Dianne. I'm a professional artist of over 25 years. You can google me to see what I do. I have to say...after attending one of the world's prestigious art school in NYC and reading every art book I could get my hands on and watching every video I could...I also have a color wheel tattoo so this is serious lol. You are sooooooo good. I've learned more from you than any one single person. THANK YOU!
A WORD FROM DIANNE - As you can see, this Quick Tip stirred up a lot of discussion about cool vs warm as related to yellow and red. This debate has been going on for decades. I remember such discussions among my college teachers at least five decades ago. My side of the debate is from the old school where temperature of hue is based on what is felt rather than being analytical. It comes from observing what happens to the color of metal being heated by a blacksmith--First it turns sort purplish, then as it gets progressively warmer, it becomes red, then orange, then yellow, then white. It is from this principle of the color fire that those of us who see yellow as the warmest hue find our theory. Those who base color theory on the Kevin measurements or on the wavelengths of the spectrum consider red or orange to be the warmest. It's a matter of perception as to which school of thought one subscribes. Such debates keep us engaged, though.
Thanks for comprehensive explanation, but there is still something that I can't understand, if you classify the hues according to the Kelvin scale, one should accept that blues are the warmest because they have higher °k. Is this classification applicable to color wheel? If so how? Thanks again.
Mosia, the Kelvin scale measures the temperature of the light source, not the inherent temperature of hues. The temperature of the light source WILL effect that of hues which they illuminate, but that's a part of what we observe when we are painting.
Based on that sequence, white should be considered the warmest? "The metal get purplish, then red, then orange, then yellow, then WHITE" I thought white makes colors cooler...
Milania RTIZTHERAPY white is a color on the wheel...right in the middle called a “neutral color”. It works both ways in “temperature”: reflecting light and thus “cooler” in feel yet also increasing value creating “warmer”-just one way of looking at it. ANGELO MARIANO-White is “officially” “cool” because it is BIASED with blue. But look at its “neutral dual” role in “temperature”. It creates a “cold” snow and yet also creates a “warmth” on parts of items not in shadow which includes the snow that is not in shadow. “Temperature” is a bad thing to use for teaching COLOR BIAS and mixing. “Temperature” is personal and relative in many situations and confuses people and it is value related as well. We can plainly see all this in the comments.
Yes! Another way to determine whether ultramarine is cool or warm is to look at the overhead sky on a sunny day. You wold use ultramarine to paint the overhead sky. Near the horizon, you would use warmer colors like thalo blue. The sky is warmer at the horizon and becomes cooler overhead. In fact, you can apply roygbiv from the horizon to the sky above.
Sorry but how does this determine if Ultramarine is cool or warm? as we know the temperature of the atmosphere isn't a factor in why the sky is blue or determine how blue it is.
I liked your demonstration for determining the warm/cool of a pigment color, in this example blue. You are not the only artist who uses this system of color from a scientific viewpoint. I also use this method because a warm red goes toward yellow thus less 'cool'. This has always made much more sense to me. It truly is that 'center of the flame'. Over the years, I have noticed that many artists from Europe teach that a reddish blue is warm/ greenish blue is cool. Maybe it's a case of geographic atelier location and the trickle down effect of students become teachers over the many, many decades - sort of like the telephone game. I don't know. The main point here is: Wonderful demonstration and thanks Dianne!
Over the years it's been interesting for me to watch the trickle down effect of teaching. Some will grab onto one teacher's theory and hang onto it as dogma their entire lives whereas others will explore beyond one idea to discover others.
In the Studio Art Instruction oh your so right. I'm sure you've seen it all. I am as self taught now for 3 yrs. It astounds me how many painters on RUclips don't even know color theory nor composition. Many just practice and can paint but don't further themselves with learning ...painting is forever learning I think. Your demonstration is clear...I hope many watch this...thank you.
If you look at the 'physical composition' of Ultra Marine Blue and Cerulean. Ultra Marine is composed of Blue and Red so it is BIAS towards WARM (because its obvious that red is the 'hottest' color on the wheel, hotter than than yellow). Cerulean is made up of Blue and Yellow (Yellow is not a hot as Red) so Cerulean is BIAS towards COOL.
Markus Yo Markus Yo If we are going to get “scientific” on color and temperature then Red is the coolest and Blue is the hottest. At least that’s what Florida State University say’s... micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/lightandcolor/colortemp.html which they based on a Black Metal Radiator Theory. It’s all relative for everyone though. Back in Dianne’s camp they based it on black metal heated in a Blacksmiths fire which only reached “white” hot temps. Even so, color itself is not hot or cold it is just what you associate it with. Even FSU say’s that “color temp” is confusing for Artists because one is based on a scientific observation of heated metal and the other is mostly based on the Natural World Observation. Based on the Scientific Study some colors seem to not exist. There is no Green for example. So are we to say that Green has no temperature? Or shouldn’t we be saying all color is 5500K since white light contains all color? Or maybe its 0 Kelvin since black absorbs it? Who is right and who is wrong? Everyone is. It’s all RELATIVELY ASSOCIATED.
