TOP TEN: Paintings & Quotes -- All About RED

The paintings are mine; the quotes are by others.  Most of those quoted are artists -- painters and designers . . .


1)  Red is the ultimate cure for sadness.   - Bill Blass

2)  It is not pure fantasy to say that the color red is like the sound of a trumpet.   - Joyce Carey

3)  Painters use red like spice.    - Derek Jarman

4)  I want a red to be sonorous, to sound like a bell.  If it doesn't turn out that way, I add more reds and other colors until I get it.    - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

5)  Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue.  Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are, or people might think we're stupid.    - Jules Feiffer

6)  My mother warned me to avoid things colored red.    - Claes Oldenburg

7)  You can't go wrong with the use of red; every painting should have red in it.  - George De Groat  

8)  A certain blue enters your soul.  A certain red has an effect on your blood pressure. . . and

A thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful.    - Henri Matisse

9)  Of all the hues, reds have the most potency.  If there is one electric blue, a dozen reds are so charged.  Use them to punctuate white, burn into bronzes, or dynamite black.  -Jack Lenor Larsen

10)  Oh, yes!  He loved yellow, did good Vincent . . . when the two of us were together in Arles, both of us insane, and constantly at war over beautiful colors, I adored red; where could I find a perfect vermilion?    - Paul Gauguin

WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP: Painting Red Poppies

Follow along with me in this step-by-step project -- painting some red poppies that really pop!

To download a PDF of this tutorial, for $6, click here.

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Gather some poppy references, or use my drawing . . . 

Draw the poppies onto your watercolor paper, with some leaves and buds.  Then, draw a "frame" around your drawing, but inside some of the petals and leaves -- so it looks as if the flowers are bursting out of the frame. . . 

Now, prepare your paints.  For the poppies, you'll need a yellow, a warm red (like Cadmium or Winsor Red), and one or two cool reds (like Quinacridone or Permanent Rose, and Permanent Alizarin Crimson).

Working on one petal at a time, mingle these colors -- wet-in-wet.  Wet each petal with clear water, and then start with the yellow on the outer edge of the petal, then add the warm red, and then finish painting the petal with the cool red . . . 

 Don't dwell on any one petal -- just mingle the colors, and then move onto the next.  With some of the petals, start with the warm red and then add the cool reds to the mingling.

  You'll notice as you're painting, that the colors will dry a little "duller" than when they were wet.  Don't worry about that -- and don't go back into it, at this point.  Just keep painting working your way around the blossom, until all the petals are painted. . . 

Now that the paint is dry, do another mingling on those petals that you think are too dull.  This time, paint on dry paper, starting with your cool red where the petal "under-laps" the petal on top -- then, add your warm red, then finish the petal with clear water, out to the edge.  

While painting, try for the following:  1) Keep it transparent with lots of water, 2) Don't cover up all the yellow from your first layer with the red,  3) Leave some of the petals that are on top, as is; and, 4) Try not to "blot" your painting with a paper towel or rag, as you work.  Even if you have little puddles of paint, try to let them dry naturally.  Since you are working on a level surface, the puddle isn't going anywhere, and if you let the watercolor do its thing, you'll get some interesting results.  The trick is to be "out of control", within a controlled shape.

To set some of the petals back, or under the other petals, paint them now, using Alizarin Crimson or Magenta or Maroon.  

Then, mix up some dark colors -- Alizarin Crimson mixed with Maroon or Burnt Sienna, a Purple (Alizarin Crimson plus French Ultramarine), and a Black (French Ultramarine plus Burnt Sienna plus Magenta or Maroon).  Paint the dark middles of the flowers -- paint onto dry paper with your juicy mixtures.  First red, then purple around that, and a little black around the edges.  This will all mix together, but you will see each of the colors.

Now, paint a yellow underpainting on your leaves and stems. . . 

Paint the leaves and stems with a green wash (Sap Green, or a mixture of Cobalt Blue and Aureolin Yellow).  Drop in a little Cobalt Blue . . . 

Now, we'll finish by painting the background.  We're going to paint WITHIN the frame, and leave the outer frame white.  Mix up a dark blue, using French Ultramarine with a little Burnt Orange to darken the blue.  Paint the background shapes, wet on dry.  When the paint is almost dry, mist it with clear water, to get a little texture. . . 

If you'd rather have a PDF of this tutorial, for $6, click here.

The tutorial PDF is nice, because you can print it out and have it next to you as you paint.  There is one step and one image per page.  The PDF also includes my "Ten Things to Know about the Color RED".

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RED: 5 SKETCHBOOK EXERCISES & 5 COLOR STUDIES To Try

Try a few, or all, of these exercises, and you'll be "seeing red" -- in a good way, I hope.

