The preliminary sketches are done. The composition looks good and drawn on the support. Now it is time to lay out paints on the palette. Opening the tabouret drawer, a small flock of tubes lies patiently waiting to be selected. The blank canvas looms ominously. Sometimes, fear or lack of knowledge in choosing his color palette immobilizes an artist more than fear of the blank canvas itself. Learning the relationsh Read More...

Regardless of the medium an artist uses, a color wheel is a useful and handy tool to have. Posted on a nearby wall, it is a quick reference for the experienced artist and a learning tool for the beginning student. Creating a color wheel of the paints in one’s own tabouret far exceeds the usefulness of a purchased, all-purpose wheel. Seeing how the paints in the artist’s palette interact with each other gives hi Read More...

You have selected the subject for your painting, determined the support and the medium you will use. The next task is laying out your palette. If you are a beginning art student, the colors in your tabouret may be minimal. You have fewer choices to make. However, if you are past the beginning stage or are just a paint junky, you may have a drawer overflowing with tubes of paint. If you are unable to resist the impu Read More...

Colors are the basic building blocks of painting. Color is the visual representation of different wavelengths of light. History reports that in the early 18th century Isaac Newton developed the first color circle when studying the effect of prisms and light. Since that point in history, a number of scientists, scholars and artists have investigated color and developed a number of color charts, wheels, triangles and Read More...

When painting, it is almost impossible to have every color you desire in a separate tube. Not only is this highly unlikely but it is rather expensive. Thankfully, you don’t need to go out and buy hundreds of different colors of paint. This is where color theory comes in. Color theory is the act of understanding and mixing colors to create new ones. Once you understand how to use colors, you are not only going Read More...