Thank you very much for all your efforts and expertise! I'm taking lessons from the wonderful Irish artist, Roisin O'Farrell and she uses a so-called split palette, with a warm & cool version of each primary. Your examples here are borne out by her choices for her cool blue (Ultramarine) and warm blue (Cerulean), with an occasional mix of the two to make a more neutral, true blue, very similar to Cobalt. Thanks again for all you do for budding artists!
Think about temperature like this: a campfire. Yep, the hottest part of a fire is white, the next-hottest is yellow, then orange, then red, then purplish. The opposite of that is that when we get too cold, our skin will turn bluish. We perceive warm/cool according to our felt perception of heat/cold. A blue that leans towards green has yellow in it; one that leans towards violet has red it it. Therefore, the one leaning towards yellow is warmer than the one leaning towards red.
Thank you so much, really helpful as always..I really struggle with blues, especially when mixing with other colours, your tips have cleared up a few things..thanks again, great channel ❤
I was taught hat warm blues are those that contain a bit of red, and cool blues are those that contain a bit of green (opposite red and therefore cooler)
Colors that contain a bit of green contain a bit of yellow because yellow plus blue make green. The temperatures of hue at most strongly influences by the amount of primary hues in the mixture.
A real Person doesn't make sense what your indicating. Look at the "tube," of paint as well...if it has yellow in it it's warm ...and red..cool ...this is important to know when mixing the primaries as admixtures.
Thank you Dianne, for your selfless contribution to these free videos. For me, it is like going back to academy again and you have trigger me to re-think what my mentors has taught me years ago...... Really thankful to you, and have a happy New Year ahead.
LOL you picked a good one to stir up the gallery Dianne. The same blue can look warm and cool according to surrounds , so I don't worry about it. Is the blue redder or greener ? People associate red/orange/yellow with fire and hence warmth...but on a hot summer's day in australia ( 43°C _110°F) when you look up at the sky near the sun , the colour is a muted purple . In Art Spectrum oils there is a colour called tasman blue that depicts our sky . In Langridge oils the zinc blue and video blue also reflect the colour when the UV will toast you. Langridge and Art Spectrum are both made in Melbourne. Langridge has more pigment in it than michael harding oils with the video blue being quite pungent. The coolest colour by my experience is the blue green of the sea on the south coast . That water comes straight up from Antarctica. Warm or cool probably is a personal response to many memes in one's head. Of course we don't want to piss off Santa in his red suit, now do we ? ...but he does live at the north pole ! In metals heated, blue hot comes after white hot. I think I am beginning to get dizzy going around in colour circles.Cheers
A big smile here, Paul. Back in the day (the 60s, actually) when I was in art school, only the traditional pigments were available. Acrylics had just entered the scene so their color choices were pretty much the same as those of oil and watercolor. Thalo blue and ultramarine blue were the two with both the widest value range and purest hue, so they were the ones that caught the debate of which is coolest/warmest in hue. And so on the debate goes four decades later...
