Class Description
Color In Practice: Making the Colors that Fit YOU!
Instructor: Jane Davies
6 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.
In this new class, I will take you beyond basic color theory and into an exploration of how to actually USE color to strengthen your art. We will work with value, hue, tone… all the necessary aspects of mixing colors but in a way that is personal and fun. I’ll show you how to modify colors and put them into RELATIONSHIPS that serve your images.
You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of color, the skills to expand your palette and strengthen your paintings, and we’ll put it all into practice by making some finished collage paintings together.
I hope you will join me!
Jane
Some of Jane’s Abstract Artwork:
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Class Itinerary
Week 1: Color Mixing
Lesson 1: Hue
In this lesson we’ll start with the basics: creating a 12-color color wheel from red, blue, and yellow. The goal here is to notice how specific pigments work in mixing these basic colors.
Lesson 2: Value
We start by creating a value scale in grays. Then we’ll try mixing color to match specific values. (Warning: this is hard, but it’s great practice!)
Lesson 3: Neutrals & Muted Colors
Learn to mix a beautiful variety of neutrals—grays, browns, beige, taupe, sand, etc.—and how to turn the volume down on bright colors, making them into sophisticated muted tones.
Week 2: Putting Color in Practice; Three Projects
Lesson 4: Collage Color Pie Graphs
From the collage papers you have painted in previous lessons, we will create a pie-graph collage. The format is simple, but the challenge is in making each color different from all of the others.
Lesson 5: Color Field Paintings
We’re not trying to be Rothko here, just be yourself, but learn how to give a relatively large area of a single color depth and interest. This is a great way to explore color for its own sake, to treat color as the subject of a painting.
Lesson 5: Complementary Colors Paintings
We all know that complementary colors—red/green, blue/orange, purple/yellow—clash or make each other vibrate. Learn to use them in more subtle ways as well in this collage-painting project.
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For a full list of the supplies you will need, see the tab titled “Supplies” located just under the video screen above.
Supply List
Please always feel free to substitute with items you already have on hand!
• A stack of cheap drawing paper like THIS or THIS. You can also use copy paper.
• Several sheets of paper for substrates, about 10″x10″. This should be sturdy and smooth; Bristol, hot press watercolor paper, or smooth printmaking paper are all good choices.
• Acrylic Paints: I recommend Golden Fluid Acrylics, but if you have another brand of professional grade paints, use them. I find fluid acrylics easier to mix in small quantities than heavy-body paints. Colors: at least two different reds, two different blues, and two different yellows, at least one green, one orange, and one purple (I recommend permanent violet dark, rather than dioxazine violet), and bone black (it is transparent and easier to mix).
NOTE: Here is a 3-page Color and Paint Handout PDF to help you choose colors, etc.
• An 8-oz bottle of white acrylic paint. I recommend Blick Matte Acrylics, white.
• A few brushes – I like flat, ½” brushes
• Acrylic Matte Medium and/or a glue stick
• A palette of your choice
• A few crayons (I use Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) or paint markers
About the Teacher
Jane Davies is a full-time artist working in painting and collage. She offers workshops nationwide and internationally, focusing on developing a deeper understanding of visual language.
After graduating Bennington College and attending the School for American Crafts, Davies began as a potter in the early nineties. She transitioned into freelance art, creating artwork for manufacturers of giftware, stationery, and home furnishings. Since 2010 she has focused on teaching, writing, and fine art.
She has participated in a residencies at Vermont Studio Center and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. In addition to The Elements of Visual Language, Davies is the author of three books on collage and mixed media, and one on ceramics. Her work is available at Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont.
website: https://janedaviesprints.com
instagram: @janedaviesart
Nuts & Bolts
– Lessons are prerecorded and are instantly available upon signup.
– A private Facebook group and a Padlet group (for those not on FB) will be available for you to (optionally) share your artwork and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. You may also email your teacher directly with questions or feedback.
– You will have forever access to the class videos and materials!
