Thursday, May 22, 2008

Cool vs. warm colors




The human skin is mostly warm red/yellow, but to avoid it from being too 'hot' you would usually put dabs of cool color, usually green in the shadow and facial hair areas, and veins. The background earth in this painting is also warm with some cool colors. Meanwhile, the background trees and foliage is mostly cool green, but with accents of warm brown, indicating tree trunks. So there is a little bit of green in the dominant red/yellow area, while there is a little bit of red in the dominant green/blue area. The two dominant areas complement each other and create unity in the overall painting. Also, the sky echoes the cool color of the towel.

Sergei
24 x 36 inches, oil on stretched canvas