George Henry (1858–1943) was a talented Scottish painter who attended the Glasgow School. His paintings demonstrate rich colors and strong contrasting elements. My favorite painting by far is River Landscape By Moonlight. This is a perfect demonstration of how you can paint the illusion of light. As you are probably aware, we are not able to duplicate…
The Beauty Of Muted Colors – How You Can Use Muted Colors More Effectively
Bonus Download: Grab my free Color Theory Cheat Sheet. Vivid colors usually get all the attention, so this post is dedicated to the subtle beauty of muted colors. I find that one of the most common problems of beginner painters is that they completely overlook the importance of muted colors in favor of the more flashy…
A Demonstration Of How To Use Color By Childe Hassam
Childe Hassam (October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was a brilliant American painter who had a unique impressionist style. In particular, the way he used color is inspirational. Few artists have the ability to push such rich and vivid colors without the painting appearing jarring or overdone. Hassam was a busy artist, producing over 3,000…
How To Mix Vivid Greens And Why You Must Understand Color Bias
Bonus Download: Grab my free Color Theory Cheat Sheet. Green has always been a troublesome color for beginners. Why that is the case, I’m not sure. It may have something to do with a lack of understanding of how to mix color. Or maybe it has something to do with how we actually perceive green. As…
How To Create Dramatic Paintings In A Low Key
Bonus Download: Grab my free Color Theory Cheat Sheet. In this post I will discuss how you can use a low key to create very dramatic paintings. This post will follow on from my previous post which was all about painting in a high key. Low key paintings utilize colors the lower (darker) end of the…
Using An Analogous Color Scheme To Create Harmonious Paintings
Bonus Download: Grab my free Color Theory Cheat Sheet. This post will be all about using an analogous color scheme to create beautifully harmonious paintings. I will say first and foremost that a color scheme is not really that important. I rarely start a painting with a pre-determined color scheme in mind. The color scheme itself…
How The Impressionists Used Complementary Colors To Great Effect
Bonus Download: Grab my free Color Theory Cheat Sheet. Complementary colors are basically colors which are on directly opposite sides of the color wheel. So blue is a complement of orange, red is a complement of green, yellow is a complement of violet and so on. Complementary colors provide striking visual effects when paired together. Claude…
How To Use Increased Color Saturation To Draw Attention To Your Focal Point
An amazing technique for drawing attention to your focal point is to use increased color saturation to contrast against areas of more muted colors. I used this technique in my most recent painting, Queenstown From The Shore: This was a fairly gloomy painting with mostly muted colors. But this presents a perfect opportunity to draw…
Painting Tutorial – Queenstown From The Shore
In this painting tutorial I will walk you through step-by-step how I created my most recent painting, Queenstown From The Shore. I used oils for this painting but the general fundamentals are the same across all the painting mediums. This was a challenging scene to paint as there are so many little elements to capture…
A Comprehensive Guide To Color Theory For Artists
Color theory is a body of principles which provide guidance on the relationship between colors and the physiological impacts of certain color combinations. Color theory is one of the most fundamental areas of painting. The importance of understanding color theory far exceeds simply knowing how to mix colors together (for example, knowing that yellow and blue…
