Oil Painting Lessons - Complimentary Colors

Looking back at works of art throughout history limited color palettes can repeatedly be seen. This is especially true of complimentary colors. Artist's tend to favor working in these sets of colors to give harmony, movement, drama and order to a composition.

Compliments work with the eye in such a manner that if you look at a shape that is one compliment, (say red in this case), for about 30 seconds, and then look at a white wall or piece of paper, you will see the complimentary color ghost image of the same shape (in this example, it would appear green).

There are three sets of Complimentary Colors. They live directly opposite one another on a color wheel:

Red & Green

Violet & Yellow

Orange & Blue

When these colors are mixed together they create gray, brown or sometimes mud (which you want to avoid).

Complimentary colors can be used next to one another for a variety of reasons;

• Choose one for a highlight and the other for a shadow,
• Situate Compliments of the same value and tone next to one another on a canvas and they will "pop" off the painting
• Help to create interest to a dull area of the painting by adding a bit of a complimentary color in the form of a swatch, highlight, outline or wash.

The exercise below begins to help calibrate the eye to color. It is usually a challenging exercise for students to paint an object a different color from what it is. This takes time to learn and get used to. You will no longer be looking at objects as color, but rather as a system of values on a scale.

There are two things to consider:

1. Light and dark from the lighting (which is the most important part to observe)

2. The color of the object (which you must try to ignore).

This takes practice.

Working in value scales is very similar to practicing scales on a piano - it is something that is practiced throughout one's career and it eventually becomes second nature.

1. Choose a fruit or vegetable to work from. To find an interesting texture you may need to cut it in half, or even take a bite out of it. Light your still life with direct light creating sharp contrasts.
2. Divide your canvas in half. Choose a set of complimentary colors to work from. Once selected, try to stick with them and not add any other colors.
3. Begin with one color. Make a value scale for that color from White to Black. When you mix black, I recommend Burnt Umber mixed with Ultramarine Blue - this makes for a very rich and beautiful black.
4. Paint the value scale in at least 9 squares onto the first half of the canvas. This is a reference guide. I like to tell my students to paint 60% dark to 40% light - this helps them to stay away from mid-tones which, if used too much, can make a painting dull and boring.
5. (note on value scale: Make sure you do it. My students tend to get lazy or rush through it to get to the painting. However, it's really an effective tool for reference if you follow through and make a clear scale that the eye can easily sweep over with no jumps. The value scale isn't meant as a decoration - but as part of the process of the painting!)
6. Lightly sketch out your object in charcoal- consider composition - enlarging the object or cropping it to make it more interesting on the painting.
7. Paint in thin layers to fill in the largest shapes first, working toward your smallest shapes, details and highlights. (make sure you alter the size of your brushes!)
8. When the first half of your canvas is finished, clean your palette and move away your fruit or vegetable. The second half of the exercise is a bit different.

Closely look at the first half of your completed canvas and make sure there is a wide range of values from white to black.

1. Create a value scale for your complimentary color from white to black. Make sure it is the same number of squares as the original value scale in the first half of the painting. Paint the value scale on the second half of your painting.
2. Copy from your own painting. If you aren't sure which tone to use, first match the tone in the original color to the placement of it on the value scale. Look at where that same value exists on your new value scale.

After you finish the second half of the painting, take note of any discrepancies between the two paintings. Does the second one resemble the first? How accurate is your eye? How good is your value scale?

If you enjoyed this exercise, please visit my other hubs. I have been teaching painting at ArtSpace in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the past 6 years and am currently putting up my Beginning Painting Syllabus. Please visit my other articles:

• How To Paint – The Value Scale – Painting Basics
• How To Paint -Texture - Creating Recognizable Patterns
  
• How To Paint- Drapery – Creating emotion through objects
• How To Paint – Simplify Patterns and Visual Rhythm