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TheImportanceofColorTheoryinPainting

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TheImportanceofColorTheoryinPainting
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drawinganddesignclassesIwasthrilledandslightlysuspicious,andsignedupimmediately.
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hadbeenoneofthosekidswhoalwayssortedmycrayons(http://munsell.com/colorblog/crayoncolor ColorTheory&History
historycollectingedwelter/)bycolor(rainboworder,ofcourse).Nowafter20yearsasafreelanceartist, (http://munsell.com/color
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forapaintingclassanddidnotgothroughthefoundationsprogramseemedtometobeatadistinct Archives SelectMonth
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(http://munsell.com/colorproducts/coloreducation/),largerthistime,andadjustedforoilpainting.Ive
taughtthisclassforseveralyearsnowandhavedevelopedanentirecurriculumwithworksheetsand
assignments.

WhyStudyColorTheory?
Theprinciplesaresimpletounderstand,butinpainting,theyareprettydarncomplicatedinpractice.As
thesayinggoes,Ifpaintingwereeasy,lotsofpeoplewouldbedoingit.Inmathwelearnfirsttocount,
thentoaddandsubtract,andeventuallywegettocalculus.Ifweusethatasametaphor,wecouldsay
portraitureistrigonometryandcolortheoryisarithmetic.

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Studentsoftenthinktheyjustdonthaveaneyeforcolorbecausetheyvebeenattemptingthingsway
beyondtheirskills,butwhentheexerciseisanabstractone,justonecolornexttoanother(insteadofa
representativeimageandallthecomplicationsthatintroduces),theyeasilylearntoseemore.Theclass
alsoallowsstudentstobecomefamiliarwiththemediumbecausesomuchtimeisspentlayingoutpaint,
makingmixtures(http://munsell.com/colorblog/colorflowexercises/)andadjustingthem,andlaying
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Left:Testingmybestguessatfindingagraythatisthesamevalueascadmiumredlight.Thisisoneofthe
moredifficultthingstoseebecauseahighchromacolorfeelssomuchmorelitthanagray.
Right:Thesamephoto,desaturated,showsthatthevaluesareaboutthesame.Thesheenmakesitalittle
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Inpractice,wecanmakeanobjectfeelmorelitbymakingit
lighterthantheshadowside,butwithenoughcolorthatit
doesntlookbleachedout.
AimeeEricksonspaintingSarahwasawardedBestofShow
atthe2014AmericanWomenArtistsnationalJuriedExhibition.

AbouttheAuthor
AimeeEricksongraduatedfromBrighamYoungUniversitywithaBFAin
Illustrationin1991.Nowanawardwinningfineartist,shehasbeenpainting
professionallyfor25yearsaswellasteachingartclasses,paintingmurals,anddoingarchitecturalcolor
consulting.ShelivesinPortland,Oregon.
www.aimeeerickson.com(http://www.aimeeerickson.com/)


PostedbyAimeeErickson(http://munsell.com/colorblog/author/aimeeerickson/).

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