Simple Greens – Back To Basics
Watercolor, The Basics.
Color mixing. No wheel. Just 3 pure colors of loveliness……creating
“whispers of pale mint and greyed greens,
mist laden green foliage of zen.”
Yes. I love color.
Basic Simple Watercolor Greens, debiriley.art
Simple Greens of Nature
What you need:
Cobalt pb28 + Winsor Lemon py175 + Permanent Rose pv19
3 paints + a sense of fun, patience, serenity and keen sense of exploration is all it really takes to mix these greens. I used Saunders Cold Press (100% cotton) for its easy and smoothness of color blending.
Please see Foliage Greens for more green information. Its a great article, informative and very helpful.
Nature’s Environment
I created this small color chart of greens with my local environment in mind, thinking and remembering it.
As I go to paint, I select colors that will mix and create that scene. That remembered color mood and atmosphere.
This is what I’ve always done, its just an automatic response at this stage. Mimi Robinson the design artist is now making more people aware of this type of approach. Letting her groups of followers know about using the colors that are in our local environment. Those shades and hues, in our own natural living habitats.
This is a wonderful calm, natural approach I love. Which is why I so often go on my “zen strolls.” I know I’ve said before, they are not meant to be walks or hikes.
But they’re leisurely strolls to fill the well of my inner creative artist. To take my time. To not rush in this one thing.
To fully engage and be in the moment.
To see.
To breathe deeply in fresh air.
Zen Strolls are life changing. But I digress.
Color Perfection or, Essence
When I paint I don’t get bogged down or overly ‘stressed’ to try to match the exact precise color to perfection.
I like to make sure the tonal values are correct, number one.
Then make sure the message and essence, The Spirit of the land is somehow conveyed.
The Feeling of the Land is a post I think you’d enjoy a quick read through.
Color is … more of a ‘fluid’ living entity though for me. As you perhaps have come to discover in many of my Color posts:
Foggy Greens in The Natural Environment
Desaturated Greens in the Fog
This photograph was taken on the rare, blue moon, we saw fog in our local suburb. A one off occurrence in the 8 years we’ve lived here.
It was quite early before the sun emerged.
Chill and damp. Rather bracing. Loved it!!
You may notice, that the angle of the photo is askew.
I’d kneeled down on the wet grass to try for the brighter green in the foreground to give way as the fog took control in the distance. It was so cold, I was shivering!
I think the photo achieved the subtle range of gentle, desaturated greens that I saw. Covered with a thin veil of fog, the colors softened, into greens of tranquility.
I can see the palest grey greens of the shrouded trees in back.
And the blanketed viridian umber meadow is there too. So too is the veiled, lime grass green that is the foreground.
Simple Greens, back to basics. I didn’t need ‘more.’
It was – enough.