Tips and color theory :: Colored Blacks
A few days ago I bought myself a nice little box of Windsor & Newton watercolors. I love them, the colors are vibrant and rich, the
box is cute, but they have two tiny flaws:
No. 1 – the colors don’t dry very fast and remain a bit too gooey even hours after I stop using them; and because I mainly use them out and about and keep them in my bag, they move around in the box and get stuck to the lid;
No. 2 – there is no black color pan inside!!! And what do you do when life doesn’t give you a black color pan in your watercolor travel box? You effing mix that black yourself! And this takes us to the subject of my little blog post today: colored blacks. This time I’m in a for a longer article because I think some of you might find this info useful.
What are colored blacks, how to mixed them and why to use them? Keep on reading.
Colored blacks do not mean black mixed with colors but black mix out of colors. Yes, that’s right! “But is that even possible and how does it actually look on paper? It probably looks muddy.” Well, do you see the black in my two watercolor sketches? (I apologize for the crappy image quality!) That’s not black, it’s burnt umber mixed with ultramarine blue. Does it look muddy? It sure does on the mixing tray, but not in the painting. Why? Because colors are perceived by the human eye in relation to each other (also remember that watercolors dry a few shades darker). Eugene Delacroix famously said “I can paint you the skin of Venus with mud, provided you let me surround it as I will.” There’s an entire essay on color theory in that one sentence. Remember it!
You can mix blacks out of many colors, not just the ones I’ve used. Experiment with the darkest colors you have available on your palette. You’ll be amazed. But don’t expect to create the same black you get out of the tube, you’re not going to get it and you’re not aiming for it. Instead, focus on harmonizing it with the rest of your palette.
Now, WHY use colored blacks? Because they bring an extraordinary vibrancy, luminosity and realism to your painting. In nature, nothing is purely black. Pure blacks are only found where there is no light. Black is the absence of light, the absence of light means the absence of color. That pretty much means there’s nothing for you to paint there anyway. But under some sort of light conditions (even one candle burning in a dark room) the black will pick up on its color and also on the color of the objects around it (sometimes more, some times less, depending on the texture of the black object and on the texture of the objects around it). Shadows, coal, black forged iron, black leather, the night sky, they are not pure blacks, even if you can swear that that is what your eyes see. As artists we know that the eye is deceiving and we’re not meant to imitate what we see, we’re meant to make a conscious decision about how to create an illusion on paper/canvas/pixels and how to best represent the harmony of colors that we see around us.
Now, let me get things straight: if you love your black and the two of you can’t be parted, that’s not an artistic sin. Use it right and carefully and it will look good. But just remember that using pure black (on its own or mixed with other colors) lowers the chroma of your painting, while using colored blacks gives your painting a lively vibrancy and luminosity.
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Website: www.elenaciolacu.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElenaCiolacuArt
Blog: www.elenaciolacu.wordpress.com
Free Commission Competition
I've just launched an experimental competition on my Facebook page and the prize is a FREE full color commission
To be honest I just feel like drawing someone else's imagination 
If you'd like to join visit my page and read the very simple rules
www.facebook.com/ElenaCiolacuA…
Many hugs to you all!
Interview
Also, thank you so much to all of you, Deviantart friends, for your constant support ^^!
This is my interview exposeartists.tumblr.com/post/…:
I was lucky to find Elena Ciolacu artwork on the pages of one of the best art magazines, Imagine FX. Her work intrigued me, but most was her humble opinion about her work, welcome to Elena's art.
So can you tell us about yourself?
Oh, the one question I dread answering the most haha. Well, my name is Elena Ciolacu, at the moment I'm a final year Illustration and Animation student in the UK preparing to fight my way into the animation industry upon graduation. I have previously studied Graphic Design at West University Timisoara, in my home country, Romania. I came to the UK 3 years ago in pursuit of my dreams to study animation and to discover a path of my own, on my own.
I am very passionate about the film and animation industry and I am particularly fascinated with the power it has to shape society, to connect people… it is because of this that I ultimately dream to one day direct my own animations (or who knows, maybe my own films), tell my own stories and bring a positive impact to the world.
I also strongly identify myself with my Romanian cultural heritage, with our history, traditions, language, literature… There is a very sensitive issue that my country is facing at the moment and I hope to also speak up for it, be an ambassador of my country thorough my artistic career.
I guess you could say I like to use art as a "weapon" of peace and communication. I don't like to paint just for the sake of painting. I want to SAY something through my work.