In the Studio Art Instruction A really HUGE smile on me! Temperature is so differently relative in personal situational understanding (fire, science, geographic regions, psychology), visual relationships in painting (seasons, light, shadow). The relationship of color and temperature is amazing! Never a dull moment (unless of course we are painting a “dull moment in time” in which yet again...color and temperature play roles!) But since no one can decide upon a universal single usage SHOULD we TEACH IT WHEN REFERRING TO “HUE BIAS” when referring to combined hue saturation proportions (Main hue Red that contains more yellow than blue or Main hue Red that contains more blue than yellow {or whatever ones “primary” definition is-a whole new issue}) as many do? Even if we could all come to a universal starting point, using “temperature” as “hue bias” can still be confusing. Example: IF Yellow is the warmest and Blue the coolest. This actually means that if you told me to “warm” up my blue that I can go in any hue direction because we defined blue to be the coolest and therefore a movement toward Red or Yellow is “warming” then I will be really confused when told to cool down the blue which in my mind I can only then head toward the cold darkness of black. It would be the same for Yellow. I can “cool” it heading any direction but to “warm” it...? I don’t talk “temperature” when talking about hue “proportional bias”. For me temperature is SITUATIONAL RELATIVE and in general is VALUE related. Thus when I begin to teach color temperature in relation to the color wheel and color in general (JUST LIKE YOU) it is light to dark for warm to cool and yellow to violet as warm to cool. Since my love is Landscape genres Yellow is like the Summer equinox and Violet is the Winter equinox. It is the difference between Day and Night, when the Sun rises and sets, where Winter meets the Spring thaw. Violet is the moment where Fire & Ice violently and beautifully and equally collide and struggle for dominance. Yellow is mellow and flows with time and season. But as far as that goes it is MY GENERAL perspective. I am amused when people say that my shadows should be warm in a cool setting. Unless they specifically mean to use a DIRECT COMPLIMENT to “cool” down my hue-I’m gonna have to say, “ I have yet to meet a shadow that is warmer then that which is in the light. Even if we are talking about a wind break-if the hue is the same but in shadow it is cooler in hue not warmer-even though I might “warm” the “cool” hue a bit by adding a “warm” hue instead of a cool black or cool blue. I am now reminded of a famous saying one of my high school science teachers would always use at the end of his lectures, “All clear? All cloudy? Or partly confused?” To which I would reply, “It’s always cloudy in this class.” To which he would reply, “Mr. Journey. You owe me 10 minutes after school.” To which I would reply, “Will the clouds be gone by then?”. Next thing I knew was the Principle was the next one in line to try and “clear” up this mess. LOL. But you make things clear. I like that. But now-for some strange reason-I feel like I owe you 10 minutes after this.....
Yours was the best visual explanation and tip on how to decipher cool vs. warm blues. Thanks so much. I love all your tips, even oil tips. I love watercolor and always have a problem planning my painting. Would love it if you could do a Tip on that. Thanks, Dianne
Thanks for that, Brenda. I will put this suggestion on our schedule. Since we film these several weeks in advance, look for it in the late spring to early summer.
I love your reason behind yellow being the warmest color, and it makes sense. Every time I teach my students about color temperature, I always have to remind them to be open minded, and it is indeed still an on going debate, and nobody know the definite answer. I honestly didn't realize that's the order which metal changes color when heated, but then yes molten iron is yellow/white and not bright red. Very interesting.
In the long run, it's how color works in our paintings. We don't have to make a decision as to whether red, orange or yellow is the warmest. But some folks just enjoy debating 🙂.
I will never in a million years understand how people see Ultramarine as warm; it's about as ice cold of a color as it gets! Perfect for cool violets and cool shadows. Great video.
Trying to learn more about acrylic colour to choose my colours to purchase and mix, I found you! I subscribed as teacher you can teach me much. Thank You so much Dianne!!
I am so happy i found this video just behoren i started a painting ..under the zee.. my blue background wil be more Alice thanks to this wonderful tip. Thousand thanks.🎨🤗😌😍👏🏼💝
Thank you so much Dianne for putting this together. I was being really frustrated on how to get violet, but this video helped me to understand how to create cool and warm blues. Thanks once again for the good work.
I am very grateful that you offer these tips at no cost. They often give me a lot to think about such as this discussion Next step after the Quick Tips, is to view the videos. Nicely thought out resources leading to in-depth instruction. Can't thank you enough.
I think "color bias" term will solve the debate on warm or cool colors. I will just apply this. Thank you for the videos! You have been very helpful. Goodluck and be happy (always) 🙂
What a wonderful, lively discussion. :). Your video makes a lot of sense to me - It is determining whether a a color is warmer or cooler when compared to another color and in relationship to the color wheel. You video was very helpful!
Prussian blue is the color that shifts the most towards the green when it's mixed with white or other opaque colors. By itself, it is a deep violet-blue, but when mixed with white it becomes a blue-green. If the Prussian blue is by itself, almost all of the green light gets absorbed because the light is reflected a lot of times between different pigments, but when it's diluted, more of the green light can escape.
This is totally backwards from what I learned 🤔🤔🤔 I learned that since ultramarine is closer to red it is warm. And cooler blues are closer to green so they are cool
It's a matter of which is closet to yellow, not which is closest to red or green. The concept of warm/cool is based on fire/ice. Fire at its warmest is white, then yellow then red, etc. as it cools. You can observe that in a candle flame or burning wood. Yellow, then is warmer than red, and since of the blues, on the wheel, ultramarine is furthest from yellow, it is coolest.
This warm/cool business with the blues confuses the hell out of me. At art school in the UK you are always taught that Ultramarine leans towards Purple so it's warm and Pthalo leans towards Green so that makes it cool. I bought books by Mitchell Alaba who describes it the the same way as taught here and at first I thought it was a misprint , but since then I've found other publications mostly American using the same system.
