Discover A Pain Free Way to Practice Color Mixing
Joan Fullerton Shares an Exercise From Her Workshops
Mixed media artist Joan Fullerton is not shy of color theory. The artist’s MFA and years teaching art full-time means she’s done her fair share of painting color wheels.
But when it comes to her workshops, she’s decided to take a different approach to the struggles she sees her students facing when it comes to color: Mainly, using color straight from the tubes in their work.
Fullerton is a fast painter and understands the obstacles that can come with that kind of speed.
“If [students] are working quickly, they don’t have time to get colors mixed,” she says.
But that doesn’t mean color mixing isn’t important. In fact, it’s very important. This is why Fullerton’s workshops are filled with techniques and assignments slipped in so seamlessly that her students are learning color theory and may not even realize it because they are having so much fun.
Here’s one of Fullerton’s favorites.
FULL PALETTE MONOCHROMATIC PAINTING
When you think monochromatic, you generally think of color + white + black. And you wouldn’t be wrong. This is one of the very successful approaches Annie O’Brien Gonzales suggests to her students and uses in her own work.
Fullerton’s approach is a little different.
“Here’s how you play the game,” she says. “You squeeze or pour out every color available.”
Next you decide on a color that will be your monochromatic dominant color. For example, blue.
“We’ll have this blue dominance, but I’m going to create all these variations of blue with every color I own.”
So take your ultramarine and modify it with titan buff. Then take that and add a touch of red so it becomes blue violet. Or add black and white. Start with fresh blue and add some orange to neutralize it.
“They’re creating all these versions of the hue but with every color in the box,” says Fullerton of the workshop exercise.
Just keep playing and experiencing all the possibilities that come when you mix your paints.
“It works really well,” says Fullerton. “It’s a way where [students] get to learn color theory without sitting down and just making color charts.”
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