Color Tips

Mixing your own colors gives you a greater range of values and a unique variety of personal preference in your work. It is a good idea to play around with your colors and learn how to make new ones. This will give you a sensitivity to color sense. I like to use canvas paper and make charts. I will put three colors near each other and mix them into each other, then add white to the outer edges to see the tints. I label the colors before I go on to new combinations.

If you use three good true primary colors like Cadmium Yellow Light, Napthal crimson, and Thalo Blue you can mix many wonderful colors. But your blue and red to make purple will not be vibrant because Thalo Blue leans a little to the green side on the color wheel. (When red and green are mixed they neutralize each other because they have opposite characteristics. That is why they are called contrasting or complimentary colors.) So you will end up with a dark dull purplish color instead of a vibrant purple. This can be a good thing if it is what you desire.

With the above palette you can get orange, but not as brilliant as if you use Cadmium Red Medium (or Cad Red Light) mixed into your yellow. But even then Cadmium Yellow Light leans to the green side a little. So you can see the need for Cadmium Yellow Medium. This leans more to the red side and makes a stronger more vibrant orange.

It is hard to find perfect primary colors. they always lean to one side or the other on the color wheel. To solve this problem I use a split primary palette.

For my blues I like Ultramarine Blue (a true blue that leans to the red side of the color wheel a little) and Thalo Blue (which leans to the green side).

Reds: Napthal Crimson (leans slightly toward purple) and Cadmium Red Medium (leans toward orange),

Yellows: Cadmium Yellow Light (leans to the green side), and Cadmium Yellow Medium (leans to the orange side).

Buy a color wheel and put it in a plastic sleeve and place your colors on it it to see where they fall. When you are finished you can wipe the sleeve off or throw it away and use a new one next time.

If I want to make a bright green I will use Thalo Blue mixed with yellow. Thalo is powerful and makes amazing greens. On the other side, when Thalo Blue is mixed with Napthal Crimson it makes almost a black color. If I want a violet that is not muddy I will use the Ultramarine Blue and the Napthal Crimson. If I want a mauve I will mix the Ultramarine with the Cadmium Red instead. Of course using whites for tints gives you all kinds of values to choose from.

I don't really need Burnt Umber because I can mix up an orange and add a little Ultramarine Blue and have a nice range of browns. But I love this warm brown and often use it for dulling my greens or mixing with blue and white for a nice gray.

I have also begun to use Dioxazine Purple. It is dark and when White is added to it it is very vibrant. Even more so than I can make with primaries leaning toward purple. Dioxazine Purple is also great for dark shadows, add a little of it to green for deep dark shadows, or add a little orange for warm shadows.

Here is an example of these colors and how they can be used to make new colors:

Ultramarine Blue with burnt umber and white are at the top left. Thalo Blue top middle. Cad yellow light is next to Thalo blue. Ultramarine Blue is just below the Cad Yellow Light.

Napthol Crimson and Thalo Blue make the dark area just above the red on the left bottom. Cad Red Medium and Cad Yellow Medium make the orange on the right. Some of the complements are mixed in the middle with white all around.

(Cadmiums come in hues, which are even more brilliant than the regular cadmiums. I also use them because they are less expensive and less of a risk to the artist and the environment.)

Here are some more ideas for mixing your own colors: Try Alizerine Crimson as one of your reds: Prussian blue is a nice dark blue to try out; Hansa Yellow is a good yellow also; If you don't like mixing your own greens, add permanent green deep to your palette, just be careful not to paint with it straight from the tube too often as it can take over! Mix other colors into it for variations. Black can be beautiful in your paintings, especially if you use it with other colors. use it sparingly until you are confident with it.

Feel free to email me if this is not making sense! smile. I will try to help if I can.

slow down

Learned a lot about my self yesterday. Went to a plein air workshop in Gainsville, and discovered that I am in need of far more instruction than I thought! The one thing that stands out in my mind the most is that I rush through things to much.

For the last ten years of my life I have gotten used to saying "I don't have enough time." This is because I had teenagers when I went back to college. The homework and the long commute were unbelievable. Then after I got my degree in fine art, I started teaching at the public schools -- while I was taking extra courses to get my state certification. It is exhausting to just think about!

