Introduction to Acrylic Painting and the Color Wheel by Glenn Hirsch, Instructor

Painting Introduction

Glenn Hirsch

• Step-by-Step• Block in the whole composition, including the lighht• Then let dry and clarify detail

• Painting in transparent layers = “glazing”

• step 1• let it dry• then step 2

• First do a thumbnail sketch on a separate piece of paper

• No detail – block in the light & shadow

• A very rough ‘thumbnail’ sketch on a separate piece of paper first

• Then block in the whole composition, including the light and shadow

• Then let dry and clarify

• Painting the background redefines the edge of the shape (eg, the cheek)

Part IIWarm/cool color concept in “Chromatic Scales”

Colors arranged in warm/cool pairs of each hue

Colors

a "warm yellow" Cadmium Yellow Medium

a "cool yellow" Cadmium Yellow Light or Pale or Lemon

a "warm red" Cadmium Red Medium or Light

a "cool red" Quinacradone Crimson or Alizarin Crimson

a "warm blue" Ultramarine Blue

a "cool blue" Cobalt Blue or Cerulean Blue or Turquoise Blue

a "warm green" Sap Green or Chromium Oxide Green or Perm Green Light

a "cool green" Pthalocyanine Green or Viridian

a "warm brown" Burnt Sienna or burnt umber

a "cool brown" Raw Sienna or raw umber

a "black" Any black or mix your own: Alizarin Crimson + Pthalo Green

a white Titanium white or "Permalba" brand oil white

Chromatic scale in reds to enhance the illusion of “light”

• Lighter b/w value in the light• Brighter intensity in the light• Warmer (orangey) red in the

light (vs bluer purplish) red in the shadow

Chromatic scale

• Light to dark• Bright to dull• Warm to cool

Chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool

Black and white is the “value” of the color

Chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool

Chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool

• This isn’t a ‘rule,’ it’s a ‘recipe’ to enhance the illusion of ‘light’

David Park, Portrait of S.C. Pepper, 1953

• Famous artists practice apples

• (Paul Cezanne)

Georgia O’Keefe

• Chromatic scale• Watercolor• (Charles

Demuth)

• Chromatic scale• Acrylic• (Robert

Haemmerling)

Chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool

Apples without glowing ‘light’

Dramatically lit apple using the chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool

Dramatically lit apples using the chromatic scale – light to dark, bright to dull, warm to cool