WHEN I load a brush I want to include as much variation as possible. This includes adding complementary color, variations of value, as well as color schemes such as split complementary, and so on. In short I want each stroke to be a flurry of color. This technique imitates the intricacies of nature. It also has the effect of each color enhancing the color next to it. This phenomenon of amplifying or magnifying the saturation of adjacent colors is known as field affects.
Josef Albers later expanded on these ideas in a series of paintings where the principle of field effects was exploited. You've probably seen optical illusions where a blue field will have a gray dot in the center. However this dot will appear slightly yellowish or greenish as the blue appears to project its opposite color into adjacent color fields. While this idea is simple to grasp in an optical illusion its application to painting is more difficult. But it can be exploited to good effect not only as a guiding principle to applying fields of color but also to adding color when you load your brush.
This principle can also be used when you paint zones of complementary colors. For example, if I paint a large green field the green is often difficult to control. So I might begin this area by painting a thin layer of red paint over the entire zone. The mingling of colors will begin to add a quality to the greens not achievable in any other way. I mingle the color somewhat haphazardly allowing some red to show between strokes and some layers of green to smear and mingle with the red. This mixture adds to the vibrancy of the paint surface. It is especially effective if I load my brush with plenty of purples and oranges to further accentuate a green in some places and neutralize it in others.
It may sound complicated, and I suppose it is, but with patience and practice you can achieve a quality of painting unequaled by any other method.
Brad Teare © 2009
excellent work! I think I will read your blog as often as it updates as this is truly some inspiring work and tons of great techniques already. Thanks so much for the great videos and paintings!
ReplyDeleteI know that painting is not about having a "system," but do you ever do something like warm lights and cool shadows, or are you always mixing color temperatures (warms and cools) along with adjacent tones and cross compliments? Thanks for you blog, I am learning a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis blog really demonstrates the Inventor in you. Besides the art techniques, just the blog itself and the videos really are inspiring. And the comments of the audience reflects an appreciation for your sincere free gift to them of "ideas." So keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!
ReplyDeleteJeremy, regarding warms and cools I will post some info on that coming up soon, but until then suffice it to say that the more intentional beauty you can orchestrate into a painting the better. So I do plan those warm and cool oppositions.
Cools and warms are always shifting. For example, the warms in the interior of a tree might be relatively cool compared to the light that hits that tree. But on a foggy day the lights of the tree might be a lot cooler than that warm shadow.
This also relates to the atmospheric envelope, more on that later as well!