Going Crazy with Color Mixing

I sometimes get obsessive with color mixing. The main reason being that I am not a good colorist so I have always loved learning about how to make good color palettes and choices. So I really had a ball with this weeks lesson on PYHAS by Sabra Awlad Issa. Wow, what packed lesson, color mixing, foreshortened portrait, values. This was a real challenge! She is an excellent and modest teacher. A real treat! 

The lesson was in acrylics but I was too stressed with the color mixing and worrying about them drying so tried doing some crayon work which also had its problems so I dived into my oils. What a difference that made. The portrait is not done but I am happy with the progress.

WIP

13.75 x 19.5 "

Oils on gessoed paper

WIP

13.75 x 19.5 "

Oils on gessoed paper

Values

First layer in acrylics ugh

Second Layer with oil/wax crayons

Now, how many colors can you mix with just the primaries? We all have heard that we can mix an infinite amount, but we all tend to buy lots of colors. My usual palette starts off with two of each of the primaries plus chromatic black, a mix from ultramarine blue and raw umber, and white. But in Sabra's lesson, she used cadmium red, ultramarine blue, and cadmium yellow to mix a whole range of what she calls "dirty colors". I just love muted/muddy colors and I almost always add a speck of medium gray to my colors. Her basic color is a mix of all three to get a dirty brown. Then she mixes each primary with a bit of that brown and continues to mix these "mixes" together etc. With the addition of white and the range gets more infinite. Of course, the ratios matter as well. So when you feel in need of some occupational therapy any red/blue/yellow and go to town.... what fun. I did mention that I am an obsessive color mixer!

Three different browns depending on the ratios

Oils

I suggest less blue!

The basic Mixes

This Brown seems to make greenish hue with the yellow

Bottom right mixed red +yellow + brown to get a dirty orange.+ added more yellow

to get a lighter orange and to each added white

Yummy

My acrylic Mixes

Yellow Mixes

Middle row mixed yellow with medium gray

bottom  medium gray with yellow

Made a value chart with my chromatic black

red red+brown added white Blue blue+brown added white

Bottom red + gray + white Blue + gray + white

Mixing the mixes 

Bottom right used Indian Yellow with the Brown + White

Red Mix + Indian Yellow mix + white

Have Fun!

The hills are alive with the sound of music!

The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

Richard Rogers Oscar Hammerstein II

I am sure this was not the music that my grandson was listening to when he was watching the beautiful mountains in Nepal last April. 

Listening To the Mountain Music

47.5 x 23.625 "

Oils on Wrapped Canvas

Transfer Photo

Painted on an old image with a very light burnt sienna leaving a section for transferring the photo image. Done mainly using oil sticks, about time because I have had them for 2.5 years. The sky was done with regular oils with cold wax, mainly with my silicon spreaders. I loved the looseness that I could get with the sticks but to fill in the sky was a problem. I learned a lot and will definitely use them on a smaller substrate. They are great for getting in the sketch.  

A male portrait exercise Week 9 HYHAS 2019 Instructor Muriel Stegers  Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway! What a title! Whoever thought I would be painting a male portrait without a reference!

WIP

11.6 x 16.5

Acrylic Paper 300 gm

Acrylics

Muriel is an excellent instructor! Lots more to do to this. Acrylics are not my favorite medium but slowly learning to layer and enjoy. This was after video #4!  #5 to watch and tomorrow another lesson!

Have no idea how to make this smaller 

Two Little Boys and Hope For the Future

My weekly trip to Jerusalem has changed this year and I now travel to Neve Shalom where my daughter has moved into their new home. Uri,10, just got this very complicated board game of Dragons & Dungeons which is not for my head, invited his friend Walid from across the street to play with him. Just two young kids playing on the floor together. No big deal! Well, I think it's a BIG deal because Walid is Arabic and Uri is Jewish! One small step for more understanding and a better future!

My daughter's home is just below that Dome in the image from the site., facing the Trappist Monastery!

I certainly have been lacking at blogging of late.  PYHAS has kept me busy weekly. Some I have posted my Instagram account.

Last week we had fun with abstract landscapes and scratching tools and the use of alcohol! Didn't succeed with the alcohol. Will try again.

The Silence is Broken with the Sounds of Bells

8.5 x 9 " 

Acrylics on cut canvas with Caran d'Ache wax crayons

Can be purchased at Artfinder