Every individual colour falls within its own hue spectrum, which can be described as either warm or cool. There are cool-reds and warm-reds. Cool-greens and warm-greens. The one in the middle is a ‘mid-colour’. You can see here, the red on the far left is an orangey-red, so it’s considered to be a WARM RED. The red on the right has a very slight hint of a bluish tinge, so it is considered a COOL RED. There is a great little article on colour temperature HERE on the Truth is Beauty blog. Example Artwork … in Warm & Cool
Here are two examples of my Artworks, in WARM and COOL tones. Notice how the warm painting has cool accents, and vice versa? Balance and contrast are important and makes for more organic works.
‘Autumn Breeze’ is a mini artwork, only 10 cms X 10 cms, made using coloured inks and paint pens.
Working small allowed me to play with simple, expressive techniques, such as mixing cherry red and yellow inks on wet paper and allowing them to ‘bleed’ together to make shades of orange for the background.
From here, I added some hand-drawn accents using paint pens, in both warm and cool tones, to create some harmony and contrast.
‘Aquatic Soul Dance’ is a mixed media Artwork on board, made using acrylic paint, collage, metallic pens, paint pens, lace, printed tissue paper and watercolour.
You can see that I’ve used cool colours to unify these materials, along with highlights in warmly toned hues, to break up the colour scheme and add some visual interest.
Tertiary Colour Tips:
Consider working in ‘layers’ and allow each layer to dry, to keep colours crisp.
Colour Mixing & Combos … Learn, then break the rules
Now we’re up to the fun part – Colour mixing.
When it comes to colour mixing, especially in Expressive Art-making, wild abandon can easily lead to unintentional, mucky brown messes.
That’s because brown can be made in so many different ways, which we’ll talk about shortly.
This is fine if you’re in the throes of pure process-based enjoyment, like we were here in one of my classes (left image). We weren’t thinking about looks, we were going by feel.
But then there are times when, like me, you’ll want to create an Artwork that is both enjoyable to create and look at, too!
______
Knowing which colour combinations work well together gives us more freedom to express ourselves confidently. This is why understanding colour dynamics is the easiest way to colour success.
______
There are many beautiful natural brown hues that look amazing teamed with other colours. We experience brown in nature all the time, it’s a beautiful thing! It’s the unintentional use of brown-muck that we will aim to reduce ahead, to prevent frustrations.
In this next section, we will discover how to celebrate colour by learning which colours:
A. DO MIX WELL B. DO NOT MIX WELL C. LOOK FANTASTIC ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER
Let’s look at this together now …
Part of being EXPRESSIVE is all about
being willing to make mistakes
Mini Exercise: Expressive Colour Mixing
Now it’s time to get our hands messy and take some risks, in the name of free expression. Let’s dive right into mixing intuitively, before we learn the ‘rules’. Learning through practice this way concretes our learning much faster!
Begin with a sketch pad and some primary coloured paints, and experiment with mixing your own Secondary and Tertiary colours.
Here’s the TWIST: USING ONLY YOUR FINGERS
If you have already printed this workbook out, you can use the PRIMARY, SECONDARY and TERTIARY colour pages to guide you (or wing-it – be intuitive)!
METHOD: In your sketch book ….
1. Simply squirt some primary coloured paint directly onto a page, and rub it with your fingers. 2. Begin mixing and merging your primary colours together. Which ones work well together – or not? 3. On a new page, try a page using only COOL colours. 4. Make another new page using only WARM colours. 5. Experiment with adding white or black to create tints and shades. 6. Experiment with combining different ‘temperature’ paints, for example, adding a warm sunset red with a cool lemon yellow. 7. Create at least one page with all the colours on it, and see what happens!
Work fast, freely and more than anything have fun! This is not about creating ‘a something’. Avoid the temptation to create a masterpiece – be a kid again.
TIP: Don’t skip this exercise. It’s what creating expressively is all about! If you really don’t like getting messy hands, wear gloves or use a brush, if you must.
