just got a new book today.....

[!becca]

I recently wanted to buy some Raw Sienna, to complete my collection of the four major browns (Raw and burnt Umber and Sienna) and I realised that half the Raw Siennas are the exact same as the Yellow Ochre that I have.

WN raw sienna is dark and some of the paint companies such as Maimeri offer RS in both light and dark. Vasari also has a lovely RS. I like mixing them with my cad yellow at times or with black for an earthy green.

[jazzfreak]

Sandra

wow! i really owe you an apology. i never meant my last post to be rude to anyone. i guess i dont express myself too well. the only reason i posted about the book was because i figured it might be of help to someone like myself who wants richer colors in their paintings.

as for the statement about leaving my mark: i meant that my kids are sort of an extension of me and that they both already have great artistic talent
and will continue on in life after i am gone. i would love to be a great artist but if it doesnt happen then it doesnt. i really do it just for the shear enjoyment of it.

as for me buying a book and a dvd: i meant i dont have the luxury of being able to afford real life drawing classes like some do. so a book and a dvd will have to do for now.

For anyone else reading this thread i apologize if i offended anyone.
i think from now on i will be more careful of what i post.

sincerely
john

[Bellaskye]

John please don't feel bad I didn't catch any attitude from your post and understood what you were saying. I also understand how it feels to come into painting a little later in life. I found painting during great turmoil in my personal life, mostly the death of my beloved father. It gave me such joy and took me away for a time, from the pain and loss that at times felt as if it would drowned me. If my paintings sell (they have, one for as much as 1,500) I am grateful and extremely pleased, when someone appreciates my work I am humbled and happy, if they survive to be appreciated by people long after I am gone...fantastic! If someone told me they could see in the future and they would all end up growing fungus in a basement I would still paint. Painting because you love it is in my opinion the best reason to do it!
Certainly sometimes posts sound different to different people because there is no inflection but please don't feel as if you have to censer each post. Wet canvas is a great place with many supportive artist to help you along your path. Happy Painting!

[!becca]

Bella, is exactly right, sometimes misunderstanding happen...John, you have nothing to be concerned about...and your apology was lovely even so...

[BetGee]

I, too, have the 'recipe' book. When I started painting I did find it quite useful. I did not follow the recipes as such, but, instead, made a note of the particular colours of paint that were used in the mix and how much of each - i.e. more of one colour, a dab of another, a speck of another. It gives you an idea of which colours to use to get approximately the colour you want -whether to use Ultramarine blue or cobalt - cad yellow or lemon - alizarin crimson or rose, etc.
I guess there would be a difference if you premix your colours or mix on the palette as you go.
Just my thoughts.
Happy painting
Betty

[kate252]

dont forget also the wet canvas palette things- where you can mix your own colors without needing to buy them- so you could take the book and follow a certain recipe and see if the yellow ochre ones come out the same- that would be interesting. I think Bill mentions an interesting point- what brand you have in your box will dictate what colors you mix- as each brand has its own recipe.


in my simple mind it all stems from yellow- red and blue. and black and white.


if you limit yourself to ONE yellow ( a lemon yellow) and one red (cadmium red) and one blue (any) then you will eventually suss out how color works and what happens to them when mixed in different quantities

its more important to understand it- than to learn recipes i think. although i am not saying the book is good- im just saying it could also serve to bombard and confuse instead if you are not careful.

i painted ror many years and never could understand color until i came onto wet canvas and someone told me to paint with these three colors- and in a very short space of time i got to grips with it

then you can start adding different yellows instead- and then you can siwitch your lemon yellow to the yellow ochre and you will see the same things follow the same principle with slightly different variations.

its like baking a cake- you can mkix a basic sponge cake with plain flour- and you can discover what the flour does with the eggs and butter- once you have learnt and followed this method you can play around with different flours the whole meal flour- the gluten free flour and the spelt flour.
all of these flours will make you a basic sponge but in different variations.

with this book there is a danger of learning one isolated recipe- such as gluten free peanut butter cookies- and not understand the science of bakingso youll always need the help of the book to bake the cookies.

the worry for me is to get stuck in a yellow ochre rut.

but happy baking anywayl.

[jazzfreak]

Bella
i am so sorry about the loss of your father. i can definitely relate to this.
but i am glad you sold one of your paintings. must feel great. thanks for taking the time to reply. you really cracked me up with the fungus.

Becca - thanks!!!!

betty - thanks for your input. I do mix on the palette with a palette knife for the initial base colors and then mix with the brush as i go. its when i am trying to get a certain color that i sometimes end up using a large amount of paint.

Kate252 - i definitely understand what you are saying. very good point and a perfect analogy especially sine i am making my famous stuffed mushrooms oreganatta tonight. this was my mothers recipe and she never measured anything so when i wanted to make it all i had were the ingredients. so i experimented for a long time and finally i got it almost as good as hers.wish she was here to try it. so i guess i will be doing the same with the paints.


john

[Keith Russell]

Originally Posted by WFMartin

Recipes? Let me know just how that author suggests the accurate measuring of such high tinting strength colors as Thalo Blue, so as to proportion it accurately in a mix with other colors.

Also, when a color such as Yellow Ochre is recommended as an ingredient, which particular brand that author would ask you to use. I've never seen the color, Yellow Ochre, from one manufacturer that ever came close to matching Yellow Ochre from any other manufacturer.

the "recipe" approach, in my opinion, is very questionable, at best. But, then, it actually may work for some colors.

It's a guide, at best. Photos can never accurately depict such things as opacity, mass tones, undertone, etc. I tell folks all the time to take the caps off the paint before they buy, and look at the actual paint in the tube. (except for brands like Old Holland, Williamsburg, etc. that actually paint, rather than print, the colour on their labels...

[sidbledsoe]

It doesn't matter if there are slight variations in colors, they are close enough that when you mix you will naturally tweak things to make up for these differences.
Jazzfreak, there are very often discussions specific to color and color mixing recipes to be found in the Color Theory Forum.
I know Einion has said that the book you have is one of the best out there for recipes.
Here is just one example of a typical thread over there.

[tomasis]

maybe im weird but it helped me enough by making research on what pigments do manufacturers mix for their own paint line. There are enough color variations of every paint tube to cover the whole spectrum. It takes long time to read all labels of a few top manufacturers for sure but it is fun

The lesser variations of pigments, the more pure it is. I remember one time when I wanted weird colors as pink, violet, turqoise. I stood in local art store and looked at every Winton tube reading pigment names for a while. All looked at me as weirdo. But that made my decision easier picking single pigments, also learnt what colors can be made by mixing from reading labels

I got both things of doing that. Getting "right" paints and basic understanding of mixing.

[lovin art]

Ok this has succeed in making me feel really bad on top of other things which i won't be dragging up - and no i dont like rudness , does that make me a bad person , i guess so , and to everyone else who wants to post on you behalf in this thread .... Cool ! i normaly try to be as nice and helpful as I am that person IRL but was just thinking my thoughts out aloud but i wont bother either ...cheers I m no longer here ...