All About Colours
Journeying with a Colour Warrior
Play With Paint Colours Here!
Play With Paint Colours On Your Computer!
2x Left Click – Erase all colours
1x Right Click – Stop painting
Our Relationship with Colours
Colours Come From Light
It’s no coincidence that the 7 spectrum of light corresponds with our 7 main body energy centres or chakras as it’s commonly called in the East. So if that is the case, we can safely say that we are literally made up of a body of rainbow light!
These centers connect to our endocrine system that is the guardian of our glands & hormones which governs our moods, growth, tissue function, metabolism as well as sexual function & reproductive processes.
The continual advancement of science & technology has supported us to look deeper into understanding how we function. The Aura Imaging Biofeedback machine for instance, allows us to see the energy & colours of our chakras.
Each colour has a vibration, it can either bring you down or uplift you, hence, it’s important to be conscious when choosing what colours to wear each day. Choose colours that will uplift you rather than a colour that is matching your mood.
How to Choose Paint Colours
The Different Types Of Paint Mediums
Watercolour, Inks, Gouache, Acrylic, Oil & Water based Oil Paint. A couple of questions asked over & over to me are, Which paint colours do I need to buy? Which is a good brand ? Let’s explore & have a good grounding of what the labels on paint tubes mean.
The Information On Paint Tubes
Knowing what the labels mean empowers you to make informed choices. Different brands may have slight differences to their labelling system. Here I have used “Golden” acrylic paint as an example.
1. Some tube paints are made by mixing other colour pigments together. When you read “mixture”, that is what it means.
2. The next down is the Colour Swatch – this is hand painted to show you the actual colour of the paint. Do you see the black bars below the paint? This helps you to see the level of opacity or translucency of the paint.
3. Do note that different paint companies may come up with their own name for some of the colours.
4. Colour Index name & number are given to different colours & is internationally recognised by both the Society of Dyers & Colourists & the American Association of Textile Chemists & Colourists.
5. For Golden paints, Lightfastness I = Excellent lightfast paint & Lightfastness II = very good.
Here are the other ratings types
you might see by other paint companies:
ASTM: American Society for Testing & Materials International
ATSM I = Excellent Lightfastness
ATSM II = Very Good Lightfastness
ATSM III = Not Sufficiently Lightfast
ATSM IV, V = Poor: Not used in artist quality paints
**** or AA = Extremely permanent colours
*** or A = Durable colours.
** or B = Moderately durable colours.
* or C = Fugitive Colours
Blue Wool Standard (UK)
1 – 3 = Fugitive (Colour change within 20 yrs)
4 – 5 = Fair (20-100yrs)
7 – 8 = Excellent
6. Not to worry too much about, unless you are doing paint research, this simply means the paint has been tested by ASTM International.
7. The reason for the different value of the paint is how easily or difficult the pigment for the paint has been extracted or made during production.
Which Brand of Paint is Best?
Invest in Yourself, You are Worth It !
If you are on a tight budget, then buy just the essential colours rather than compromising on poor quality paints & having more colours. Working with less colours can be beneficial too. It drives you to come up with more creative & interesting mixes!
Investing in better quality paints actually can save you pain, time as well as money in the long run. Lower quality paints use less pigment & more paint filler, which means to cover an area, you need to struggle & use even more paint to layer.
So, which are the brands of paint to buy?
A) Basically, the more labelling you see on a paint tube, the better research the paint company has done on their product.
B) Generally, the costlier the paints, just means they have invested in more pigment, which means, better quality paints.
C) Read the reviews & feedback from other artists.
D) We have compiled a list of our personal favourite brands of materials that we use under “Useful Art Secrets”. Don’t just take
our word for it though, the best way is still to….
E) Experiment & experience the different brands for yourself.
Buy single tubes of the same colour paints from different
brands & see which works best for you.
Which Paint Colours Should I Buy ?
Here is a basic guide on which colours to choose. Before
we start, let’s have a look at a typical painter’s colour wheel:
1. There are “warm” & “cool” colours. What are warm colours? Visualise the scorching sun & blazing fire – Reds, Oranges & Yellows. What are cool colours? Feel the sea, imagine lying on soft grass with soft breeze blowing : Blues & Greens.
2. What are primary colours? They are colours that cannot be mixed by any other colour. Can you guess what they might be? That’s right ~ Red, Yellow & Blue. Notice that they are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. These are the very basic colours that you will need.
3. Know that each colour has its own warm & cool range. It helps your mixing repertoire to consider getting a warm & a cool for each primary colour. For example: Get a warm & a cool red.
What is a warm red & what is a cool red?
A warm red will have the tinge of sun & fire in it.
A cool red will have a tinge of sky or grass in it.
Below is a visual example:
You may use the same principle with the other primary colours.
You will want to add white, a dark colour, browns, purples,
violet & any other hard to create colours you may enjoy such as gold, silver or fluorescents, to your complete your colour palette.
We hope this has helped you get started on your colour journey.
Happy Experimenting & Painting!
The Psychology of Colour
The
Psychology of Colour
It is important to be aware that the meaning of each colour is highly subjective. There are many factors that can affect how we respond & feel about a colour. A type of green could feel soothing in one environment & yet be very disturbing in another. When you look into the meaning of each colour, it is solely derived from our perspective of each standalone colour. However, from our human perception, the interpretations that we form of a colour really depends on the type of colour used in relation to its surroundings.
into the wonderous world of colours!