Episode 5: Ten Minutes to Better Painting

Introduction

• Host: Marco Buchi
• Focus: Color Harmony in painting

Insights from Artists

• Morgan Why Sling:
  • Uses colors like a piano, hitting keys without specific mixing knowledge.
  • His paintings have beautiful colors.
• Joseph Subic Fitch:
  • Describes palette with a warm side, a cool side, and odds and ends.
  • His approach leads to beautiful watercolor paintings.

Understanding Color Harmony

• Definition:
  • Combination of simultaneously displayed colors that produce a pleasing effect.
• Challenge:
  • Overcome limitations of understanding colors only by their names.
• Example:
  • Gray swatch can appear orange or another color in different contexts, depending on its surroundings.

Communicating Colors

• Saturated vs. Grayer Colors:
  • Saturated colors are loud and don't communicate well.
  • Grayer, less saturated colors communicate better, creating harmony.
• Metaphor:
  • Colors on the Millennium Falcon; Han Solo moderates to reduce chaos.
  • Colors communicate through shared gray levels.

Practical Example

• Joseph Subic Fitch Painting:
  • Uses subtle color conversations with grays accentuated by saturated colors.
• Morgan Why Sling Painting:
  • Incorporates bluish grays and reds, building harmony through different conversations.

Techniques for Creating Color Harmony

• Start with one color:
  • Add subtle variations to initiate a conversation.
  • Extend the conversation across the color wheel for broader harmony.
• Using Saturation:
  • Less saturated colors lay a foundation.
  • Strategic saturation enhances color impact and communication across the painting.

Demonstration

• Marco's Painting Process:
  • Begins with rough grays and colors to explore potential color conversations.
  • Chooses which conversations to develop, leading to coherent color harmony.
• Turquoise Example:
  • Carries turquoise from sky to other elements, creating unity.
• Musical Analogy:
  • Similar to variations on a theme in music, creating harmony through color variations.

Importance of Fundamentals

• Hierarchy of Fundamentals:
  • 1. Drawing
  • 1.5. Values
  • 2. Edges
  • Color enriches a well-constructed painting.

Conclusion

• Exploration Encouraged:
  • Encourages exploration of color harmony in personal art journeys.
• Color Wheel Theory:
  • Humorously notes internet theories about the shape of the color wheel.
  • Affirms the round shape, even in software like Adobe Photoshop.