Saturday, July 27, 2013

Breaking the Rules - Do you?

 

When mixing color, I break these two rules - sometimes.

1. Don't use black in a painting.
2. Don't mix more than three colors together at a time.

The above two rules were taught in classes I took way back when. I see them pop up in art books & on blogs. I have done this when I paint with guache AND in the above pear palette knife acrylic unfinished painting.

Black was mixed in to get the darkest green you see above. There, I admit it. If you are new to painting, just use very small amounts of black at a time. It is a strong color and you won't need much when your are mixing. In other paintings, I have made a lovely mud out of several colors.

NOW, I think these rules are great. They help keep me from over mixing paint. Not using black can give a painting more interest and help to limit your palette.

Am I the only black-user-mud-maker out there?



6 comments:

  1. I use black all the time. I am self taught and never heard that rule. Oh well! You learn something new every day. And I'll admit right now that I'll probably still use black...I like it too much. You're work is great! (Visiting you from LinkedIn Facebook Round Robin.)

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  2. Thanks and waving hello back Jane!

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  3. I never heard of that rule either, LOL. But then again I also am "self taught" and wasn't influenced by any "authority" out there. I use black without a second thought whenever I feel the need, and I mix all sorts of colors together all the time too. Who thought up these "rules" anyway? :)

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  4. Hey Sarah!
    You know, I have no idea where the rules came from. I bet someone out there may know :-)

    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  5. Hey Annie, Sarah...
    That's funny - mud maker. I don't have any rules. That's my rule!!!

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  6. Hey Madeline! I assume you are this fabulous Madeline: http://www.madelinefaiella.com Y'all should check out her work :-D

    Thanks for the blog love!

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