An extremely useful painting tool is a 'spot card'. When a color is viewed through the hole in the 'spot card', the color is isolated from the surrounding colors and you can see its true hue and value. Remember what Leonardo da Vinci said, "Never trust your eyes for they err constantly."
I give spot cards out to my Painting 1 classes every semester and still use one sometimes myself (after over 35 years as a painter). To make one, take a white (some use neutral gray or black, but I prefer white) piece of mat board or cardboard (paint it white if necessary) about three inches by four inches, and punch a hole in the middle with a hole punch.
Then when you want to match a color, hold the spot card over the color you are trying to match and place your palette knife with the mixed color on it half way into the opening of the hole. This lets you see immediately how close, or far away, you are to matching the color.
Remember, it's important to not 'shadow' the color you are looking at with the card. Stay far enough away to allow light to strike the object. And to ensure that you've the same light striking striking the color on your palette knife as on the color you're trying to match.
Tip from: Jim Meaders
To determine color when painting from a photograph or picture, cut a small hole in a piece of white paper. Put the hole over the desired area of the photo and dot your paint mix around the hole until it is a match. This works especially well with skin tones. It is easy to see the pink, yellow, greens etc. when it is isolated against a white background.
Tip from: Claire Friedrichs.
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