Yes, Adrian, these conflicting theories do make it confusing. It's a matter of which is warmer, violet or green. isn't it? Then that triggers the question of which is warmer, yellow or red since it's red mixed into blue that causes violet, and yellow into blue that causes green. No matter which of these theoretical positions one takes, in the long run, whether either is warmer or cooler matters only in how it is used in painting.
Interesting discussion of the experienced quality of relatively warm and cool. I think it is about the tonal quality and e.g. if you talk of different temperature of yellow, to me a yellow leaning toward green feels relatively cooler than a yellow leaning toward red. But no matter what we call it it changes the vibrational tone of a painting.
I’ve learned quite a bit from your videos. I have to admit that I subscribe to the red is the warmest color though; and ultramarine blue is warmer than a cool greenblue. It’s a subject that I’m sure we can all agree to disagree on. I was watching a video made by the folks at New Holland paints and they were saying that ultramarine blue was a warmer blue than cerulean blue which I myself feel is true as well.
Jon, it might indeed be a matter of perception. Perhaps it would be better and clearer if we simply label them blue leaning towards red (ultramarine) and blue leaning towards yellow (cerulean) and not even make it debatable. After all, they do work together when interpreting a blue sky.
Every colour has a warm side and a cool side. This show me the opposite of the way I use colours. In Hairdressing green is Ash cool colour, to tone down reds in brown hair and brass/ orange in Blond hair. For warmth one would use red to orange or red to purple depending which way of the side of red you want to go. In my painting I use the same method. You really got me shocked and confused at the start but thought ok I have just learnt something else. Thanks.
Thank you! So many people I watch on the ArtTube call blues with yellow “cool blues and those with red “warm blues”. !? I was starting to think my intuition was wrong. Why do so many label it differently?
I agree with you. In general, all blues are cool, but some ( like ultramarine) are cooler than the others. When I want a sunny sky, I'll use mostly cerulean or sevres blue or, similarly , phthalo ( plus white). Ultramarine gives a higher altitude impression to me ( or a cloudy weather when mixed with more white). Cobalt blue also , being in the " middle", feels less cool than ultramarine. Prussian blue, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult to specify: As you said, if mixed with white it looks on the blue grey/ green side. Alone, as a dark glaze, it reminds me of the early night sky, so .. It's a matter of psychological perception, it seems. Yellow/ orangey stars ,like our sun, are associated with higher temperatures than red dwarfs. That's , perhaps, the origin of our perception of yellow/ orange as the warmest colour. Our sun is the most bright and warm thing that everyone sees everyday. On the other hand , the energy of the light is proportional to the frequency, so blue light is more energetic than both yellow and red, yet we perceive it as cool ( due to the colour of the ice, perhaps). So the warmness of the colour is mostly psychological; the relation to physics is not so straight forward.
In the long run, cool/warm in a painting is relative. It's the visual relationship of color that causes us to perceive it the way we do. I like to think of it as sensory perception--our eyes are sensory receptors. They receive and we humans respond accordingly. That response is a combination of physical, psychological, emotional & spiritual.
Aye aye aye! Firstly I never saw yellow as being warmer than red! That in itself was a lightbulb moment. But that makes sense because if I looked at the warmer green which looks like olive, that colour is definitely warmer than the blue/green!! Soooo, going towards the red is cooler. The warm blue and the cool blue still confuses me though and I will just keep in mind that the more purple it looks the cooler it is.
When it comes to blues, I see it like this: the warmer blues are the purple blues, the blues that lean over to the red side, because in a sunset, the clouds will be towards that colour. The cooler blues lean towards green, because the sea is a greenish turquoise blue, which is symbolic of cold. I don't think it's down to perspective, it's an analytical observation rather than a "feeling". This is taught the wrong way around here and confusing to the viewers
I think I made the point in the Tip that this concept is controversial. There are camps on both sides. My perception is not wrong, rather it is the side of the argument that bases the temperature of a color on the color of fire. If you student colors in a bonfire or a fireplace, you will see yellow towards the hottest spots, the orange to red to violet progressively towards the cooler parts of the fire. Therefore yellow is perceived in the fire as warmer than red or orange.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction but you're talking about warm colours such as red and orange, where yellow Next to those colours or mixed in with those colours represent warmth. We're talking about blues. Yellow mixed with blue doesn't make the blue warmer; a blue needs red to warm it up, wheras I'd choose a blue that leans towards the yellow/greenish side if I were using a cool blue. I most certainly wouldn't choose a purplish blue as a cool
What about testing the Blue-Violet (Ultramarine) as a swatch juxtaposed with a Greenish Blue (manganese or Pthalo); Warmth should advance and Cool should recede. So wouldn't the hue that advances be characterized as "warm". I do also keep in mind that color is always relative so all this is not really relevant because it will come down to what's adjacent to the blue. I was taught that technically if yellow green is cool then blue green is cooler as is contains more blue and if red-violet is cool then blue violet is cooler (this is graduate school info).Gamblin's website lists Ultramarine Blue as warm and Cerulean and Prussian as cool...