For the first 5 RED exercises, you'll need your sketchbook, a pencil, a black pen, some watercolor pencils or colored pencils, some w/c paints, some magazines (you know you have some old ones lying around), a glue stick or "Yes" paste, and scissors.



1)  Draw a part of a red motorcycle, bicycle, tricycle, or wagon --  Draw a contour line drawing, with a black pen.  Don't worry about proportions, or whether you've drawn it correctly.  This is your sketchbook -- it doesn't have to be perfect.  "Perfect" is boring, anyway, don't you think?  Then, add some color, with a little red watercolor.  Add some shadows with cross-hatching in pen and a simple gray wash (or touch the edge of the black pen line with water to make a gray wash) . . .

2)  Draw a single flower, right in the middle of your page --  Draw with black pen -- then, add color with colored pencils and watercolor pencils.  Layer these colors -- starting with yellow first; then, add the reds.  Finish with some darks in purple. . . 

3)  Draw some red apples still on the tree -- First, draw 2 or 3 skinny rectangles on a page, and within that format, draw some apples on a branch, with a few leaves.  Draw this in pencil first.  Then color the apples red, the branch brown, and the leaves green.  Now, fill in the background with a gold.  You can use watercolor pencils, so you can use a wet brush over the pencil.  This is helpful for covering large areas, like the background.  When this is dry, go over all the lines, including the rectangle, with a black pen. . . 

Design these rectangles, so the apples and leaves are cropped, making interesting negative shapes.

4)  Draw the insides of your pantry -- Collect all the bottles/jars/containers from your cupboard or pantry, that contain the color red (not on the inside, but outside).  Arrange them on a shelf or two.  Draw a contour line drawing with a black pen, adding some cross-hatching.  Then, add a little color, with paint or colored pencils.  Add a few other colors, besides red, for contrast. . . 

(Now, put everything back the way it was . . . or not.)

5)  Make 2 color collages -- Gather some old magazines, and tear out some examples of red.  After you have a big pile of all shades and values of red, cut them into strips. . . 

Now, make three piles of these:  one pile of DARK REDS, one pile of MID-TONE REDS (this will be your brightest pile), and one pile of LIGHT REDS (pinks).

From the middle pile of MID-TONE REDS, arrange them from red-violet to cool red to warm red to red-orange. (The process is more important than the end result -- this is not an exact science). Now, glue this down on a page of your sketchbook.

Now, using some strips from each of the piles, make an arrangement where you go from darkest dark to lightest light, and glue those down.  

This is a good exercise to train your eye to see temperature changes within a color family, and to see value changes within the same color family.

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For these next 5 color studies, use a watercolor sketchbook, if you have one, or scraps of good watercolor paper, or a pad of cheap watercolor paper, like 90 lb.  You'll also need a pencil, and your paints and brushes.

1)  Minglings --  On a few small scraps of watercolor paper, do some wet-in-wet minglings, using all the reds on your palette.  Wet each paper first, and while it's still wet, drop in the colors. . . 

Now, try another mingling -- but, this time, spritz the paper first, with clear water, then spatter on the paint.  Use all your red paints again.  Spritz it again with water, and then spatter on some other colors.

2)  Mosaic Blossom -- Using either a red flower from your garden or home, or a photo of a red flower (one with lots of petals -- like a geranium, or dahlia, or zinnia, or rose -- the more shapes, the better), start painting without drawing.  Start in the middle, and paint the first little shape.  Then, move out from there, painting each shape you see, one at a time.  Leave a tiny white space between the shapes, so you don't have to wait for one shape to dry, before painting the one right next to it.  Vary your reds with each shape. . . 

3) Red Peppers -- Draw and paint 1, 2, or 3 peppers, using both warm and cool reds within the pepper. Leave some white highlights, and be sure to paint the green stem, for contrast.  Arrange your peppers on a patterned tablecloth, a white sheet of paper, or in a black bowl . . . 

4)  Imaginary Bouquets (no drawing allowed)  --  Paint these bouquets very quickly and very small, so you won't worry about details.  The first one, paint a few red tulip shapes, a blue flower shape, and a few green shapes to indicate some stems and leaves.  Paint it onto dry paper.

In the 2nd little painting, paint the shape of a bouquet with clear water, and then drop in red for the flowers, and some yellow and blue for the leaves.  When that is dry, paint a red pot. . .     

5)  Close-up of a Red Flower -- Either looking at a real flower, or at a photo of one, draw it in pencil first.  Then, paint it, petal by petal, wetting it with clear water first and then using both cool and warm reds in the petals.  

    

TOP 10: Ten Things Every Watercolorist Should Know About RED

This week's theme is bold and bright RED !

Red is the color we associate with dynamic qualities like passion, sexuality, energy, and action; but, it also conjures up things like fire, heat, and danger.  So, it seemed like the perfect theme for the end of July -- with all the record-breaking heat across the country, and of course, the wildfires out here in Colorado.  (Thank God for the rain in the last few weeks.)