Basic Colour Mixing Schemes
Our basic colour principles tell us that …
Any 2 Primary colours mix well together, to create a secondary colour (e.g. red + yellow = orange)
Any 2 adjacent Primary + Secondary hues mix well together, to create a Tertiary colour (e.g. Red + orange = red-orange)
To create VARIATION in your colours, you can:
Image source HERE
Add WHITE to any colour, to make a ‘TINT’
Add BLACK to any colour to make a ‘SHADE’
Add GREY to any colour to make a ‘TONE’
Colours that DO mix well: Analogous Colours
Colours that are similar to one another are called ANALOGOUS COLOURS.
Analogous colours are directly next to each other on the colour wheel.
For example:
Yellow (Primary)
+ Green (Secondary)
+ Yellow-green (Tertiary)
Analogous colours always mix beautifully together.
As you can see here, nature shows us easily how analogous colours work well together.
In this one bush, you can see dark, vibrant green, through to light yellow-green and into pure yellow in some places.
You will find this is true over and over in nature, including flowers, animals, in the ocean and even in a beautiful, mist-filled rainbow.
Colour ‘round the clock
Remember back to our Tertiary colour wheel?
Imagine now that a colour wheel is a clock.
A very simple rule for colour mixing is to imagine chopping the colour wheel-clock into quarters.
Any colour quarter (i.e. three hours apart) will mix well together. This is because Analogous schemes mix well together.
Here is my Thai lotus blossoms photo, along with my resulting ‘Bulbous Blossoms’ Artwork.
Here, I have used many analogous colour schemes within each bulb.
Colours that do not mix easily together: Complimentary Colours
Let’s go back to our colour wheel again.
Remember how Analogous colours are next to each other on the wheel, and are therefore similar and DO mix well together?
The opposite is just as true.
Opposite colours on the colour wheel are called ‘Complimentary Colours’.
COMPLIMENTARY (opposite) COLOURS DO NOT MIX AS EASILY TOGETHER.
You may have found out using your fingerpainting colour mixing exercise, that mixing any two Complimentary Colours together will create a muddy brown hue.
< Chrissy’s example:
This is one of my early paintings. You can see in places I’ve mixed saturated red paint with an emerald green, which resulted in a muddy, dark brown colour in the left and upper background.
However - There are exceptions to every rule.
You CAN mix complimentary colours successfully if you are making a SHADE. This will create interesting variations in your paintings.
Chrissy’s Example – Mixing successful ‘Shades’ using Complimentary Colours
Many people think adding black is the best way to create shades or shadows. In my one year of art-chool, I learned differently:
Instead of adding black to a colour to make a SHADE, sparingly add a little of the complimentary colour to create a more natural and organic shade.
For example: If you are wanting to create an organic-looking variation in a Blue, like I have in ‘The Day it Rained’ (see the top right section), here’s how:
1. Ensure your paint is still wet on the surface of your painting or palette (in my case, light blue). 2. Using your brush or fingers, add a small dab of complimentary colour (in my case, rich, goldy-orange). 3. Rub the paint together directly on the surface to mix it (this is an ‘expressive approach’. You can mix on a palette if you prefer). 4. Ensure you retain at least 2/3 original paint colour content (i.e. blue in my case) – any more and the colour will turn muddy.
If I had added black to the blue instead, it would ‘deaden’ the colour. So I used a golden orange for a more organic look.
Adding the complimentry colour to create a shade (instead of black) appears more natural.
Are there any other colours that generally DON’T mix well?
As I mentioned easlier, there are exceptions to every rule.
You may like to practice making muddy colours purposefully, purely so you can feel the joy of ‘breaking the rules’.
Who knows, you might come up with some really great new concepts for your Art-making, like Mikki Senkarik does HERE! She has made an entire series of beautiful, earthy hues using precise colour mixing combinations.
As a general rule of thumb, the following combinations will make all manner of shades of brown – the amount of each colour added is what will bring about successful (and not-so-pretty) variations. It’s all in playing with the amounts used.
How to make BROWN HUES:
Mixing 3 or more dissimilar colours = BROWN Mixing all the primary colours together = BROWN Mixing any two or more secondary colours = BROWN Mixing any compilmentary colours = BROWN Mixing Warm + Cool colours together = BROWN
Expressive Colour Combos
There’s nothing quite like seeing a beautiful colour combination pop out of a canvas, to make your eyes sing with delight.
Skilful colour placement can enable a rush-like feeling of creative success, and make us feel empowered and connected to our own creative processes.