Bryan, I smile because I remember such arguments from graduate school, too. It comes down to human diversity in perception. Somewhere there is research showing that humans will perceive of the same two juxtaposed colors advancing and receding differently. For example, when shown side by side ultramarine and pthalo at the same value, people can't agree on which one advances and which one recedes. As you say, it is all relevant.
I was wondering if you have a color temperature chart? Gamblin has one but I am interested in getting more data. My sight is a little challenge when it comes to color. Love your videos!
I've not tried to develop a temperature chart because there are so many variables to reading temperature of color. Temperature becomes important only when mixing more than one color. If side by side, one color feels as if it's leaning a bit more towards yellow or red than blue, it is warmer than the other one. It's more about perception than intellectualizing. And too, individuals perceive differently.
Well to be honest both sides are warm!... warmer than neutral blue that is, cool refers to blue, the most cool blue is the most neutral blue, like cobalt perhaps, some are closer to red, some are closer to yellow, which both are warm colors, as the warmest color is orange, i'd determine ultramarine blue is a slightly violet/deep blue, which its intense transparent properties allow it to mix yet fairly intense greens and also some beautiful violets or purples if you wish to. So when mixing, you need to focus on how violet, neutral or green you want your blue mixture to be!
That's completely opposite to the way it is taught in modern theory. In modern theory cool blues are those which contain green. Warm are those which contain red. That's because the warmest color is actually orange-red and the coolest cyan blue. As the blue gets closer to the warm side of the wheel by the shortest route it becomes warmer and so can't be considered getting warmer if it must pass through cyan first. Once it passes through cyan it is approaching green and isn't considered blue anymore. Going towards red it gets warmers until it passes through violet. Thereafter it's considered a type of violet or purple.
Jeremiah, modern theory doesn't change the behavior of color. Color is a universal language caused by each hue's relationship to other hues as they influence one another side by side or in mixtures. That relationship cannot change with theory. Theory is based on ideas, not real behavior.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction You are simply wrong. I'm a professional colorist in the comic book industry by trade and have been for over 25 years. Blues which contain green are considered COOL by modern theorists and that's because CYAN is the coolest color PERIOD. Blues which contain red are considered WARM. Blues like cobalt, cyan, ice, etc are all greenish and considered cool. Blues like phthalo, iron, prussian, ultramarine, are all reddish and considered warm. Another thing some people get wrong is white and black. Black itself is considered a warm color and white a cool because white reflects light and doesn't absorb heat whereas black does the opposite. Blues which are warm naturally contain more black and are darker. Cyan is the coolest color on the wheel and orangish-red the warmest. Not yellow. In fact yellow is the most neutral in color temperature. The modern wheel is divided into two halves. With yellow at the top, violet at the bottom and cyan at the left bottom corner and magenta at the right bottom. This wheel was absolutely necessary for printer primaries so art could be reproduced. Blues in the lower left quadrant and purples in the lower right. Reds is the upper right and greens in the upper left. So then for a blue to pass into the warm side by fastest route it must pass through VIOLET, not green. The warm side are those colors that are seen in fire, and the cool those seen in water. Green is a water color and therefore COOLS the blue. People get confused because it also lightens color and contains yellow, but that's brightness, not color temperature. Until it exits out of cyan adding yellow doesn't warm it at all. If you doubt me ask yourself what a warm or cool yellow looks like. A cool yellow has GREEN, these would be lemon yellows and the most common of the yellow ochres and they are used to make green either by mixing with blue or black. A warm yellow has orange. These would be golden yellows. Hansa yellow or arylide as we say is a perfect neutral yellow and used in printing. So if you place yellow at the top of the wheel it's easy to tell if you are going cooler or warmer by whether you are going counter clock wise or clock wise. Use the information if you want. I don't care.
In response to the conflicting comments, I'm going to repeat something a teacher once told me, albeit he originally said it about music: it's not color fact, it's color theory.
Thank you for this video but oh my did this confuse me even further. I've read a lot of color theory by Jane Blundell who explains it as that when a blue that goes towards red it gets warmer than a blue that goes towards green which is cooler. However, a green that goes towards blue is cooler than a green that goes towards yellow.
If it lean towards yellow it is warmer than if, to the same extend it leans towards yellow. Color theory must be understood from the relationships of hues on the color wheel which is based on light. Yellow light is warmer than red light. We can experience that by observing fire. Where the flame is the hottest is closer to the source of the flame. Further from the source it turns orange, then red, then red-violet.
