Into to Painting
Assignment 3
Organic Painting with Washes and Primary Triad
Student example
Color Triad: Three colors spaced an equal distance apart on the color wheel. The twelve-color wheel has a
primary triad, a secondary triad, and two intermediate triads. In mixing color for painting, the fundamental
rule is that there are three colors that cannot be made by mixing other colors together. These three, red,
blue, and yellow, are known as the primary colors (primary triad). If you mix two primary colors together,
you create what is called a secondary color. Mixing blue and red creates purple; red and yellow make
orange; yellow and blue make green.
Color Wheel with the Primary triad Red, Yellow and Blue
Image 1: create four color scales by mixing washes of the primary colors (red. blue, yellow) alizarin
crimson, ultramarine blue and hansa yellow light. Please use water color paper for these color scales
and mount them in sketch book. See examples below.
Blue (ultramarine blue)
Yellow (hansa yellow light)
Red (alizarin crimson)
Blue (ultramarine blue)
Yellow (hansa yellow light)
Red (alizarin crimson)
Earth tones (mixing varying amounts of the three primary colors together)
Olive green
yellow brown
Orange brown earth green
rust
orange brown
earth blue
red brown
earth red
grayed purple
grayed blue
burgundy earth orange earth violet
earth yellow
Transparent - Allowing light to pass through so that objects can be clearly seen on the other side; the
opposite of opaque. Window glass, cellophane and watercolors are usually transparent.
Image 2: create a painting with primary colors washes and organic shapes as the subject. You can also
include black paint into your painting. Include a variety of light valued colors (tints) and dark valued colors
(shapes) into the painting.
Student example
Organic or natural shapes: normally are irregular in outline, and often asymmetrical. Organic shapes are
most often thought of as naturally occurring that resemble the freely developed curves found in organisms.
These shapes are found in nature. Leaves, sea shells, and bones are examples of a natural shape. Natural
shapes are often irregular and fluid.
Student example
Painting tips:
1. Work from lighter colors to darker colors! Paint your darker colors last.
2. Use the white of paper for your high lights!
3. Thin acrylics paints with water and or acrylic medium to create transparent washes.
4. To create earth tones (browns) mix all three primary colors at different proportions.
5. How will you use, horizontal, vertical and diagonal directional lines, edges and or shapes?
Materials: alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and hansa yellow light (red. blue, yellow), titanium white, mars black,
water color paper 16” x 20”, paint brushes (nylon hair), pencil and liquid frisket
For your sketch book:
a. Create two pencil studies before you start painting.
Is it necessary to plan a painting in thorough detail before you start, or should you let it develop as you go along?
Planning a painting can be a help as you know exactly what you're going to do, but it could also inhibit spontaneity.
Letting a painting evolve as you work is very free and lets you be spontaneous, but also leaves you open to the
possibility that the painting won't go anywhere and you'll end up with a mess.
Ultimately the degree to which you plan out a painting depends on your personality; some people find it essential and
others a hindrance. But regardless of how detailed you like to plan (or not), there are numerous decisions that have to
be made before you to start to paint.
b. Take a 4” x 6”digital image of the final painting and place into the sketch book. Make sure your digital image is in
focus, squared off and color and value are comparable to original painting.
c. Describe your painting in a typed paragraph and place into your sketch book. You will make observations about what
you see. You have to be objective. For this part please make no inferences or express opinions. You are going to create
a list of what you see. List only the facts about the artwork and write a paragraph base on this list:
Subject matter: landscape, nature objects
Medium: acrylic, pencil or mixed media
Style: hard edge, realistic, stylize, abstracted/simplified
Technique: transparent, painterly, combination, etc.
d. Analyze your painting in a typed paragraph and place into your sketch book. How do you compose or design
(organize) your painting? This is where your knowledge of the elements of design and the principles of design play an
important role. The combinations of these, elements and principles help the artist create the mood of the work or
express a particular point of view or message. Base this paragraph on this list:
Design elements: line, shape, value, color, size, direction, texture, focal point,
Design Principles: repetition and rhythm, dominance and subordination, unity and variety, contrast,
balance, emphasis, scale and proportion
Student examples: