Dear Sir Mix-a-lot,
As an undergrad, I was taught to mix my own color, a practice of which I infrequently engaged in--(which I can only chalk-up to the recklessness and inexperience of youth.) But I recently started using a much larger palette to relax and mix my oil paints. I recently recieved a gift-certificate from a art supply company, [the name the would-be supplier not disclosed] which would allow me to stock up on a few essentials.
The problem is, Sir Mix-a-lot, *as embarrasing as it is to write*,
I am seduced by straight-from-the-tube oil paint! I know I could mix my own palette, but I think I may have mix-esteem issues. How can I gain the confidence to mix my own palette and regain control of my wandering eye when thumbing through pages of come-hither chroma and luring luminosity?
(p.s. ugh, I'm especially a sucker for Rose Grey.)
--SAP GREEN IN GREENSBORO.
* * *
(sorry for the absurdity, but this really is a problem of mine [expressed in a makeshift 'Dear Abby' form] I get suckered into buying a ton of paint that I could easily mix myself. Just kinda curious if I'm the only one--or wondering if
I'm lazy? Jeez, its always those pinkish greys and unbleached muslin creamy colors that get me. Maybe its just a childish longing for crayola colors... (even those before they added such colors as the "macaroni & cheese" in the deluxe 64 pk). dunno, but I'm gonna re-access my paints/palette before I buy my 13th "deep sepia greyish whatever":)
6 comments:
dear seduced,
yes, it is laziness. but you're not the only one. we all have issues with not wanting to put in the time to learn something, especially if we feel like that time encroaches on our time alloted for producing things to show. the problem is that those things (paintings, in your case) will look like they're straight out of the tube and not yours at all. what you need is some good advice on how to mix colors and what kind of palate to start out with. you should be able to mix just about any color you want. maybe you should start with a grey scale- mixing a tertiary black out of cad yellow light, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue. mix a violet first and then mix in the yellow to make the black. even in mixing blacks there are so many possibilities. using colors out of the tube is not so bad, and you are a grown up, but when your color possibilities are restricted by what is available on the shelf of the store, you are limiting your options to express yourself fully. its akin to leeting someone put words in your mouth.
keep mixing
~sir mix-a-lot
Dear Mix
ha, oh wow! brilliant!!
(you've fully embodied the art oracle who's advice I sought:)
great advice Jules. You should consider an art columnist career:) shit, I'm inspired, I'm gonna go do my greyscale project. thanks!
Polly Palettable
you guys are weird. but at least we're talkin art. may the comments continue...
Mandy,
I recently did some grey scales and when O'Leary came to my studio today she said I needed to make colors the way I did when I made my grey scales. You aren't the only one dealing with color issues, you just are admitting it. We all have "problems" we are dealing with, but when we recognize them we gain power and ownership over them.
I confess that I have a problem with Perm. Green Light. It fell away for so long but Katie bought a tube and now the seduction continues. Then again, it is so much about seduction/repulsion in my work. I would make the argument that while it is vitally important to know how to mix color, there is something useful or there CAN be something in useful in treating your palette like a box of crayons. Hell, I just bought about 10 iridescent oil sticks, so there.
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