I know, Sachie. Whether Ultramarine is warm or cool is one of the longest, most unresolved arguments among artists and color theorists. It doesn't matter except how the color works in the painting. My 60+ years working with all the colors I discussed in this Quick Tip cause me to read ultramarine as cool when in the presence of thalo or cerulean or Prussian. In the long run, it's the relationship of one color to another that determines its temperature.
Thank you, Dianne. I always went with my feelings and felt Ultramarine Blue was a cool blue until someone said it was a warm blue, confusing me. I thought, is there something wrong with my colour perception? Your technical explanation on this subject has cleared up my uncertainty. I really enjoy your tutorials. Thanks, again ❤️
That was BRILLIANT!!! Thank you so much!! No w my big fight is to move oils to acrylics and I’m not doing well at all. I can’t control the paint at all and I’m finding the sound and sensation of brushes scuffing and scrubbing on the canvas distasteful. Is that a part of painting with acrylics or am I doing something dreadfully wrong?? Anyone?
Dawne, acrylic dries very fast, unlike oils. So the first thing you will need to do is to learn how to either work faster, change you sequence of application, or retard that drying. Also, most oil brushes generally don't work with acrylics unless they are synthetic because hog bristle does not like to be wet with water. So you'll need to switch to synthetic brushes. Try doing those two things and your transition should go more smoothly.
What’s hard for me to grasp is this: Yellow is the warmest color, warmer than blue and warmer than red. Therefore, a spectrum yellow would be the warmest yellow and it would be cooling down in both directions. As it shifts toward green it’s cooling down because blue is cooler than yellow but since red is also cooler than yellow, as yellow sifts toward orange it’s also cooling down. But,...we call Indian yellow or Cad. Yellow deep warm yellows? Is that just for convenience or am I missing something?
Warm and cool are relative. Overall, the reds/oranges/yellows on the wheel are warmer than blue or the other colors on the wheel containing blue. But when one of those warms is placed side-by-side with a cooler version of itself (i.e., yellow with a bit of blue added), the color with the blue added is cooler than the one without blue. I'm doing a livestream workshop tomorrow (Jan. 29, 2020) on this very subject. Go here ( diannemize.com/workshops/ ) for more info. If you want to take the workshop, but can't attend, you can take it via replay.
Dear Denize Mam In blue I have heard about ultramarine blue, prussian blue and one more blue which u showed right now which is close to sea colour like turquoise. But haven't heard of Rambat blue. But have also heard of Cobalt. Thanks Rims1
Great display of blue colors . I learned alot as i have never had that many different blue tubes of paint at once.I was wondering if you know the color that Guy Harvey uses on his paintings for the underwater paint? I can't figure it out. He seems to use it for just about all the paintings. It seems like a royal blue brilliant or something. If you happen to look would you let me know please? Thank you, keep up the great wortk.
Guy Harvey is not using just a single blue, but a range from the blues leaning towards green to those leaning towards violet. He is also mixing other colors with his blues in some places.
Unless you go by spectrum. Red and violet separate cool and warm. Red orange yellow green blue violet. So in that case UB moves toward violet cooler than blue that moves toward red or yellow because you hit yellow first. Not sure about the yellow comment. So question. Phthalo blue green shade would be warmer or cooler than Phthalo blue red shade? Under her theory green shade would be warmer than red shade. Does anyone agree?
hawkowldolphin , color theory is one thing, mixing pigments is another. On the one hand we have how light behaves within the spectrum and on the other we have how pigments affect each other when mixed. In the long run, painters managing temperature are dealing with hue of the pigment which has elements that don't appear when measuring light through the spectrum. The various shades on the market - i.e. phthalo blue green shade vs phthalo blue red shade - are entities unto themselves until either mixed with another color or juxtaposed to another color or both. So any warm-cool theory in painting is dependent upon what happens to hue when mixed with another or juxtaposed with another or both.
Thank you for this video. I've always thought of Ultramarine Blue as Cool, as you have said but other people in videos are saying it is a warm blue. It's very confusing.
Check out Quick Tip 112 - ruclips.net/video/Z8Wd1HuDMPE/видео.html - and Quick Tip 265 - ruclips.net/video/x452ekExi2g/видео.html . Warm and cool are components of color. When the light is warm, as images move into shadow, that shadow area becomes cooler. What I did not point out in QT 265 is that when the sky is overcast, the light is cooler, causing shadows to become warmer. In realistic painting, we observe these principles in order to effectively communicate light and shadow and the character of the light source.
