Rob Nevitte

The Watercolor Landscape

Chapter 5: Navigating the Path of Color Harmony

In some ways, color is one of the most instinctive aspects of art. While we all "know" that the sky is blue, and the grass is green, portraying these landscape elements in a preconceived way may not lead to artistic success, nor to a satisfying individual expression of one's vision. Learning to use colors to create a work of art is something that can be learned, but it's also something that benefits from lots of practice.

Why is it so difficult to translate our instinctive understanding of color into artistic harmony? We know it when we see it, but how do we get there? It may be that all we need is some time, combined with a willingness to leave behind old preconceptions, and accept that the sky really can be any color!

First, the dry facts for those who want to know .... then some suggestions and a few fun exercises.

Understanding the "Personality" of Watercolor

Like people, individual watercolor pigments have their own personalities, sometimes called attributes, such as tinting strength (intensity), transparency, granulation, and non-granulation.

Transparency is a highly valued attribute of the overall watercolor medium. Try to avoid mixing or dry brushing too many colors together, especially if they fall into the more opaque category. Use thin washes and let the beauty of the transparent medium shine through.

Watercolor is independent-minded. It likes to do what it wants to sometimes. Just give it a little water at the right times, and you can encourage it to do nice things. And it doesn't like to be pushed around. Too many brushstrokes and the transparent beauty says "bye bye".

Color in Nature vs. Color in Paint

Color in nature is defined by light, such that the more color that's present, the more it tends toward white light. Remember those science experiments back in grade school where you hooked up a color wheel to a fan blade and turned on the fan? The colors visually combined, and then disappeared!

Paint works the opposite way - the more color that's added, the more it tends toward black. Paints work by subtracting light, and leaving only the visible colors that have not been neutralized. So, theoretically, if there's less paint on the paper, there's more light reflecting from it.

Watercolor gets its brilliance not from white paints, but from it's own potential transparency, and the reflection of light coming back off the white of the paper. Dark areas in watercolor works are ideally created by mixing more intensely saturated colors together, rather than from black paint, which imparts a deadening quality. So leave the black and white "watercolor" paint out of your paint box, for now.

A Theory of Color Mixing: Don't Reinvent the Wheel

The color wheel shown above is made up of the 3 primary colors, and the 3 secondary colors. Theoretically, all colors in the spectrum can be mixed from the 3 primaries, as well as more muted, or grayed tones of each of them. In reality, this theory goes only gets you started, but it's a good start. Printers have long used a three color printing system using what's known as a "triad" of colors (plus black), in this case, magenta, yellow, and cyan. Each color is printed separately, in four steps, first yellow, then red, then blue and black. The resulting picture is a combination of the three primaries, "stacked" on top of each other!

The main difference between color in light and color in paint is that light is additive, i.e. when more color is added, the lighter the resultt, and in paint, when more color is added, the overall effect is darker (that's how "mud" is formed - too many or too many of the wrong watercolor pigments in at one time).

Temperature

The relative warmth or coolness of colors can be used to make a painting more exciting. Warm colors such as red and orange complement cooler blues and greens. But since color temperature is always relative, all colors have warmer and cooler variations. Temperature is something that you feel as well as see, like when you walk into a room that’s painted orange, rather than blue, for example. You may sometimes get a similar reaction when you look at a work of art, but you may not consciously notice it on the emotional level.

Striving for Color Harmony in your Paintings

Start by limiting the number of tube colors you use in a given work The ultimate color scheme for harmony is the monochromatic, or literally "one color" painting. Watercolor teachers often suggest an exercise in which an entire painting is done with one pigment, with the goal of varying the wash strength throughout in order to portray the darks and lights of the composition. Once this has been done, the next step is to try a two color approach, then three, etc. This kind of exercise can lead to real understanding of the capabilities of watercolor, artistic values in general, and a fundamental grasp of the importance of using a limited palette of colors.

Question: Does it matter if your colors you are using don't match the colors in the landscape that you are painting? The short answer: No.