Sometimes when I am making Art, a two-inch section of my entire painting will ‘sing’ like soulful choir and I will feel a bubbling of excitement from within. Other times, colour combinations in nature, jewellery, textiles, even my own painting apron, can bring about inspiration for me!
Image photographed by Sam Covey
Take time to nurture that what ignites a feeling inspiration inside you. Your natural aesthetic preferences will guide you on your unique, creative path. Spend time amongst the people and things which light you up. This is the best inspiration of all!
Mini Exercise - Nature’s Colour Combinations
I am a firm believer that Nature does it best.
Being Nature’s creatures ourselves, it makes sense that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We naturally resonate with Nature and this is something we can use in our Expressive Artworks.
In this mini exercise, we are going to go on a little treasure hunt for sublime colour combinations…
YOU WILL NEED:
* An inspiring natural environment (local park, beach, bushwalk etc).
* Your digital camera or smartphone.
* At least an hour of free time (kids love this activity, so bring them along).
* Your home printer or photo kiosk.
METHOD:
1. At least twice this week (preferably at different times of the day), put on your walking shows and take your camera or smartphone for a stroll around a beautiful, natural setting. 2. Take your time and walk s-l-o-w-l-y, to notice all the beautiful colour combinations you notice surrounding you. 3. Photograph your favourite moments – anything you find inspiring. It could be colours, shapes, patterns or textures in nature. Sometimes, a man-made element alongside nature can produce a beautiful contrast. 4. Print out your favourite photos and select a colour palette you find inspiring 5. Use this colour combination in your next Artwork – anywhere on your surface.
Chrissy’s Favourite Colour Combos
In this final section, I am going to share my favourite Expressive Colour Combos, using a whole bunch of my Artworks to illustrate them.
Once we discover our unique preferences, we can feel more successful as Artists, because we are enjoying our own creative process.
You may resonate with some of my favourite combinations, which is wonderful. However, I invite you to spend time discovering your own, through experimentation and the exercises in this workbook. This is where the magic really happens!
Warm & Cool Expressive Combos
One of my all-time favourite colour combinations, is using WARM and COOL colours together.
Tips for using Warm & Cool combos, without making muddy browns:
Experiment with WARM colours, freely and expressively, all over the surface of your painting. Here’s the trick: LET IT DRY.
When it is dry, you can paint over the top in the complimentary COOLER colours and avoid making mud!
QUICK TIPS: This works beautifully with Acrylic paints, but does not work with watercolour paints, as watercolour paints are not waterproof when they dry.
1. Work in layers – Paint one layer first using only warm colours and allow it to dry (or use a hairdryer to dry faster). 2. When dry, paint another layer or detail over the top, in cool colours. 3. Keep the bulk of the wet warm and cool paints separate (i.e. not mixed together). 4. Experiment with warm fine-detail on cool backgrounds, and vice versa. 5. Create tints and shades within each colour. Rainbow and Earth-inspired Expressive Combos
We’ve talked a lot about brown in this session and it’s got a bit of a sad wrap so far. So in this ‘Dream Catcher’ painting, I’d like to share how Earthy tones can be made to come alive using a rainbow of colours alongside.
Once again in this painting, I have worked in LAYERS, to keep my colours ‘clean’.
1. When I paint a colour or shape over the dry, colourful background, I allow some of the under-painting colours to shine through. This adds depth and interest.
2. All of the Earthy shades are intentional. I’ve enrichened the palette of the composition with deep reds, oranges, terracotta and golds, to create vibrant variation.
‘Dream Catcher’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch. 2013 3. Every colour has variation in tint and tone. Tints and tones give the illusion of depth and movement. 4. Some of the sections I’ve completely painted over with opaque paint (colours that are not transparent), such as the turquoise cascading down the middle- right section. I’ve watered down the opaque edges, so it blends in. 5. In other sections I’ve added transparent washes. This reinvents the colours underneath in new ways. 6. I’ve used an array of complimentary colours over the canvas – almost every colour in the rainbow. This compositional approach works because each colour is used more than once throughout the piece. The overall effect of this technique is to encourage the eye to move around the Artwork.
My Favourite Colour-Inspired Combos
I tend to go through stages of infatuation with a single colour. For whatever reason, Royal Blue was my go-to colour for almost an entire series of paintings. This worked perfectly for me, because my favourite colour is turquoise. As well, because the two colours, royal blue and turquoise are Anagolous colours, they marry together beautifully.
