Early in 2007, I took a course with contemporary realist painter Scott Owles. Scott is an affable guy with a great sense of humour and, what’s more, a fantastic teacher and artist. I had no practical training in fine art previous to this as my art education is in graphic design. Many of the principles are the same, but colour takes on a whole new dimension.
In a conversation about limited palettes on Linda Blondheim’s Blog, I brought up field colour as a method I have recently begun to work with. Linda asked me to explain it further, so I will attempt to do that here. Any errors in this explanation are mine. Scott is a true master and I hope I wasn’t a completely incompetent student! This post assumes a bit of understanding of value (light/dark) and colour saturation.
Field colour is a colour method that was used by the Masters from the Renaissance right through the 19th century and has become less common since the rise of Impressionism. Many artists today often use a sienna or umber ‘underpainting’. Their palettes for the remainder of the painting can vary considerably. An underpainting using a field colour sets a restricted ‘colour’ family to every stage of the painting and the colour of that underpainting depends on the overall colour theme the artist wants to create. It was not uncommon for landscapes to have a blue-green underpainting, giving the finished work a sombre or ‘rainy’ mood.
When Scott first introduced us to field colour, he sat us down and had us go through several charts of colour tables. Each table was a single colour family; warm yellow, cool yellow, red-orange, blue-green, etc. (see example of warm yellow chart, below) Then we looked through books of Sargent, Titian and other masters. We began to see the overall moods in paintings and how the use of field colour makes colour unity and harmony very simple. The results were very realistic and the effects of layering and glazing created some very luminous paintings. The colour theory used by these painters was very different from the Impressionists which dominates most colour theory and art eduction today. The Impressionists tended to avoid the use of black and much of their palette was influenced by the rise in the study of physics and optics in relation to how we perceive colour.
The chart is organized by value from top to bottom (1,3,5,7,9) and saturation from left to right, where the left is the purest undiluted colour and the right is a variation of neutral grays created from titanium white and lamp black. The above chart is a warm yellow field. The yellows are created from cadmium yellow medium, yellow ochre and raw umber. Unfortunately in the photo, the grays show a bit blue, but they are, and should be, neutral. What is accurate is that the yellow when combined with the grays look very green. The cool grays do look bluer when next to the warm yellows and, therefore, a sense of complementary colours, albeit less vibrant than the Impressionist palette. Part of the exercise of understanding how this worked, was to paint a chart for each of 12 or so colour groups.
If a colour needs to be saturated further with a pigment not on the chart for effect or accuracy, then it is mixed with the correct value and saturation square from the chart. For example, if you want or need a bluer blue at the 5 value, mix in a bit of ultramarine with the chart colour. The result seems dull on the palette, but it is amazing how it can pop off the canvas and the result is very harmonious. The goal is a more subtle vibration of colour.
Below is an example of a warm yellow underpainting (this one is mine):
The next painting below is of Titian’s Venus – and I would guess that he may have used a yellow-orange field. The reds have been stepped up by mixing them into the field.
I have experimented a little on my own with field colours. I work primarily in acrylic, however, I was taught this system using oils. Beyond behaving differently as media, oils and acrylics vary a great deal in how they handle pigment. Raw Umber in acrylics is very transparent and difficult to use, so I tended to mix it with a little burnt sienna and lamp black to get a similar effect to oil. The painting below was done with a warm yellow field colour. The grays and yellow ochre mixed to create the greens in the field below the trees and I stepped up the slight amount of blue in the horizon with ultramarine. Overall, the only pigments I used were cad yellow, yellow ochre, lamp black and titanium white with that speck of blue. Most of my other work uses a more impressionist palette, but with this one I got great results and the Gallery told me I could have sold it twice!
Stormy Skies, 10×8, acrylic, 2007
I hope this has served to introduce the concept of field colour. I am happy to answer any further questions if I can! I am currently working on another painting using this system in oils and I will post it when it is complete!
Thanks to Linda, for alerting me to this excellent post which is really interesting.
Michelle – I’m planning a project on colour later in the year which will get covered on my blog and it looks like a jolly useful approach which I will reference at some point during the project.
Do you have any books which relate to this approach which you could recommend?
Hi Katherine!
I am glad you found the article interesting and useful. Thank you for visiting!
I wish I could make a solid recommendation for a book on the subject, however, everything I posted here I learned directly from Scott Owles. He was trained by Michael John Angel in Florence. This ‘atelier’ training doesn’t seem common on the book shelf, I’m afraid. I did see a book on traditional oil painting by Virgil Elliot, but I cannot tell you if field colour is included or not. It may be best to seek out a classical realist or atelier in your area for more info…
I look forward to hearing about the outcome of your project!
I really enjoyed this and I have started to look out for more interesting colours when I have been out hiking. The same place never looks the same throughout the seasons.
hi Michelle
this is a terrific explanation of the concept of field colour…
I often use underpainting in my portraits….either green or umber ….
your blog is very interesting and your landscapes are simply superb !!!!
regards Kim
Hi my friend
According to your invitation, I’ve just readed your post here. Your paintings is very nice. Hope I wait new your post in the near future. Keep in your good work
I’m glad will be your friend and I’ll add your blog in my blogroll.
Keep in touch
Claire – It is so nice when you can find something to see the world with new eyes!
Thanks Kim – I enjoyed putting the post together and I am glad it made sense! Thanks for your compliments…
Ruan – thanks for visiting! ๐
Thank you for visiting my site and your comments. This color field idea is an interesting strategy for a limited palette. Your writing is very clear, a pleasure to read. I have bookmarked you to see more of your work and your writing.
Thank you Vince!
hi,
just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your blog and how the concept of field colour is so much clearer now.
I’m a first year art student in Brighton, England and whilst i’ve been painting for a few years the technical elements of painting are usually explained in a way that makes it impossible to understand.
so I just wanted to say thankyou! and that I love stormy skies, i’d like to explain why but my lecturer hasn’t confused me about that yet!
again thankyou
Bette.
Hi Bette! I am glad you found some clarity with the post. I was very lucky to have such an excellent instructor myself….:)
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
I don’t know If I said it already but …Great site…keep up the good work. ๐ I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks, ๐
A definite great read..
Michelle your blog and the stories that go with your paintings are so wonderful! Keep up the great work.