Experimenting With Watercolor

Probably nowhere else in the artistic process is experimentation more important than in the area of color. Gradually build your understanding of the strengths and limitations of the individual pigments, color combinations, and overall palette preferences. Here is one way to get started:

Exercise 1: Getting the answer to the question "What are the useful colors I already have in my paint box?

Using your pure tube colors, paint a sample of each on any watercolor paper using any brush that has been dipped in water. Before you go on to the next one, use a pencil to label your colors, using a simple shorthand, such as CB for cobalt blue, UB for ultramarine blue, BS for burnt sienna, etc. Use any designation you like, just make sure it's easy to remember!

Next time you want to paint a picture, your samples may come in handy as a reference.
If you find that you're not sure, or not happy with the colors that you have, try looking at the colors listed below in the suggestions for a low key and a higher key (brighter) palette. Each palette consists of only three colors. Try both palettes, if you can. Spend some time working with them, and see what you like and don't like about them.

Later you may want to try coming up with a palette of your own.

TechniqueTip:

Put some of your colors on the paper by touching a wet edge of the loaded brush to another wet edge of color on the paper. This is known as "charging" color, and is a form of the so-called "wet" technique. The paints will intermingle due to the action of the water. Let these dry on their own, without additional brushstrokes. Beautiful and interesting effects, uniquely watercolor, can result.

Terminology

Some useful color-related terms defined. Some of the definitions may differ from artist to artist. These are academic terms that don't really explain much in themselves, but can be helpful in the discussion.

monochrome palette	generally used to describe a color style that uses only a few, or a few closely related, subtly shifting hues.
limited palette	a term that means staying within a predetermined selection of a small number of colors to complete the artwork.
full color palette	generally used to refer to an artist's total set of available chosen colors, or the use of some number of them in a given work of art.
Landscape colors	a somewhat catch-all term that refers sometimes to the colors that have more than one ingredient pigment - the siennas and the umbers, notably, which may sometimes be referred to as "Earth" colors. This doesn't mean that a landscape painting must include these colors.
Value Patterns	refer to the distribution of light and dark areas throughout a painting.
Values	Darks and lights, think of a black and white representation, like old Television, where everything was shades of black, white, and gray. Extremely useful concept in composition, where small value drawings in pencil give insight into the potential of the larger work to come.
Complementary colors	This is when another artist says that your work is good...actually, they are colors opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green. Complimentary colors can produce harmony when used in the same painting, or pleasant neutrals when mixed together.
analogous colors	those next to each other on the rainbow.. harmony is almost guaranteed when a painting is limited to analogous colors.
Color Study	may refer to a painting that is intended to prove whether or not a particular color palette is appropriate for the composition. Or it may refer to a study of a particular color (green, for example, often the watercolorist's nemesis), or the study of a color scheme in preparation to starting a painting.

Suggestion for a Basic low-key (muted) Landscape Palette

burnt sienna	warm	the ultimate warm earth color, the heart of this palette
raw sienna or yellow ochre	warm yellows	very similar to each other, both are great partners to burnt sienna, and to cobalt blue for mixing soft grays and greens
cobalt blue	neither warm nor cool	a medium strength middle blue, great for mixing with burnt sienna for blue-gray skies, distant objects and neutral areas

Advantage: Mud-resistant and well-harmonized. Great for atmospheric landscapes and winterscapes done in soft washes.
Disadvantage: Limited value and color range. Most of the watercolors on this site were done with this pallette.

Suggestion for a Basic high-key Landscape Palette

cerulean blue	cool blue	the ultimate summer sky color, has a hint of pale green, granulates, good strength
winsor yellow	medium temperature yellow, warmer than lemon	very lively greens with cerulean blue, and transparent oranges with permanent rose
permanent rose	warm, cooler than alizarin crimson	modern formulation for permanence, very transparent, glazes well

Advantage: Mud-resistant. Great for brighter landscapes and architectural subjects. Attractive transparent browns.
Disadvantage: Limited value range.

