PAINTING

Painting is a medium through which many people find that their emotions

and thoughts can shine through. No previous experience is necessary, and
if you’ve ever taken an art class, even if it was fingerprint in elementary

school, then you’ve had an introduction to painting.

To paint, you'll need to choose the best type of paint for your purposes, as
well as brushes and other supplies, before familiarizing yourself with the
proper way to mix colors, apply artistic principles, and create your work of
art. You'll probably need some practice before you can paint a masterpiece,
but it doesn't take much to get started.

Consider your goal.

 

 

What types of painting and art are you hoping to create? Do you need a lot of
time to work on a single project, or do you hope to fully finish pieces in a
single sitting? Do you have a spacious work area that is well ventilated, or a
small area that might cause fumes to build up? How much money do you hope
to spend on supplies? These are all important things to consider before
committing to a type of paint.

Mixing Colors

The color wheel is a map of colors, showcasing the ways new colors can be

created. There are three sets of colors present: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Primary colors are: red, blue, and yellow.
These are colors that come straight from a tube; they cannot be made from
mixing other colors. However, secondary colors (purple, green, and orange)
can be made from the primary colors. Tertiary colors are in between primary
and secondary on the color wheel (think teal or peach).

• Red + Yellow = Orange
• Yellow + Blue = Green
• Red + Blue = Purple

Create different tints. Adding a small amount of white to any color will make

it lighter, turning it into a tint. Most from-the-bottle colors are very vibrant and
bold, and can be made more pastel-like by adding white.

• It is harder to add white to a color, so try adding a bit of your color to 

white paint first. You will have to use less paint to make a tint in this fashion.

Mix some shades. The opposite of a tint, a shade is when you mix any color with
black. This makes the color slightly darker, i.e turning red into burgundy or blue
into navy. It is easiest to add a small amount of black to your color (rather than
adding your color to black paint) to accomplish your shade. In this case, less is
more - always start with the smallest amount of paint possible to avoid making a
drastically different color right off the bat.

Create different tones. If a color is too bright for your liking, mix the colors

opposite into it to dull the vibrancy. Doing this is changing your hue (true color)
into a tone; you’re toning the color down. A color’s opposite is the one directly
across from it on the color wheel. For example, the opposite of red is green,
yellow is violet, and blue is orange.