Tips on Oil Painting - The Skill of Seeing Color

Color is the central component of painting. It is what makes it a unique art form. Therefore, it is essential that we develop the skill of seeing colors as they really are. Here are some tips to help you with this:

* Prejudice - The first step in learning to see color correctly is to get rid of all built-in preconceived notions about color.

The brain (luckily) has the ability to filter the myriad of visual impulses and often fills gaps with stylized memories of reality. Unfortunately, stylized color memories are often very wrong.

So, we must learn to approach the observation of each color as if we see it for the first time without prejudice.

* Local Color - Each object has its own color which is sometimes called the object’s local color. It is the color of the object when seen in normal daylight.

* Light - The local color of an object will be affected by the light that shines on it. We must realize that all surfaces are to some degree reflective. In other words, the local color of an object changes when subjected to light and we must be aware of those changes.

For example, let’s we have a perfectly red apple. That is, the local color of the entire apple is red. When a yellowish light shines on this apple sideways we will observe that the lit side takes on an orange undertone and that the side in the side receives a violet bias which is the complement of yellow. Note that the complementary color of a color is the color that lies opposite to it on the color wheel.

* Harmony - A lit scene is naturally harmonized. The light that spreads over the scene has the effect of changing all the local colors in such a way that all colors become harmonized (i.e., simply put, the colors go together).

For example, the colors you observe in an actual landscape will always be in harmony. This is because the light source (the sun) drenches the entire scene. This is not the case when you put together an imagined scene in your studio. Indeed, it takes a bit of color theory knowledge to produce a harmonious painting.

* Nomenclature - There is also the matter of nomenclature. People tend to use special names for certain colors such as lemon green, navy blue, etc. This is not the best way to go about describing colors.

A better way is to start with the three primary color names: red, yellow, and blue. Add to these the names of the three secondary colors: orange, green, and violet.

Then, a color that looks like red but has an orange bias is called orange-red. A color that is clearly yellow but has a green undertone is called green-yellow. Or, a green that has more yellow than blue in it is called a yellow-green. And so on.

Tertiary colors often have a clear secondary nature with a bit of a third color added. For example, we can speak of an orange-red with a touch of blue or white.

This way of thinking about color also aids us with color observation. When you see a color you can start by identifying the overall primary color. Then you can try to judge if there is a bias to that primary color. And finally, you can try to gauge if there are touches of additional colors visible in the mix.

At the same time, this approach also gives you a methodical approach to mixing the observed color on your palette.

In the end, as is the case with so much in painting, learning to observe colors correctly is a matter of practice and experience. The above tips, however, should help in this endeavor. Make use of all these little pauses in your daily routine to practice your observation skills. While you wait at the doctor’s office, while you’re doing your grocery shopping, consciously look at certain colors and go through the procedure of determining what you actually see.

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