1. The entire background of this painting is predominantly blue. However with tints and shades all over, it is not ‘flat’ in colour anywhere.
2. The shaded areas and shadow effects were created by adding deep violets and cherry reds to the blues, rather than black. This approach to shading appears more natural and organic.
‘Chrysalis’ by Chrissy Foreman Cranitch. 2013
3. There are bright, ‘poppy’ colours, teamed with metallic paint in each of the feature elements (chrysalis, house, butterfly). Vibrant colour and metallic shimmers bring the features forward and makes the blue background ‘sit back’, creating the illusion of depth.
4. There are elements of a complimentary colour scheme happening throughout, to draw our eyes around the canvas.
5. The tints are made using white and a light turquoise, which, added to the blue, makes tertiary blue-green hues in various places.
Further Inspiration
If you would like more inspiration to keep moving forward in your work, here are some ideas …
ADMIRE OTHER ARTISTS
Have fun exploring websites of Artists and Designers, whose work you admire. Rather than emulating their work, make note of what it is that you especially like about their colour placement and then experiment with these ideas to make your own, unique style.
MEET OTHER ARTISTS
Connecting with other creative people is an inspirational god-send! The ideas always flow easily for me when I catch up with Artsy friends and bounce thoughts back and forth. I invite you to call a friend and tee-up an Art Jam together.
TAKE A CLASS OR COURSE
Whether you prefer to learn in-person or online, formally or informally, there are loads of amazing Art classes these days to keep you inspired and supported. There are loads of them listed online or even in your local paper. This is a great way to meet like-minded people and forge new friendships!
KEEP MAKING!
The simplest way to stay inspired is to keep creating new work. As you do, you will find yourself delightfully amazed and inspired by the naturally emerging shapes, colours and textures in your work. Art feeds more Art!
FREE PAINTING VIDEOS
I have a selection of my mixed media painting videos on my Youtube page. Many of these paintings are the examples I’ve used in this workbook. You are welcome to check them out here – They will give you an insight into how my Artworks unfold!
References
Basic color schemes - Introduction to Color Theory @ http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm
Colour Terminology – A personally compiled gift from Jennifer, one of my Art students. Thank you Jennifer
Color Theory in Web Designs – Web Designer’s Directory @ http://www.web- designers-directory.org/articles/color-theory-in-web-designs-9.html
Colour Wheel @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_wheel
Tertiary Color – Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_color
Please explain WARM & COOL - Truth is Beauty @ http://www.truth-is- beauty.com/please-explain-warm-and-cool.html
Photo credit page 28 @ Sam Covey Photo https://www.facebook.com/SamCoveyPhoto
With special thanks …
It’s impossible to cover everyone I’ve ever learned from or been influenced by over my years of painting.
Thank you to all my Art & Life Teachers who have shared their gifts and inspiration.
Thank you to all of my wonderful Expressive Art Students, for asking all the right questions to inform the pages of this book and for inspiring me with beautiful, heartfelt Artworks.
Finally, a special mention to Flora Bowley, whose ground-breaking book ‘Brave intuitive Painting’ has influenced my life in so many ways. I highly recommend this book!
About Chrissy
Hello, my Colourful, Spirited friend. I'm so glad you're here with me.
Like you, I'm on a path to Live a more Loving and Genuine Life. Ever since I can remember, I have been thirsty to reconnect with Life's true beauty and unlock a meaningful sense of peace within me.
It hasn't always been easy. In this Life, we all have our challenges.
Battling with Anxiety since childhood has led me on a Wildly Bohemian Path; yearning to make sense of my experience and bring Healing back into My Being.
By Listening Authentically to my Feelings and expressing them playfully with Paint, Inks and Collage, I can begin to unravel the Intricacies of Experience and share them with you as my Colour Stories.
I hope that my Artful musings Speak Deeply within your Spirit, letting you know You are not Alone and that we share common experiences on our journey. We're all in this together.
Enjoy!
“Whenever I sit down to paint, I have no idea what is about to unfold. I have learned to let go, be playful and celebrate my feelings in true, bohemian style. Because I reckon we feel most amazing when we feel free!”
All my Love, Chrissy x
www.chrissyforemanc.com.au