A New Course

I have started an online course on Colour Theory. We think we know all about colour but when you take a course like this, it makes you think about colours that work together and colours that evoke a mood and colours that enhance the meaning of a piece of art.

My first lesson had me using pencil crayons and layering different colours on top of one another. In the example below I used a light blue, light purple, red and a bright rose. You can see what happened when I layered them.

Next I had to layer yellow and red increasing the yellow layers. From what I can see there is hardly a difference. I'm thinking it is because yellow is such a light colour. I'll have to do some experimentation with different colour combinations to see if this is the case. Doing these experiments also shows me how to get the colours I want and also how to get colours I don't want.

Lesson 2 was on Tints and Shades. Tints and shades are created by adding black or white to a colour. The exercise I had to do was using the primary colours of red, yellow and blue, I was to add one layer of white and then 2 layers of white as well as one layer of black and then 2 layers of black. The middle blocks are the base colour. Above that are the tints and below, the shades.

This is a diagram of all the various colours and their tints and shades.

I'm hoping this course will help me to make deliberate and conscious choices of colour that will enhance my art and get across what I really want to say. As I learn more, I'll share other interesting tidbits from the course.