SPLIT PRIMARY PLUMS - TALK & DEMO

SPLIT PRIMARY PLUMS 8” x 8”

I have recently prepared a new ‘Talk & Demo’ to deliver to Art Groups where I’ll be explaining how to approach a painting using a ‘split primary’ palette to paint a still life and why, by limiting your choice of paints to just 6 (plus white), it forces you to explore the art of colour mixing, deepening your understanding of colour interactions.

I will talk about how to arrange and light a still life using compositional ideas and guidelines.  Also how create interesting and unusual compositions, shadow shapes and colour relationships, with transparent colours next to opaque colours and ‘warms’ next to ‘cools’.

In the second half of the session I will then map out my composition tonally on canvas and begin applying the paint in a dynamic and interesting way: focusing on colour mixing, loose brushwork and how to paint shadows effectively.

One-Day Workshop also available where you can have a go for yourself!

Created with a Split Primary Palette of just 6 colours plus White.

Colour Mixing with a Split Primary Palette.

TONAL SKETCH

This is where you do your thinking! The key to this painting - what makes it interesting, for me, is the way the light flows into the cut plum and the way the darks cascade down like a waterfall from top left to bottom right. A simple 3 tone sketch forces you to make those decisions up front - are the cut plums going to be a light or a midtone? or in this case one of each.

It’s done on the back of a cereal packet with a fine liner, a sharpie and some white acrylic paint. Note how the focal point (the lighter cut plum) sits exactly on the intersection of the thirds.