Complementary colors
As we have learned earlier, the three pairs of complementary colors are blue-orange, red-green and violet-yellow.
The use of complementary colors is very important in water color painting. By the way, the technique often used in water color painting is called the “transparent method.” This means that when you want a color to be lighter, you would have to add water to the paint or color. Don’t use white paint. The highlight of the subject must be the white of the paper itself. When you want the color to be darker, you would have to mix the color that you are using with its complementary color.
Example…you’re doing a painting of an apple. You’ll use the color red for that.
However, to make our painting three-dimensional , we must add tones either darker or lighter. In this case, we have to make light red and dark red. To make light red, dip the bristles of your brush into your water then apply the red color paint. See how the mixture turns out when you apply this on your water color paper. When you want it to be lighter, just add water. If you want your red to be a little darker, put some red paint on your palette or mixing plate then add a little green into the red paint. Remember that the red color must be more than the green color otherwise the mixture would turn brown. Just a little green into your red paint would do to make a dark red.
As an exercise, practice on painting lighter and darker colors using water and complementary colors. Refer to my visual aid on complementary colors.
Before I forget, a nice brand for transparent water color painting is Prang. You can probably check this out at your nearest bookstore or art store. Also, when choosing for a nice water color brush, try adding a little water into the bristles and bend them with your fingers. If it goes back immediately to its original form after bending then it’s a good brush.
