Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Is it me?
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
I attended an evening demonstration this week of a still life undertaken with a gouache under painting with pastel over the gouache. The demonstrator explained complementary colour theory but then put a complementary orange over a blue gouache claiming this would make the orange appear brighter. Where the orange did not cover the blue it did appear to make the blue shine through more brightly, exactly as I would expect from all I have been taught but where the orange pastel covered the blue it did not take on any enhanced brightness as, in my view, the pastel simply obliterated the blue underneath.
Had this been done with oil paint and a transparent orange (e.g. Burnt Sienna) used to paint over a blue I would expect the orange to desaturate the blue and give an optical mix tending to grey, depending on the strengths of the glazes.
Is it me or has this demonstrator taken colour theory a step further than my tutors?
Posted
Hi Stub ,I dont know what step your demonstrator has taken but it has landed in something that smells. As orange and blue are complementaries,they become ,when mixed ,a grey, warm or cold. Side by side the two comps. appear brighterj, just like red and green .Maybe we should think that this is what the demonstrater meant but was not a good example of expressing what was meant as so often happens.So ,as I understand it Stub you have got it right.....Cheers, Syd
Edited
by SydEdward
Posted
Complementaries mixed - as indeed you and Syd both point out - make a range of greys, browns and optical blacks. The theory of complementarity works if a) you have two complementaries side by side and b) if you have a glaze or scumble - though the one will modify the colour rather than enhance it, while the other works by showing traces of the complementary colour through the scumble laid on top.
Incidentally, I don't know how you'd glaze in pastel, but then this isn't my medium. A scumble would be achievable. Think your demonstrator may need to go back to the theory and have another read of it.
Posted
"…Where the orange did not cover the blue it did appear to make the blue shine through more brightly…" It's impossible to say for certain of course, not having seen the work, but this sounds to me like he is using that property of pastels, as a dry medium, to create texture through varied pressure. I.e. a gentle skim over the surface v. grinding the pastel into the substrate. Oils would, as a fluid medium, behave differently. Sarah Bee I know, uses gesso under an acrylic underpainting to develop this property of pastels; the gesso is applied quite freely but with more than a casual thought as to where she wants a more textured area.
If I'm anywhere near right here, it could be said that you are both right, and it sounds like he didn't bother to explain things very carefully. I find this is often the case with those who are very strong on the business side. They have to make a living, but they've done their demonstrations so many times it's become mechanical and formulaic and they've stopped looking for ways to enliven and refresh the presentation. Sometimes they seem more concerned with their 'performance' than with the accuracy of the content or the effectiveness of the communication.