Understanding and Using Colour

Session 8 Creating Neutrals and Harmonising a Palette

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour

Last session we were looking at how the tints and shades allow us to create lighter (tints) and darker (shades) of all our colours, to create Mix each primary a huge variety of both colour and value options. We also noted how + with its grey neutralises the colour out, turning it progressively greyer and + + complementary greyer. But what if we don’t want to actually grey out the colour, but do secondary want to tone it down (rather than lighten or darken) it, is there anyway to do this?

Well, yes there is. We are getting really quite painterly now and a little = = more complex, so we are only going to touch on this for one session = so you know its there as a possibility when you are painting. We could Warm palette go a lot further into this—but there only so many hours in 10 hours!

neutrals If we mix any colour with its complementary, we will get a neutral shade which is either greyish, or brownish (see samples, left). We call this a ‘neutral’ because the colours literally cancel one another out. Warm (above) and cool (below) primary and But this grey or brown does contain colour, unlike ‘grey grey’, which is secondary mixed neutrals simply a mix of amounts of black and white— containing colour from the two colours it is sourced from. This means this neutral can be used to tone down those colours in a way that is much richer and Mix each primary more subtle than using a plain grey. with its + It’s definitely worth you taking time to swatch this into your colour + + complementary secondary book to see how it works (as left). And as we have found before, the quantities of each colour used in the mix, create very different mixes. So I also suggest you choose a = = couple of colours and do colour runs between primary to = secondary—see next page. Cool palette

neutrals

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour Warm secondary Green to Red neutral mixing

Tone I've chosen the complimentary colours of red and A green (warm versions).

The first three lines show slowly adding red to 3 Mid-Green going to Red starter versions of green: a mid-green, a green with more yellow added, and a green with more blue Tone added. These make all the neutrals you can see in the B runs. At either end they contain more colour, but towards the centres, they become a collection of brownish and greyish tones. These will work Lighter Green going to Red beautifully with my red and green colours to produce rich tonal variety. As with all tonal palettes, squint Tone your eyes (or put into grey scale) and you will see the C values change very little.

We could now take any of these intermediate colours Darker Green going to Red and add white and black to create tints and shades. I've used white and the final result each time to create a collection of tints and tints of tones. I could carry on and add white to all of the tones I've created—and I would have a huge palette of options from just green and red. On this occasion, I've stuck with just these examples, to help me understand Tinting tone A how it works.

I haven't added black as it can also deaden colour too much. And that is another whole aspect of colour theory as black is often made up from other colours Tinting tone B and so the deadening aspect is lessened. But let’s swerve past that avenue this time - and just add white! I’ve also only sampled one set of complimentaries here - the red/green ones. The cool versions are on the next page. Tinting tone C

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour

Cool secondary Green to Magenta neutral mixing

Tone A

Mid-Green going to Magenta

Tone This is the same exercise as previously but B using the cool primary palette: magenta and green. Using the same colours in each version, allows a really good comparison of Lighter Green going to Magenta the differences they produce in the Tone neutrals, even though they are both mixes C of red and green. These ones seem lighter and brighter to me (as is the cool palette in general in my eyes) and as such, are going Darker Green going to Magenta to be perfect for mixing with the cool colour versions.

Don’t worry too much about all of this—it’s just interesting to add in when we are looking at toning palettes. Definitely worth a few experimental swatching charts in Tinting tone A your colour book. And really do remember to label them, you will get completely lost otherwise!

Tinting tone B

Tinting tone C

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour

Of course, you can paint samples illustrating these tonal and value options (adding white tints to tones), but I find some simply brushed down on sheets like this just as useful. These show me the range of tones and tinted tones I can get from my two colours. They also inform me of the mood of each mix. The warm colours on the left have a deeper, richer feel for me: the cooler ones on the right feel lighter and brighter. These qualities will be diluted if I mix up the neutrals between the warm and cool colour palettes. A feature I may want, but best to done intentionally rather than by accident!

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour

+ +

Creating a generic neutral for the cool primary palette

All of that is a bit mind blowing, so don’t worry if your brain started singing ‘la-di-la-di-la’ a bit whilst doing the last few exercise … mine does as well. That’s why I limited how many I did. Those of you who love logic and charts, just go for it and swatch out the lot. It can only help you understand and absorb even more and I’d love to see those charts too!

For the rest of us, there is a simpler way to utilise this in our work. We know that we can use ‘grey’ grey for toning but there is also a way we can use the subtlety and richness of the created neutrals, without all those separate colour options. We can create one neutral by mixing all three primaries, and this will serve to tone any colour, or colour mix, within that palette—and create harmony without greying out the colours. Now that’s really useful to know isn't it? And you can apply it to any collection of colours you wish. Just mix them together to create a neutral and use that to tone all the other colours and mixes.

So here I've mixed the three cool primaries to create a beautiful neutral (above, left). I'm going to use this together with white to create a simple painting. I've put my three primaries, my mixed neutral and white on my palette and I'm just going to play and see what happens.

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live Understanding and Using Colour

My colour options seemed infinite and I was able to tone down those stark primaries without losing any of their beauty, as well as add in tints and deeper tones to create lots of value movement in this sample (left). Although I added the neutral to every colour I used (yes every single one) – there is no greying in this painting is there?

My habit of using the same roller across several palette trays when printing means I probably get a lot of Lovely mixed up palette after working this sample this going on almost by accident, but (above): loads of different colours, but they all I'm enthused to find a simple way of harmonise don’t they. Putting my colour swatches creating these neutrals so I can use next to the painting (below) illustrates how the them with my existing paint colour neutral has retained the beauty and feel of this range. palette yet toned down its starkness. Do try this yourself, I think you will find it interesting.

Courtesy of Hilary Beattie for Immediate Live