The Passion of the Color Red in Fine Art Paintings
Red is full of passion it also brings to mind heat, danger and the intense rage. Feelings of danger and alertness come to mind when looking at fire engine red but feelings of passion come to mind when looking at dark dense red. Red is a very warm, even hot color and is complementary with the color green directly across from it on the color wheel that artists use. Take care using red because it can easily be an overpowering color in your painting.
The Spirituality and the psychology of red:
Red is used when great artists depict battle scenes and warriors in paintings. Life and blood are both synonymous and red represents them both. The term “blood brothers” denoting the blood that flows through all of us connect us as a family of mankind.
Danger and pain come to mind when we associate blood with red. Perhaps that is why red is used as a warning as in the sign at the end of the street that tells you to stop! Stop signs demand attention and that is why red is used. This happens when it is used in paintings as well.
Red has a spiritual meaning and that is one of intelligence and wisdom. Courage is also symbolized used red it resembles the struggle against danger that man faces. Bravery is also linked to courage in that we face up to and overcome our fears.
Red is a strong color that stands out for its links to what we just mention aside from being n important primary color. For displaying high emotions red is the most suitable color and an excellent choice. Paintings pop out because of the amazing impact that red achieves through the use of red accents. Red helps to entertain paintings with green landscapes as it brings excitement and life to it. To help green pastures and fields pop out a little bit of red flowers can be added to make the painting more interesting.
Red paint and the techniques involved in mixing some:
Extreme care must be taken when mixing red with other colors and that is because it is such a dominant color. Care must be taken when mixing your colors, in order to find that perfect color you are looking to use you must mix tiny amounts at a time. It takes just a dot of paint to change the value quickly. Green is the complimentary color of red and can be used to make darker shades of red. A mud color is achieved when you mix the same amount of red with the same amount of green. If you add too much green, you can add some more red to lighten the value. A more complicated color to make and a popular one is burgundy. Only basic red like cadmium can be used to make burgundy when mixing colors. Get some ultramarine blue and pure black to mix it with.
Grab your pallet and place a bit of red, black and blue onto it. You will be mixing five parts red, a quarter parts black and one and a quarter parts blue this is the ratio. These colors will make burgundy all you need to do is gently and bit by bit mix them using your palette knife.
