Tip of the Month - March 2001

I first became fascinated with color when the color RED became important in my paintings. I was working with 'hot' and 'cold' florescent lighting in my studio. Sometimes the REDS were correct in the painting; sometimes the REDS were dull and unattractive. I would move the RED painting from the studio light to the warm light of the living area of our home and then to the natural daylight.

The RED changed in each situation. Alizarin Crimson was fine in one kind of lighting; Cadmium Red was beautiful in another kind of light. I needed to know why this was happening. I started analyzing the REDS.

First I divided my REDS into 'looks similar to' categories.

Second After dividing the REDS into 2 lists, I tried mixing each of them with cadmium yellow.

Third I tried mixing each of the REDS with aureolin. Then I compared the results.

Some of the resulting colors were bright; some were dull. There could only be one explanation. There had to be a hidden BLUE in some of the REDS. Perhaps, there is also some hidden blue in the yellow. 3 primaries in the mix dull the resulting color.

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