Color String Theory

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Palette Showing Color Strings Used in Painting Below

In a black and white world, it is easy to understand how tonal values can describe three dimensions in a picture. But it is important to get those value relationships down accurately for our work to be believable. This is why we stress regular drawing practice to our students - it is the foundation for all that is to follow. Applying color takes our efforts up to a whole new level of complexity and it is at that transition that students usually encounter the most frustration and failures. Relying on an intuitive sense of what might work is no substitute for the confidence that a solid grounding in color theory can provide. Knowledge is the key, but rather than lecture about it, we prefer to demonstrate with a method of color mixing that enables the student to learn theory while they enjoy painting.

Coral Charms (detail) Oil Ann Trusty