Yesterday, my watercolor experiment was all about allowing watercolors to flow into each other to create patterns and mixtures with very little artist intervention. The artist sets up the scenario and then allows the watercolors to do the rest of the work.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

Today I used the same pigments as I did in yesterday’s experiment, but I reversed the order. This time, the center pool of color was the dark indanthrone blue, surrounded by a ring of Winsor red, which was itself surrounded by lemon yellow. As in yesterday’s study, I merged the pools using one of my brushes. Below is the resulting composition, after applying additional glazes of the same three pigments.

Reverse Rings
9″x11″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

Comment:

I should have stopped just before the final glaze. The colors in this composition after the last glaze are starting to look muddy. I am pretty sure that most of this effect is not from the pigments mixing together but instead from the way the light is transmitted through the layers of glazes.

The most problematic combination is the indanthrone blue and the Winsor red. While it is true that red and blue make purple theoretically, there are so many variations in red and blue pigments that purple is not always the result. For example, if a blue, tinted a bit green, is mixed with red that is tinted a bit orange, the result will probably be a muddy color. Here is simple explanation for this: 1) the complement of red is green; 2) the combination of red and green should be a neutral gray; 3) the complement of blue is orange; 4) the combination of blue and orange should also be a neutral gray; 5) therefore the green and blue in a greenish blue combines with the red and orange (respectively) to yield two potential neutral colors. The result: a neutral, muddy color.

Here is a chart showing combinations of different red pigments with two blue pigments, Prussian blue and Peacock blue (essentially phthalo blue):

Test Strip – Peacock Blue and Prussian Blue

It is difficult to see the differences between some of the combinations, but some of them yield a very nice purple. However, cadmium red (in the far right column) does not mix well with either the Prussian or the Peacock blues. Those combinations yield a brownish result.

I am thinking of making a chart with all my blue pigments listed (and painted) in the vertical cells and all my reds listed horizontal cells. The cells on the diagonal would be a combination of the red color listed at the top of that column and the blue color listed at the far left of that row. I would be able to tell at a glance which color combinations would yield the particular purple I want.

In conclusion, yes, the watercolors do most of the work when they interact on the paper, but the artist has much work to as well before painting even starts.