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Series 26: PREVENTING MUDDY COLOR

Mud vs Color- S26L1

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This lesson is S26L1, Mud vs Color of the PREVENTING MUDDY COLOR series.    Muddy color plagues many artists.  Using a photo of a yellow rose as her reference, Dianne explores the first preventing mud concept–when the values of colors are in context with their shadow and not-in-shadow fields, the colors will not be muddy.   Dianne demonstrates what it means for a color value to be in context.

No single color can be muddy.  Mud happens in relationship to surrounding colors.  If a vocalist sings a flat note or a guitar string is out of tune, the off note by itself would not be offensive.  The same is true for color. It requires a sour relationship to its neighbors to become muddy.  This series explores four ways to prevent color from becoming muddy.

 Rather than becoming refined paintings, all these lessons are studies, each showing a different concept for dealing with muddy color.  Lessons Three is built on the study done in Lesson Two.  Lessons One and Four are independent studies.  If mastered, these four concepts can help any artist eliminate muddy color from their paintings.

With every brushstroke we make, we are composing.  Just as with any creation, we begin with a structure, then as the art work begins we place shapes and colors according the concept with which we are working.  But the time comes when we move to a different level of thinking and decision-making–that moment when our intention becomes to bring clarity and resolution to the work.

Among Dianne’s passions about painting and teaching painting is how composing principles can expand creative freedom if the artist transcends the “rule” idea and instead, transforms the principle into a tool that opens creative doors.

Read Dianne’s Compose blog posts HERE.  Visit Dianne’s website and example her work HERE.  And visit her YouTube Channel with dozens of Quick Tips HERE.