Suggestions for Expanding the Basic Palettes

Primary Colors

	winsor yellow - cool, but not as cool as lemon, great for lively Spring greens, fall oranges.
	new gamboge - warmer than winsor yellow.
	cadmium yellow - (warmer and more opaque - use with care, as too much cadmium is a potential mud-maker.
	quinacridone gold - more range than cadmium yellow, good for warmer green mixes and fall foliage.
	permanent rose - modern formulation for permanence, cooler and more transparent than cadmium red, great for florals, skies, glazes well.
	alizarin crimson - warm, very transparent, wide value range, use for strength and color in warm washes, looks pink in thin washes.
	light red - warm, similar to burnt sienna but more opaque, a beautiful orangy earth color great for roof tops, barns, rusting metals, earthy river banks, etc.
	cadmium red medium - warm, beautiful fiery red - use with care, as too much cadmium is a potential mud-maker.
	winsor blue green shade - cool, high strength, good with burnt sienna for dark summery greens and landscape highlights and shadows
	French Ultramarine Blue - cool granulator, strong blue/gray, nearly black mixes with burnt sienna
	Cerulean Blue - cool, more green than other blues, the ultimate summer sky hue, and lively transparent greens when mixed with winsor yellow.

Secondary Colors

	cobalt violet - warm, beautiful soft violet, weak tinting strength.
	winsor violet - cooler, but much stronger, with wider value range than cobalt violet, can be used to add power to mixes.
	cadmium orange - warm, opaque, permanent, reliable orange - use with care, as too much cadmium is a potential mud-maker
	I don't recommend any tube greens, however I do recommended experimentation in mixing greens.

Exercise in Greens:

Step 1. Choose two different yellows and two different blues. Put some of each on a large mixing plate, or other palette. Use enough paint so that you have enough to mix some of each yellow with some of each blue.

Step 2. Mix some of the first yellow with some of the first blue. Try to vary the color and temperature of the mix. Use your brush to make some interesting doodles on a piece of watercolor paper. Try different brushstrokes; use the tip to makes small circles, use the side of the brush to make wide strokes, and the belly of the brush to make thicker lines.

Step 3. Clean your brush with clear water before going to the next color mix.

How many different greens can you make from the colors you chose? At least four?

Can you make some of them warm and some cool?

Earth Colors

Use the umbers with care - too much can have a deadening effect, but there are times when burnt umber, a warm, strong brown (such as a large tree trunk in the foreground) can be effective.

	raw umber - weaker version of burnt umber, but cooler and more transparent, useful where a muted look is desired, but don't overdo.
	burnt umber - warm, may have a useful, slight yellowish hue when used in thin washes.

Choosing Your Own Palette

Why not do the obvious? Knowing what we now know, why not choose the three winsor primary colors shown below. All of these pigments are non-granulating, intensely saturated colors.

winsor yellow (medium yellow)

winsor red (warm )

winsor blue (green shade) (cool, very saturated and transparent)

This palette is so obvious (in a good way, the kind where you smack yourself on the forehead and say "Why didn't Ithink of this before?"), I'm going to call it the "obvious palette"!

Exercise 2:

Step 1. Squeeze out a small blob of each color from the "obvious palette", onto a large mixing area, about the size of a dinner plate. Place the colors so that they appear in about the same position on the color wheel. Select a watercolor brush of any shape.

Step 2. Dip your brush in water, then move some of the red paint toward some of the yellow, and let two colors meet in the space halfway between them. Notice that the red may overpower the yellow at first, but lift your brush and let the two colors intermingle only by the action of the water. Tilt the palette a little bit to help the pigments flow together. Some other warm colors, such as orange, should appear. Use your brush lightly to encourage the colors to intermingle.