The job at the high school became all consuming, with grading and planning and teacher meetings . . . My husband was sick too, in and out of the hospital.
So I quit my job and started painting and marketing my work full time.

Deep breath here.

So now I am in high gear all the time, and that has become normal for me.

Another deep breath.

Wow. I don't have to paint a hundred miles a minute, and I need to slow down and think things through. I have been planning things out when I work in the studio, but when I am on location I feel like I have to just paint what I see and do it very fast! No wonder I would go home and think, "boy that one sure needs something!" LOL.

Have to rush off, time to cook breakfast! smile.

Busy

I have been getting up earlier, hoping to have a couple hours uninterupted . . . seems like everything needs to be done all at once. Life just gets too busy!

I Have a photo shoot today, I will be featured in a magazine with one of my paintings! Saturday I have an art show out of town, so I need to get ready for that, and then the following Saturday I have a charity event, and a workshop!

I do love it though, my art is selling and winning a few awards, and this is just the first year I have started back full time at it. God is good all the time, even when I can't see the fruits and rewards. It just encourages me so much when I can!

Acrylic Painting Tips

Here are some good Acrylic Painting Tips:


1. Don't use retarders at all, as they change the chemical binding of the paint and sometimes never dry properly.

2. If working En Plein Air, on location, set up in the shade or use an umbrella, and keep a very small (cosmetic size) mister bottle of water handy. You want a fine mist. Mist your palette regularly so the paints don't dry out. I have used the same palette for two consecutive paintings without any problem with the paint drying out.  I use a mister in the studio as well.

3. Put out a nickel-size blob or more, and mix colors on the painting as you go. Premixing can dry out the paint. If you need to premix, add a little water to the mix, and scrape the mixed color into a pile, don't leave it spread out. I use Liquitex heavy body paints as they seem to hold their consistency longer and have true vibrant colors.

4. Rinse your brush often or add a little water to the brush, dabbing it on a rag so as not to flood the paint. Use as large of a brush as possible for the entire painting. My small brushes come out at the very end.

5. While on location, I keep a plastic jar of water half full to rest my brushes in after I have used them, so the paint won't dry on them. Water does not have to be kept clean, the paint settles to the bottom of the jar, so it doesn't hurt to keep using the same water. (I like to bring an extra jar to pour dirty water in at the end, don't pour it out at the site.) I do start a new painting with clean water, however, for pure clean skies. When in the studio, I keep a shallow water container next to a larger one. After cleaning my brushes out in the larger container, I rest my small brushes in the shallow container with a little water in it, so the bristles do not get bent standing on their heads.

6. Work quickly. Don't fuss with detail, save them for last. I lay everything in very thin and wet to get started. Then I can make adjustments easily. I like to work one section at a time. Example: get the whole sky in, then get the middle distance, etc . . . I work small when on location, so it goes very quickly.



7. Try different palettes. I like the styrofoam meat trays, they have a lower edge than the fruit trays and can be easily painted white. Let the white paint dry before using, and you have a nice lightweight palette! Use an extra one as a cover. I also like an inverted Rubbermaid oblong container. The lid can be used as a palette, and the container can be used to seal up the paint. ( At home I use a very large Rubbermaid oblong container and set my meat tray palette inside of it, mist it with water, and seal it up until tomorrow!)

8.  To make major corrections, use white to block out a section and let it dry before adding the correct color.  This is especially true if changing a dark color.  Each layer affects the next, so if you want a brighter or lighter color it is best to paint it white first and then add the color you want.  (I often paint from light to dark because it is easier to cover a light color with dark colors.)


The best part about using acrylics is that if it is not going well you can work on a different section of the painting and let the previous one dry. Then come back and change what you don't like. You can paint over mistakes as many times as you need to with acrylics. But if you are doing it En Plein Air, try not to change it too much, or you will lose the effect of capturing the moment.


The next best part is that my paintings are dry before I load them in the car, and they do not get smudged or smeared during transport.

