Tip of the month – January 2010

I have always been fascinated and perplexed by RED. My first tip page was about the color RED.

Like the December 2009 tip page, I am going to examine RED from the point of view of the physical properties. Next, I will look at the tints, tones, and shades of a variety of REDS.

I have chosen 10 of my REDS; I do own more. I have painted each of these REDS over a black line. Some are more transparent than others; some are warmer than others.

Cadmium Scarlet

Scarlet Pyrrol

Scarlet Lake

Quinacridone Coral

Winsor Red

Naphthol Red

Cadmium Red

Permanent Red

Quinacridone Rose

Alizarin Crimson

Here, I have used a moist brush to lift the dry color. Some of the REDS lift easily; others barely lift at all. This will be important to know when I want to glaze the red with another color. The REDS that lift easily will also lift when a glaze is painted over them. The result may be a ‘muddy’ color.

Cadmium Scarlet

Scarlet Pyrrol

Scarlet Lake

Quinacridone Coral

Winsor Red

Naphthol Red

Cadmium Red

Permanent Red

Quinacridone Rose

Alizarin Crimson

There is more than one way to create tints, tones, and shades.



In this visual, my red hue is Cadmium Scarlet. I have shown the hue at full intensity, as a tint, as a tone, and as a shade. I used Phthalocyanine Blue mixed with the Cadmium Scarlet to create the tone and the shade.



In this visual, my red hue is Winsor Red. I have shown the hue at full intensity, as a tint, as a tone, and as a shade. In this example, I used black watercolor mixed with the Winsor Red to create the tone and the shade.



In this visual, my red hue is Alizarin Crimson. I have shown the red hue at full intensity, as a tint, as a tone, and as a shade. To create the tint, I mixed the Alizarin crimson with white watercolor. By mixing white and black watercolor with the Alizarin Crimson, I have created the tone and the shade.

The tips of May 2006 and June 2006 explain tints, tones and shades further.

I have used 3 of the 10 red hues to create these colors. Try mixing your red hues as I have done and discover new colors. You may find that some of the resulting colors can be found in tube colors available in the market place.

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