Tip: Color Studies

Color studies is a term used to describe a myriad of concepts and exercises. Perhaps the most common reference is to a color sketch that is created in preparation for a larger piece (similar to a value study but in full color). The term is also used to refer to a variety of works done solely to observe, explore, and learn. The key to all color studies is that they focus on color rather than other compositional elements.

For discussion purposes we divide color studies into three categories, each serving a different purpose:

1. Color Mixing - to become familiar with the way colors combine to make other colors
2. Color Theory - to observe and understand the visual impacts of specific color combinations
3. Color Gradient - to learn to blend colors from light to dark or from one color to another

Most color exercises fall into the first two categories. For example, creating color wheels and charts are exercises in the mechanics of color-mixing. Creating a color wheel is perhaps the best way to fully understand the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Color charts, on the other hand, give practical experience mixing a single color with white and other colors from your palette.

A good example of a color theory study is where unmixed colors are placed in close proximity to each other. This helps the artist understand the characteristics of color associations and the psychological effects of certain color combinations. Another common exercise is to paint a picture using an extremely limited palette (that is, two or three colors plus white).

Color gradient studies are where the artist applies what he or she has learned by adding color to simply drawings and paintings. Here artists learn to combine paints to show the effects of lighting, shade, distance, weather, and mood. It takes this kind of practice to discover how to use color in practical and productive ways.