This is a block of "warm" and "cool" versions of the primaries. The top row is scarlet red, ultramarine blue and indian yellow. The bottom row is alizarin crimson permanent. cobalt blue and aureolin. But WAIT, cobalt blue is the "warm" blue (it is closer to green which is closer to yellow which is one way to remember "warm") and ultramarine blue is closest to purple. To my eye, , however, cobalt "looks" cooler and I make this error repetitively. I think assigning warm and cool to blue is difficult because blue is "cool". I paint what I see, so the color temperature assignment is not so important with the unmixed colors.
However, understanding "warm" and "cool" colors will give us cleaner color mixing. For example, we know that if we put a mixing complimentary colors (red and green: blue and orange; yellow and purple) together, we will make greys. Therefore, if we mix a warm red (a red that has more yellow) with a cool blue (one that has more purple), we are mixing yellow with purple (which are mixing compliments and make grey), so we will grey this mixed purple. This is explained really well in: "Blue and Yellow don't make Green" by Michael Wilcox.
Here are steps 2 and 3 of this little watercolor. Warmer, cooler and greyed down greens and warm and cool purples.
Colors were cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, permanent rose, aureolin, quinacridone gold, and sap green.
And painted again with a different background. Same colors were used here and then neutral tint was washed over a darker background of the colors listed above. Areas of white were lifted out in the background and left as white paper in the flower.
And today is day 29 of Leslie Saeta's Thirty in Thirty Challenge. My theme is color so I started with black and white...
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