CALL TO ARTISTS

Last Feb. Okeechobee held it's first Fine Art's Festival. It went over very well, with lots of categories and lots of cash awards as well as purchase awards. Here is the contact information if you might be interested in joining us:

http://www.mainstreetokeechobee.com

Bridgette Waldau
Studio of Graphic Design
111 NE 2nd Street
Okeechobee, FL 34972
863-467-7300

Plein air painting

Yesterday was one of those days that I could not make up my mind. It had rained off and on all night, and the weather report called for more rain -40% chance! I had planned on going out to work en plein air (on location) over in Fort Pierce. We meet once a week. They had more rain over there than we had inland. Do I drive 50 minutes over there and try to work on a painting knowing I will probably get wet?

"No", I decided, "Gas, time, and my health are at stake." So I got out the things I needed to cook breakfast for my husband. I wasn't hungry, and I should have already been on the road, and he was planning on going out for his breakfast . . . "I don't have to cook," I thought. So I put it all away again.

"Yes," I thought, "I need to go even if I get wet! It will get me out of the house, I'll get to see my friends, and I may end up with a nice painting, or not. But I want to try."

So off I went, a little later than usual, but the sky cleared up some, and the flooded park was an amazing sight. It did not take me long to see something I wanted to paint. I felt so good, had so much fun and stayed until past noon! I did two paintings, one very nice, and one I have to touch up.

I did get wet a little as it sprinkled twice, which left run marks on the painting, but that will be easily fixed. I am proud of myself, just getting out there and not letting my excuses stop me.

We have sure needed this rain.

I think the drought is finally over! Smile.

My dove

People often ask me why I put the symbol of a bird before my name on my paintings. It is actually a dove, which is symbolic for God's Holy Spirit. I believe that when we follow Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to empower us to live in this harsh world.

My paintings are a testament to the Father's love and goodness, which far out weigh the hardships. It is by His hand that I am am able to accomplish anything at all. I tend to make bad choices, and head in the wrong direction over and over again. But He is gracious. (I just learned that that means he is prone do doing favors for us. He likes to help us and do good things for us.) Psalms 145.

The dove is my way of giving God credit for all he does in me and through me.

9-11

Before I go into my selfish thoughts I must say that this is such a sad day. Say lots of prayers for the families. My heart goes out to them.

It is my birthday. It is always too sad to celebrate it today. So we will try to go out this weekend I suppose.

I used to look for some wonderful thing to happen on my birthday. An oddly placed flower in full bloom, or a rainbow in a sunny sky . . . Always something would happen that seemed to be from heaven. I always thanked God for the special thought that he had sent my way.

After the trade centers went down I stopped looking. I stopped celebrating, I stopped feeling very special at all. I know I still am special to my heavenly Father, but I just don't feel it on my birthday any more. I know He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and he loves us far more than we could think or imagine. But, knowing and feeling are not the same. So today I must trust Him and believe Him, even though I can't feel Him.

He knew that though, and yesterday something wonderful and special happened out of the blue -- and I did thank God for the special thought for my birthday!

Higher Purpose

We are created for a higher purpose, not for the chasing after of physical desires. The heavens war over us, for our soul. It is our choice, and ours alone, who will win each battle we face. The powers of this world seek our destruction. As we bite the apple, and believe its lies, we sink farther into the wants and desires of our bodies. With self control and denial, we find freedom from its bondage.
This is not out of reach as many say. Our creator waits for the slightest prayer, hears our hearts desire for truth and helps us to find it. He provides all we need to live out His higher purpose.

Author unknown.

One of those days

Sometimes you just have to laugh so you don't scream! For two days I could not get anything done that I started, and yesterday it really got to me. So I took a break from it all, took a shower and watched TV for a change!

Today was a little better, didn't stress, just took it as it came. I didn't let things steal my peace.

I had to remind myself that I cannot try to be like someone else, and if someone isn't happy with me or my work, then that is their problem. If I am doing the best I can then that is all I can do! I have to let the rest go. So today I forgave myself, relaxed, enjoyed friends and family and tomorrow, well, I will try to be true to myself and to the Lord.