For centuries, red has been an important color on artists' palettes.  It's one of the most exuberant colors an artist can add to a painting -- creating excitement and warmth.

Here are 10 important things about the color RED that I think everyone who paints in watercolor should know:



1)  YOU WILL NEED MORE THAN ONE RED ON YOUR PALETTE -- All reds are not created equal, and within the RED family, there is an amazing variety of reds to choose from -- ranging from the warmest red-orange to the coolest magenta.  It can get a little confusing; for example, a "true red" is warmer than a "hot pink".  Basically, you should have 1 or 2 WARM REDS and 3 or 4 COOL REDS.



2)  WARM REDS MAKE BEAUTIFUL ORANGES, when mixed with yellow.  You really don't need to have a tube orange.  WARM REDS MAKE UGLY VIOLETS, when mixed with any blue.  You really only need one warm red (2 at the most).  Some possible warm reds are Cadmium Red, Winsor Red, Permanent Red, Quinacridone Red, and Scarlet Lake.  (Cadmium Red is not as toxic as cadmium red pastels, since no dry particles are breathed in with watercolor -- just don't lick your brush).  Winsor Red is a brilliant hue and very transparent for a warm red.  Still, any warm red can take on an opaque quality, if applied too heavily.



3)  ALIZARIN CRIMSON (A COOL RED) MAKES A BEAUTIFUL BLACK, when mixed with Winsor (Pthalo) Green, and IT MAKES A GORGEOUS VIOLET, when mixed with either Pthalo Blue or French Ultramarine.  Alizarin Crimson used to be a "fugitive" color, meaning that it would fade over time.  But, you can now buy -- and should buy -- a "Permanent Alizarin Crimson".  This is a transparent, staining color, that spreads like crazy when applied wet-in-wet.  It can easily take over a mixture, since it's so strong, which is why it's main use is for dark applications.



4)  QUINACRIDONE ROSE (A COOL RED) CREATES A LOVELY WARM GLOW WHEN USED FOR GLAZING.  This cool transparent red (rose) is also necessary when painting flowers and flesh tones.  And, it's great when used as an accent color in cool areas of a painting.  Mingle Quinacridone Rose with Cobalt Blue -- wet-in-wet -- for clouds, or for shadows on light objects.



5)  TWO OTHER COOL REDS THAT ARE NICE TO HAVE ON YOUR PALETTE ARE QUINACRIDONE MAGENTA AND PERYLENE MAROON -- not NECESSARY, but NICE.
Quinacridone Magenta is a strange but beautiful contradiction -- a very cool red that wants to be a violet.  Perylene Maroon is a fairly new color for me, but I am growing to love this deep cool brick-red.



6)  ARRANGE YOUR REDS ON YOUR PALETTE NEXT TO THEIR "FRIENDLY NEIGHBORS" -- Your Warm Reds (Cadmium Red & Winsor Red) should be closest to your orange; then your Cool Reds (Alizarin Crimson & Quinacridone Rose); then, your coolest reds (Perylene Maroon & Quinacridone Magenta) are closest to your violet.



7)  The inherent value of a RED is medium, or mid tone.  TO LIGHTEN THE VALUE OF A RED, JUST ADD WATER, NOT WHITE.  TO DARKEN THE VALUE OF A RED, ADD A VIOLET OR A LITTLE BLUE, NOT BLACK.



8)  RED FLOWERS HAVE THEIR COMPLEMENTARY COLOR (GREEN) RIGHT NEXT TO THEM IN NATURE, WHICH MAKES THE RED FLOWERS LOOK EVEN BRIGHTER.  Complements enhance each other when placed NEXT to each other.  A green leaf will visually magnify a pink or red flower.  The red color will look closer to you than the green color.  You can also lower the intensity of the red flower by adding a touch of green to it, which neutralizes it.



9)  WHEN PAINTING A RED SUBJECT, USE BOTH THE WARM AND COOL VERSIONS OF RED, WITHIN THE SAME SUBJECT.  Red can look dull and boring very easily, believe it or not.  So, mingle the warm and cool reds together.  Also, a yellow underpainting can add vibrancy and warmth to your mingled reds.  And, after the red dries, losing some of its intensity, you can apply a 2nd wash of the mingled reds, to achieve saturation, but still be transparent.



10)  RED CATCHES YOUR EYE AND ADVANCES IN YOUR COMPOSITION, BUT TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING, WITH NO CONTRAST, CAN HAVE THE OPPOSITE EFFECT.  Contrast can be more powerful than the intrinsic power of a color.  Red will demand your attention and appear to come forward, when compared to other colors, like dark blue, which appears to recede in space.  When surrounded by other warm colors, like warm greens and golds, red will shine.