Design Basics
The Rule of Thirds, and When to Break It
How the rule of thirds places a subject calmly, and the pictures and pages that are stronger when you ignore it.
Latest posts · Page 5
Colour Theory
A Checklist for Judging a Colour Study
A short checklist for looking at a colour study honestly, from value and temperature to the mixes you cannot explain.
Colour Theory
Earth Pigments: Ochre, Umber and Sienna
How yellow ochre, the siennas and the umbers behave in mixtures, and where they help a palette stay calm.
Colour Theory
Primaries on the Palette, Not the Wheel
Why the primaries in a paint box lean warm or cool, and how that bias decides which mixtures stay clean.
Colour Theory
Tints, Shades and Tones: Three Different Changes
The difference between a tint, a shade and a tone, and how each change alters a colour in a different way.
Colour Theory
Mixing Skin Tones from a Small Palette
How to mix observed skin colour from a few tubes, without a single recipe that pretends every person is the same.
Colour Theory
Shadow Colour: Studio Temperature Mistakes
Common shadow-colour habits that flatten a picture, and a calmer way to judge temperature, value and bounce light.
Colour Theory
Analogous Colours: Harmony in a Narrow Band
How neighbouring hues make a calm picture, and how value plus one small accent keep that harmony from going flat.
Colour Theory
Value First: Why a Grey Study Saves the Painting
Why a small grey study reveals the drawing before hue gets involved, and how to carry those tones into colour.
Colour Theory
A Three-Colour Palette You Can Finish
How to choose three parent colours, mix a full small picture from them, and resist the tube that would break the set.
Colour Theory
Split Complements: Contrast with Less Noise
How split complements give you contrast with less glare, and how to keep the three hues from cancelling out.
Painting Techniques
Lifting Colour in Watercolour and Acrylic
How to lift watercolour and acrylic mistakes with timing and a clean brush, and which stains will not fully leave.