So what do you think it makes your art unique?
At this stage in my artistic practice, I can't say my art is unique, or I personally don't see it that way yet. I don't consider to have reached an identifiable style of my own, and I still feel like I'm experimenting. But I would like my work to stand apart through its strong stories and emotions that I aim to convey. I want to be like a symbiosis between a photojournalist and a digital artist, I want my work to have the power of photography and use the liberty of expression that painters and illustrators have…
Does every single of your work has a meaning or story behind?
Well, considering all my work so far, not all of my paintings have a message. Like I said before, I'm still experimenting, I'm still drawing for the sake of learning how to use a brush or a color composition, or to practice with anatomy … but as often as I can, even in these exercises, I try to come up with a story, even if it's just a hint to the character's personality… that is still a story to me. I really can't finish or even get halfway through a painting if it doesn't mean anything. I'm not the type of artist that enjoys creating gorgeous portraits with beautiful colors that only pleases the eye. Even when I don't have an idea for a story I just start painting random shapes and then look for a story as I go. One example is my "Family of clowns" painting. If you look at the steps you'll see what I mean.
What media do you feel most comfortably working with?
At the moment I work almost exclusively in Photoshop, apart from pencil and pen sketches. I also have previous experience with acrylics, oils, pastels, charcoal, and different drawing supports such as canvas, wood, glass etc. and as much as I love traditional art and plan to return to it and create some traditional paintings in the future, I like to focus in digital art the moment because it allows me to improve and develop at a much greater speed. I no longer have to worry about wasting paper, colors, making mistakes and then starting all over… Photoshop is a gift from the Heavens for artists!
What inspires you to create art?
Oh, hmmm… I think first and foremost daily life … and then photojournalism, photography, movies, literature, old masters, light and nature… and also my own life beliefs and ideas that I stand up for. I am very passionate about the spiritual side of life, about the human soul and mind, about the kindness and purity and righteousness of humanity that we seem to loose everyday… and such ideas make me want to speak. And I do speak… a lot ahaha. But I also have this language of art that I also try to master and one day use as best as I can.
Are there any new techniques or media you would like to learn?
Well… I think I would like to learn how to master 3D softwares better, and also I would like to learn 3D animation.
What would be your advice for an artist wanting to get better in their work?
I would start by saying what everyone else is saying: just keep drawing. And apart from that I would add: think a lot, analyze your progress, your drawings, and yourself as you draw… just be aware of the process of drawing as you are of your body when you work out at the gym… sort of
. If you're striving to reach to a certain level in your art or if you have an artist that you like and you'd want to be able to draw like him, I would suggest you analyze what is it that you lack in comparison to him and work on that. Set targets for yourself: "I will focus on improving my anatomy skills for the next few weeks, then I will focus on working with colors etc." Do these kind of exercises often and then use them on a finished piece of work. The best thing is to loosen up, allow yourself to make mistakes in your exercises.One experience that has helped me tremendously was when I had a project for uni, and I had to finish 165 images in 3 weeks to meet the deadline. That's when I actually spent 18 hrs/day drawing to the point where I felt like puking on my tablet with mental exhaustion (that project is my flash comic strip by the way).
But by the end of it I felt so much more comfortable with using brushes and colors and light. And it wasn't because of the torture, don't put yourself through it, it was because I really broke my inhibitions and comfort zone and by pushing myself and struggling to find ways of finishing faster I also learnt how to speed up my painting process.
Another thing I would suggest to all artists is to really learn about composition, and on of the best ways to do that is from photography… National Geographic is a treasure of knowledge on composition. Look at their galleries and learn. I personally cannot stress enough the importance of good composition in your work, even before having good execution. I always look for paintings that inspire me through their brilliant composition, balance and message, paintings that really make me want to look at them, rest my eyes on a center of interest, discover their meaning, not just feast my eyes on a whirlpool of colors… Don't just copy the execution of other artists, study art as a language and learn how to use it yourself.
Follow me on Facebook
I have recently created a Facebook page where you can keep up with updates on my work. I'll be posting more sketches and WIPs than I do here and also videos I do (animatics and - hopefully soon - animations)so, you're more than welcome to come and have a look!
Thank you for your support guys!
www.facebook.com/ElenaCiolacuArt www.facebook.com/ElenaCiolacuA…
Amazing DA Artists :X:X:X
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It's so worth visiting everybody's pages!!!
