How to Follow the Yellow Brick Road to an Attractive Painting
Does yellow enhance your jaundiced look or make you want a bag of fries from the nearest fast food vendor? As it turns out, “vibrant yellow Illuminating” is the Pantone color of 2021.
Lemonade (my rendering from a Carol Carter Demonstration)
Back in my paralegal days in Memphis, my boss pulled me aside. “Are you feeling alright?” “I’m feeling just fine,” I answered. Later that day, during a coffee break with a coworker, she asked if there was anything I need? The truth is, I was feeling fine. About five o’clock, I realized I was wearing the “wrong color.” A pale yellow cotton blouse highlighted my sallow olive complexion. I tan easily, but in the winter, I turn a pale olive green. No wonder my coworkers asked how I was doing; I looked like death warmed over wearing a yellow shirt.
Books and entire businesses have been built around choosing the correct colors for your complexion. Who hasn’t tried the four-season color analysis? Are you a Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn? Consultants advise men and women in selecting clothes and accessories that promote success, express authority, or attract attention. Every day you watch news personalities and stars. Their clothes and makeup are chosen for them by experts in their industry.
So what is yellow good for?
Gold. Need I say more. Who doesn’t want a few Krugerrands stashed in a vault somewhere?
During the Tang dynasty, only Royals could wear yellow. Who wants to rule the world?
Sunshine. Painted light is depicted as bright white. The next color of light fades to a pale yellow.
Yellow underpaintings have been used for years by artists. The first layer is yellow. It dries. The second layer is a color. The result is a glow that shines through the second layer.
Yellow often indicates sickness or judgment in the bible. After all, it is the primary color of fire. You might want to use this color to emphasize sickness or distress.
How does this help with my painting in a watercolor journal? According to Jeanne Dobie, If your yellow is warm, the best complement to make it spark is a fabulous cool purple dark. A cool yellow vibrates against a warm reddish-purple dark. Now just wait a minute, you mean there are warm and cool colors of yellow? If you take the time to examine yellows, you will see this is true. Colors with the name lemon included in the yellow tend to be cool. Colors that lean towards the orange side of the spectrum tend to be warmer.
Discussion Question. How have you used yellows in your work? Have your tried to detect light? How did that work? Was it easy or complicated?
The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur… Revelation 9:17.