Reflections of an Artist

Painting with a Colors Complement

Painted Trees over the Under-painting

Under-painting Using Complementary Colors

      Here is the blog I promised about vibrating color. When complementary colors are painted on top of each other, they will fool your eye into combining the two colors. Complementary colors are those that are opposite on the color wheel. I prefer using the Munsell Color Wheel over the traditional Triadic Color Wheel, but either will work.

      I first consider the final colors and then I do the under-painting (see above) using only the complementary colors. For green the complement is a red-violet. For the orange the complement is blue. You get the idea. By using the complementary color for the under-painting, the final painted color will display much more interest. Your eye will vibrate back and forth between the two colors causing more depth, more excitement. This is especially important in dark colors because it keeps them from looking flat and dead.

      The under-painting can look a little strange but have courage and use those odd colors. Here is another example below. Because I paint landscapes which have a lot of cool colors like green and blue, using the complements will add much needed warm colors to the canvas. Make sure that when you paint over the under-painting you don't cover all of the warm colors; let them shine through in some areas.

      To post a comment see below. I am always interested in your thoughts and opinions.

Reflections of the Past Sold

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