Step 3. Clean your brush by dipping it in clear water, then (if you're lucky enough to be in a place where your can splatter, shake the water out of the brush with a quick flip of the wrist. If you are working on the dining room table and don't want paint on the hutch, keep a couple of rolled up paper towels next to the water source, and gently roll the brush on the towels, while keeping the brush pointed.

Step 4. Repeat Step 2, using the other colors on the palette, mixing yellow with blue, and blue with red.
Step 5. Finally, take a piece of dry watercolor paper of any type and paint a picture of the color wheel with all six primary and secondary colors in the right place using wet and drybrush techniques. Try to enjoy the colors and the various effects you get if the adjacent wet colors happen to touch each other on the paper.

Technique Tip: The Spray Bottle
For more water interaction, and more abstract effects, try lightly spraying the watercolor paper with clear water either before or after painting the color wheel. The water will reactivate the paint and cause it to spread more rapidly, and the tiny splashes will create more exciting shapes and color effects.

After spraying the surface, you may not be able to tell that the painting was originally a color wheel, but you can continue to layer more colors, even repaint the color wheel, after the paper has dried (a process called "drybrushing"). This "layering" or "glazing" of watercolor can be highly valued in all watermedia, as it can create beautiful light and color effects.

Warning: There is a limit to how much water can be used, though. If too much water is added to a still-wet surface, the paint may be lifted and floated to the edges of the "pond", creating a "bloom", "blossom", "flowback", "spider"or other descriptive term of less-than complimentary meaning.

Suggestion for a Full Color Palette

One way to jump to a fuller palette is through temperature, using it as a guide to defining which "temperature complements" to add to the palette. The simple rule is, if your basic palette colors are warm, add cool, and if they are cool, add warm.

So let's take the basic high key palette described above, and add two more colors from the extension list above (marked with an *) to act as temperature complements:

	cerulean blue (cool)
	winsor yellow (cool)
	quinacridone gold (warm yellow)*
	permanent rose (warm, as are all reds, comparatively)
	burnt sienna (cooler than permanent rose)*

Additionally, it's ok to "raid" your other color palettes for those basic color mixes that you rely on, even if the colors are "outside" the current palette.

For example, I might want to add cobalt blue to the six colors we already have, borrowing from the low-key basic palette. Especially for gray, atmospheric weather, distant objects, tree lines, and buildings, gray mixes of softly granulating warm and cooler mixes of cobalt blue and burnt sienna are quite versatile

I might also be tempted to add a hue like cobalt violet to this palette. Some pigments are simply unique, and beautiful in their stand-alone state. This is one of them.

And why not some alizarin crimson, winsor blue, or winsor violet to add strong color in those deep shadow areas? Let's not get carried away!

	cobalt blue (medium temperature blue)*
	cobalt violet (warm)*

With these last two, we now have a total of 7 colors in this palette. Always think about how the introduction of a new color into your palette may affect the overall color harmony.

Advantage: Mud-resistant (many transparent colors). Tremendous color, temperature and value range. Great for fall landscapes, florals, beach scenes.

Disadvantage: Many hours of practice and study would be required to master so many colors!

Some Traditional Watercolor Techniques

Work from light to dark, background to foreground, and build up values by thinking of a watercolor work as a process of "layering". Use more water in the early stages of the work. This will provide the opportunity to achieve color harmony from the beginning.

If color or temperature adjustments are necessary when the painting is nearing completion, consider using "glazing" techniques in which highly transparent washes of color are applied over top of the dry (or nearly dry) areas.

Another useful approach that helps especially with stronger values, is to paint dark, negative areas first with more intense color mixes, and let these areas serve as a guide to the strengths of the lights and midtones to come. This is useful for compositions with strong value patterns.

Every painting may have its own unique color requirements. Always consider going outside the box of color preconceptions (not that you have to risk every painting in that way). This is a potential path to artistic growth, and that's the best "complement"!

Note: Other major areas of artistic composition, notably, shapes and values, are not addressed here (see chapter 3, "Great Shapes", and chapter 4, "Values to Live By".