By removing tonal variation from the equation you are forced to find new ways to describe differences in colour, focusing on temperature and shifts in hue.
Mixing the colours: mid-tones
Mid-toned colours are in the middle of the tonal spectrum, neither dark nor light. By eliminating tonal changes or contrasts – like shadows or bright light – in the painting process, you will have to develop a different way of looking at colour and translating it on to the canvas.
1. Using a palette knife, make a 50:50 mix of ultramarine blue and white to establish a template for your mid-toned mixtures.
2. Mix each of the remaining colours with white to create a range of mid-value colours that match the tone of the ultramarine mix. To check that your mixtures have a similar tone, squint so that you can judge the tone and adjust each colour by adding more white or more pure colour as necessary. Do this with every colour except yellow, which is mid-toned or light and cannot be further darkened. Notice how adding white brings out the inherent nature of each colour. Mix plenty of each colour at this point.
3. Set up a still life with a variety of objects, some colourful such as fruit, some neutral such as terracotta pots or loaves of bread.
4. Using the mixtures you have created, do a mid-toned colour study of your still life. Look very carefully at each area of the still life, noting the predominant colours and their relative temperature differences and overtones. If you see a blue, is it a warm red-blue or a cold green-blue? If an area needs an orange, is it a warm red-orange or a cooler yellow-orange? As you saw in the previous exercise, each co-primary has a particular temperature and overtone – think about which ones to use for the colours you need to mix. Avoid using more than one co-primary to mix a colour, and don’t use any more than three colours in a mix, so that the colours stay vibrant and don’t lose their overtones.
Nautical Blue
William Waldron; Produced by Robert Rufino
Classic white wainscoting and a vibrant blue wallcovering by Elitis breathe life into this Hamptons living room.
Fresh Mint
Courtesy of Sasha Bikoff Interior Design
The walls in this spacious dining room are washed in a lively pairing of mint green and white. Gold borders finish the look.
Moroccan Style
Richard Powers
Blue patterned tiles by Popham Design add interest to the white walls in this 1950s home in Morocco.
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