I am super confused now... in the Old Holland video, they state that ultramarine is a warm blue (from the reddish tone) and manganese blue is cold (tinted with green and looks turgose). ruclips.net/video/gFExPruq8fw/видео.html&ab_channel=OldHollandClassicColours I was always tought that ultramarine is a cool blue, however when mixing colors with lemon yellow, you can clearly see how the green color becomes cooler when mixed with managanese (cool) when compared to ultramarine (warm).
Plz can u tell how it will help in painting, ur explanation is very precise and good, I always look forward to ur videos, coz u don't drag n come straight to the point
Hi Diane , your teaching has been just invaluable in my art journey. I keep hearing ppl say that all highlights are cool and all shadows are warm ?! Is that using comparative temperature meaning that the highlight may actually be a warm color but it’s cooler then the shadow? I’m confused and any straightforward answer would be great. Also is it true that the sun only produces cool versions of the rainbow??
Anybody saying all highlights are cool and all shadows warm are misinforming you. The temperature of highlights and shadows depends primarily upon the temperature of the light source. And no, it is not true that the sun produces only cool versions of the rainbow. I'm tempted to ask you who is spouting this kind of misinformation, but I suppose that would be unprofessional.
It doesn't help to call a blue warm or cool. In fact, to call the blue greenish or reddish makes more sense, but the warm/cool nomenclature has worked its way into our conversation.
OneDawkinsFan it helps when you want to mix the primary colors as admixtures. ..if you want to mix an orange...which is warm...you'd want a yellow that leans towards the warm..which would have red pigment. ..and a warm red that has yellow pigment. ..if you use Hansa Yellow light which has green and a napthol red has blue...the orange will not be a true orange ...both have cool pigments ...
Thanks Veronica. You can see my work at diannemizestudio.com . Also, if you happen to be in the north Georgia mountains, at the InSide Out Gallery in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.
I'm confused also. U.B. has red in it which makes it warmer. Also I was taught that the green side of the color wheel is the coolest no matter how close to yellow it is. Help !!!!
Harry, As you can see from all the comments on this Quick Tip, there is a LOT of confusion about the temperatures of blues. A good way to approach it is to watch what happens to a piece of metal when it is heated up. As it gets hotter, first it turns purplish, then red, then orange, then yellow and so on. From this viewpoint, yellow is warmer than red. Yellow and red are both primary hues, both warm and the third is the coolest hue, blue. A blue mixed with red, then is slightly cooler than a blue mixed with yellow. Does this help? (Dianne)
Another way to determine whether ultramarine is cool or warm is to look at the overhead sky on a sunny day. You wold use ultramarine to paint the overhead sky. Near the horizon, you would use warmer colors like thalo blue. The sky is warmer at the horizon and becomes cooler overhead. In fact, you can apply roygbiv from the horizon to the sky above.
Yeah, I know. Actually it is the science that causes so much argument about which is the warmest color. Personally, I base that decision on the art rather than the science. It is what it does to the painting that matters in the long run. People can argue theory all day long, but it's the application that counts. What we call it doesn't matter a hill of beans.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction I learned to paint from observation over the last 50 something yrs. Next to no formal instructions. I love what and how you teach basics. It’s so exciting now knowing why I’ll be painting what I paint. Thank you so much.
I didn't find it helpful. I think warmer blues go towards reds and oranges than yellow. Orange is almost across blue so how could it be cooler if it's on the opposite side?
That's okay. The argument about which is warmer, red or yellow, is ubiquitous in the art theory community, as is which color wheel is the correct one. The three pioneers in color theory are Newton, Goethe and Schopenhauer who started us thinking in terms of temperature. Then the 20th century gave us Munsell, Albers,, Itten and a slew of others. Anybody who as studied ALL these theorists knows that in the long run, color is a matter of perception. Each of us chooses the perceptive theory that we most closely relate to.
I mostly agree: It really depends on the value and what color is next to it. Lighter blues (especially if they have a fair amount of red or yellow) will seem warmer and darker blues (especially if it is more blue, blue) will seem cooler!
Prussian blue is a PB27 pigment, one of the earliest synthetic mineral pigments, but lacks stability (i.e., it tends to darken when exposed to light over time), so is used less and less by artists who want stability in their colors. It is a greenish blue, slightly less saturated than Thalo blue and is used when a greenish blue is needed in a mix. Like all pigments, it has no specific use.
Try either Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue with a bit of Ivory Black. Depending upon your perception of Navy Blue, you might need to adjust with a bit of Alizarin Crimson.
To me, ultramarine blue looks warmer than phthalo blue. I realize it's quite common to see a green blue as warmer than a red blue. Ultramarine blue just looks and feels warmer. Since true blue is opposite the color wheel from orange, it may be a matter of opinion as to which is warmer and which is cooler.
