Cadmium Red? what am I doing wrong?

[JPQ]

I also thinking discontinue cadmiums when i used current ones to end i think i get clearly better colours with some others. and thin cadmium red looks own unique way but way is something what i not like much. like some pigments are special uses only like ultramarine violet which i found only few uses. some skies and darkening some greens. and my reason is cadmiums are pricey and i get much brighter hues with these modern pigments.

[sashntash]

Many others have explained .. and explained well.. the ways to use the cadmiums to best effect.

I thought at one time about eliminating cad red and cad yellow and cad orange from my inventory (they are not in my palette.. but available in tubes if and when needed),

but.... there are times when a small "pop" of cad red, cad yellow or cad orange..... used by themselves.... is just what is needed.

In a DVD I bought... Hazel Soan's "The Essence of Watercolor".. she gives the best demonstrations that I've ever seen for how and when to use opaque colors instead of the more often used transparent colors. I wish I had seen that DVD when I started learning watercolors a couple of years ago. I learned a lot from watching it recently. Here's the preview:

http://ccpvideos.com/profile/hazel-soan#dvds

Also.. I'm watching a fascinating DVD by Barbara Nechis called "Watercolor from Within" where she uses opaque colors for very specific techniques and transparent or semi-transparent colors for other very specific techniques ... all in the same painting.

So I'm glad I have my cads because I'll need them to try her techniques.

Here's a link to the preview. This is an intriguing DVD... I can't wait to try it with my opaque cads

http://ccpvideos.com/product/waterco...arbara-nechis#

[Horsa]

Cad yellow and Orange I do not have the same negative feelings toward. I suppose all painters are somewhat individual in their paint choices.

[Pandemonium]

I find cad red useful in mixtures for the occasional skin tone or stormy sky. Daniel Smith has a new un-cadmium line including a cadmium red hue that is very like cadmium red but uses modern pigments and is less expensive. They have them for yellows and oranges, too. Airbrushing with cadmiums is not a good idea, as I discovered to my cost. It's nice to know at least one pigmenter is trying to address the concerns of artists.

[sabana]

Hmmm. not sure about this, Alvero Castagnet uses Cadmium Red (Light) to fantastic effect.Maybe it depends on the complimentary colours surrounding?

[ArenaShawn]

Originally Posted by sabana

Hmmm. not sure about this, Alvero Castagnet uses Cadmium Red (Light) to fantastic effect.Maybe it depends on the complimentary colours surrounding?

I love how he does it -- but he uses it very opaquely at accents in very thick consistency, or drop very thick consistency of it in a wet passage for glowing light effect. Since Cad Red pigment is very heavy, it tend to push the other colors in the wash out and create a light ring effect, which is great for the illusion of warm indoor lighting that he often uses it for...

Same reason Cad Red is great for painting sunset skies...

I thinks it's more of an accents color and hard to use in a larger area of a painting, but that's just my opinion...

[sashntash]

I agree. For me... and anyone else's mileage may vary.... cad red is an accent color. A very effective accent color... when the painting needs some punch in one (or more) small areas.

[LittleSkink]

thanks for all the thoughts and pointers folks - interesting stuff

I have had a good play/read and explored everything I can think of: really strong to really watery uses, all manner of mixes and glazes, well stirred and unstirred mixes etc

What I have found that I can get some fun from Cadmium Red but I do need to play by its rules (which are kind of different to most other pigments I have used before). Doing a sheet of dilution colours and glazes proved helpful. Doing another series of mixes less so - as others have said, it doesnt really do purples and has a tendency to dominate in oranges - at least in stronger dilutions

For a strong accent colour when there is a need for a splash of red then used unmixed with the dilution 'spot on' to avoid a flat leathery look or the rapid fall off of redness into a less dramatic orange-red colour

Where I have found it much more interesting is in very dilute washes and glazes. The red takes on a delicate pink hue that is almost balletic even at the most extreme of dilutions

It has even inspired me to take a few other pigments and play with extreme dilutions and glazes - there feels like a fair bit more exploring and learning ahead of me now as I am so much more aware of how much water I am using and what affect it is having in extremis - fascinating!

[Saint Ragdoll]

I have replaced WN Cad red with Da Vinci Permanent red PR 188.(naphthol red) on my palette, mostly because I really prefer transparent colors....the way they look and the way they handle. I am trying to have mostly a transparent palette.

Saint Ragdoll

[Yorky]

Napthol Red is so powerful it generally goes on last with me.

Doug

[SSB]

They are opaque. I like cad yellow and orange in skies! Keep with them, but for a red to "make everything else", I agree with Doug.

Have you looked into what can be done with the various Quinacridones?

[Chris Robinson]

Ill put my 2 cents in

Cad Red should be complimented with Cad Lemon and Wnsor blue (Prussian Blue). These three paints are the best paints I have ever used, and you can paint a complete picture with these!!

Just my opinion

Chris