From the Artist: Before this project, I had stayed away from any color with the word "cadmium" and opaque! I used cadmium reds and yellows, as well as my trusty transparent reds, yellows, blues, and two earth colors, raw sienna and burnt sienna. I applied all in thin washes, with the transparent colors usually on top. I did finish the top background with cadmium yellow light, two very thin washes, and burnt sienna, two thin washes on the bottom surface.
I learned that even a red opaque, when applied thinly for the first wash, will go pink on the white paper, and that quality cadmiums or opaque colors do not necessarily mean an instant mud or chalky outcome. Gone is the "fear" of cadmiums and opaque watercolors.
From the Painting Guide: How fabulous! I really love it when a monthly project leads to someone new discoveries. Cadmium red is one of my favorite colors; it's certainly a powerful and opaque red, but such a beautiful one!
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Look at how the elements in this still life are positioned, how the red elements pull your eye across and down the composition towards the white flower and its reflection. Look at the proportion of "empty space" on the right-hand side, how this prevents the elements from feeling crowded and squashed in (hold up your hand to crop it off and you'll see how effective it is).
Opaque vs Transparent Colors: The paint tube label will likely tell you, but it's also relatively easy to test whether a color is opaque or transparent. It's not that transparent colors are better than opaque, nor the other way round, but rather that they can give quite different results. Through experience you'll get a feel for how they behave, for instance how an opaque color behaves when used as a glaze compared to a transparent one. That journey of discovery is part of the fun of painting!
I learned that even a red opaque, when applied thinly for the first wash, will go pink on the white paper, and that quality cadmiums or opaque colors do not necessarily mean an instant mud or chalky outcome. Gone is the "fear" of cadmiums and opaque watercolors.
From the Painting Guide: How fabulous! I really love it when a monthly project leads to someone new discoveries. Cadmium red is one of my favorite colors; it's certainly a powerful and opaque red, but such a beautiful one!
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Look at how the elements in this still life are positioned, how the red elements pull your eye across and down the composition towards the white flower and its reflection. Look at the proportion of "empty space" on the right-hand side, how this prevents the elements from feeling crowded and squashed in (hold up your hand to crop it off and you'll see how effective it is).
Opaque vs Transparent Colors: The paint tube label will likely tell you, but it's also relatively easy to test whether a color is opaque or transparent. It's not that transparent colors are better than opaque, nor the other way round, but rather that they can give quite different results. Through experience you'll get a feel for how they behave, for instance how an opaque color behaves when used as a glaze compared to a transparent one. That journey of discovery is part of the fun of painting!