Tip of the Month - October 2002

After deciding the visible subject of a painting and thinking about the atmosphere or underlying feeling of the work, I pauze to think about the colors. For me, making the color decisions at the beginning allows for a freer application of the paint during the process. I choose a set group of colors and they are all that I will use for that particular painting. This visual illustrates mixes made from my choice.

For this exercise, I have selected a TETRAD containing a cool yellow. A TETRAD contains two complementary pairs that are an equal distance from one another on the color wheel.

There can be variety in the selection. I can make substitutions, but in the end, I will work with four colors. A substitute should be made from a closely related color. For example, in this TETRAD I could remove CADMIUM RED and replace it with BROWN MADDER. Here are some examples of the TETRAD in the illustration below using my favorite fruit shape.

Try this TETRAD in a variety of subjects.

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