Color Chart

I have finally decided to bite the bullet and create color charts per Mark's recommendation. I started last weekend with the chart above, which is not quite what he suggested but I thought I would see how this went before I started on the color value charts. I found this to be a good discovery, even if I got my colors out of order; first I forgot my purple and then I added three colors that aren't normally on my palette but Mark uses. So it isn't as pretty as it could be. This chart I found on line and it consist of pure color across the top and to the left, in the same order. Then starting with the cad yellow lemon, I added white in approximately half-n-half strength. The next box over would be 50% cad yellow lemon and 50% cad yellow medium. And right under it is that mix with 50% white added, and so on. So in a stair step pattern through the middle, the top part is just two colors mixed together and then below would be with white added. The other charts are "in process" and with them I am taking each color from the above chart and doing a similar process but instead of 50/50 color mixes, I am using the primary color for the chart and adding a touch of the next color to it, and then doing 4 values down (by adding white). I have resisted doing these charts for YEARS because they are so time consuming; It isn't that I haven't done charts of varying types over the years, but usually just hodge podge. This is very systematic. It has also been extremely helpful already. For one thing, it takes very little pigment in a pile of white paint to get a light color. It took me doing two color charts to figure out I just wasn't getting the lightest value light enough. So one I need to redo correctly.

I was "encouraged" to do this partly because the project I had been working on for the February assignment has been a total disaster. I just killed the painting. Between ugly colors and getting the values too dark it was a deadly combination. I also started to lose my shapes. In fact, I can't think of one thing positive about it right now. So on that note, I decided I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by going back to the basics. It has been a very good exercise.