Brown: the color of old things.
The color of rust.
And of dryness.
Along with grey, the color of winter.
Not the favorite color of most people.
But how many browns can you find here?
Brown is also the color of chocolate. And this beautiful parquet work behind the chocolate.
Brown is the color of spots on puppies.
And just baked bread.
Can you see warm browns and cool browns on these leaves?
Brown is the combination of the three primary colors, blue, red and yellow.
In watercolor it is easy to make Mud instead of a rich brown.
At the bottom right hand corner of this page of palettes, I show four browns right out of the tube: Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, and Dark Brown. They all look pretty flat.
The other squares show variations that can be made using blues, reds and yellows together. I used Indigo Blue, Cobalt, Cerulean and Ultramarine Blue as the bottom layer. Then added Carmine, Alizaron Crimson, or Cadmium Red Light over that. I added Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Yellow Light or Winsor Yellow Deep as the last layer. Some of the squares may not look like brown, but these variations dropped around other browns or in the shadows could add depth to the brown on a piece of wood or bread or old ladder.
As a kid, I used to pester my mom with questions: What color is my hair? What color are my eyes? What is the best color for me to wear? Her usual response while she was doing laundry, washing dishes, or baking: brown, that is your best color. Not my favorite color then. But I've gotten over that. After all, there are so many versions of brown to choose from, aren't there?
Blue to make brown? Now I understand better what makes your browns vibrant.
ReplyDeletePat,
DeleteSomehow my first answer to your comment didn't get posted. I'm a little late, but one of the best browns is mixing green and red with a little blue. That makes a very dark, almost black brown. Making my own greens is a good practice too.
Brown is actually one of my favorite colors, especially the beautiful browns created in your palette! It's a color that requires an eye for subtlety to appreciate, I think.
ReplyDeleteI agree again, Teresa. It's too easy for brown to be dull, but a few drops of blue or yellow or red can really create deep, subtle browns.
DeleteAll the photos here are gorgeous. I especially love the perspective on the 3rd image.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chandra. That tree is a beauty.
ReplyDelete