All About Color

Heat, rage and danger are all things associated with the color red. Fire engine red brings a sense of danger or dark dense red feelings of passion. Red is a very warm, even hot color and is complementary with the color green directly across from it on the color wheel that artists use. There is a lot of power in red and it can easily overpower your painting so using it needs to be selective.

Red, its psychology and spirituality:

Red is used when great artists depict battle scenes and warriors in paintings. Red and blood are one and the same they also both resemble life. "Blood brothers" is the term used as a connection we all have by the blood that flows through us all.

Red is connected to blood and with it we think of pain and danger. Perhaps that is why red is used as a warning as in the sign at the end of the street that tells you to stop! Stop signs demand attention and that is why red is used. This happens when it is used in paintings as well. The spiritual meaning of red is the creative use of intelligence or Divine Wisdom. Courage is also symbolized used red it resembles the struggle against danger that man faces. Courage is also about the guts to forge ahead or bravery to stand under times of trial or danger.

This is another reason that the use of red in your painting draws attention and stands out besides the fact it is one of the three primary colors. Red should be used to show thick emotions because it is the perfect solution. Paintings pop out because of the amazing impact that red achieves through the use of red accents. Red helps to entertain paintings with green landscapes as it brings excitement and life to it.

Techniques for mixing red:

Extreme care must be taken when mixing red with other colors and that is because it is such a dominant color. Mixing your colors needs to be done in tiny amounts until you find the combination you want for your work of art. One bit of paint can ruin you color mixing, that is all it takes. For bringing your red to a darker shade use the complementary color, green. Red and green mixed up together in the same portion will create a mud color. Red can be added to the mixture to lighten it if you put in too much green. Burgundy is a very popular color and also one that is very hard to make. Only basic red like cadmium can be used to make burgundy when mixing colors. Get some ultramarine blue and pure black to mix it with.

Glob some blue, black and red on your pallet. You will be mixing five parts red, a quarter parts black and one and a quarter parts blue this is the ratio. Using your pallet knife you can scoop a little of the blue and mix with the red and then very sparingly add some black until the mixture reaches the deep rich burgundy that you want.

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