Cori, my work with color is based on the physics. It's more than how it looks, but how it feels. The original concept of hue temperature is based on the tactile feeling of fire and ice. Observing fire, where it is yellow is warmer than where it is red. The fact that orange is the complement of blue makes it opposite in hue, but not in temperature.
Rypali, the color you use for the sky depends upon the colors you see in a particular sky in a particular light, and the area of the sky you are painting.
I disagree due to what I believe is an incorrect initial assumption, which is that yellow is the warmest color. Blue is in the coolest range, orange is in the warmest. They are opposite mixing complements. Starting with blue, if you mix to an orange, going either way, through red (to violet etc.) or through yellow (toward green, etc.), those blue mixes are all warmer than neat blue. Which one is warmer depends solely and completely on which of those blue mixes are closer to orange. It is irrelevant to claim that a green blue is cooler or warmer than a violet blue. However, it is my belief that which one is closer to orange is what matters. If they are equidistant then they are equally warm. If they are not equidistant then the one closer to orange is warmer than the other blue mix, but that is just my opinion. There will never be a verifiable, actual, scientifically proven label.
Your disagreement is noted. It is an old unresolved argument that surfaced with modern technology. But aren't you being a bit judgmental to say "it is foolish" when one calls one hue cooler or warmer based on any indication of which of the warm colors is warmest? What matters in the long run is how the colors are used in painting. What we call them is irrelevant except when we are trying to communicate verbally. And verbal communication cannot survive when we start making judgmental rather than analytical statements.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction yes, you have helped explain why it is both too nebulous to claim, and that it is irrelevant in painting. I changed that word foolish to your word choice of "irrelevant" instead.
![All My Blue Colors [Why I Chose Them]](/img/1.gif)
Dianne. I'm a professional artist of over 25 years. You can google me to see what I do. I have to say...after attending one of the world's prestigious art school in NYC and reading every art book I could get my hands on and watching every video I could...I also have a color wheel tattoo so this is serious lol. You are sooooooo good. I've learned more from you than any one single person. THANK YOU!
Wow, thank you, Robert.
Cool, which school?
@@LittleMew133 SVA
You took a complex topic and made it understandable. Excellent. Thank you.
If I made it easy to understand, I've done my job. Thanks.
A WORD FROM DIANNE - As you can see, this Quick Tip stirred up a lot of discussion about cool vs warm as related to yellow and red. This debate has been going on for decades. I remember such discussions among my college teachers at least five decades ago. My side of the debate is from the old school where temperature of hue is based on what is felt rather than being analytical. It comes from observing what happens to the color of metal being heated by a blacksmith--First it turns sort purplish, then as it gets progressively warmer, it becomes red, then orange, then yellow, then white. It is from this principle of the color fire that those of us who see yellow as the warmest hue find our theory. Those who base color theory on the Kevin measurements or on the wavelengths of the spectrum consider red or orange to be the warmest. It's a matter of perception as to which school of thought one subscribes. Such debates keep us engaged, though.
Thanks for comprehensive explanation, but there is still something that I can't understand, if you classify the hues according to the Kelvin scale, one should accept that blues are the warmest because they have higher °k. Is this classification applicable to color wheel? If so how?
Thanks again.
Mosia, the Kelvin scale measures the temperature of the light source, not the inherent temperature of hues. The temperature of the light source WILL effect that of hues which they illuminate, but that's a part of what we observe when we are painting.
Based on that sequence, white should be considered the warmest? "The metal get purplish, then red, then orange, then yellow, then WHITE" I thought white makes colors cooler...
ANGELO MARIANO omg..come on she's referring to "color, " on the color wheel ..white is not considered as a color.
Milania RTIZTHERAPY white is a color on the wheel...right in the middle called a “neutral color”. It works both ways in “temperature”: reflecting light and thus “cooler” in feel yet also increasing value creating “warmer”-just one way of looking at it.
ANGELO MARIANO-White is “officially” “cool” because it is BIASED with blue. But look at its “neutral dual” role in “temperature”. It creates a “cold” snow and yet also creates a “warmth” on parts of items not in shadow which includes the snow that is not in shadow.
“Temperature” is a bad thing to use for teaching COLOR BIAS and mixing. “Temperature” is personal and relative in many situations and confuses people and it is value related as well. We can plainly see all this in the comments.
Yes! Another way to determine whether ultramarine is cool or warm is to look at the overhead sky on a sunny day. You wold use ultramarine to paint the overhead sky. Near the horizon, you would use warmer colors like thalo blue.
The sky is warmer at the horizon and becomes cooler overhead. In fact, you can apply roygbiv from the horizon to the sky above.
Thanks for sharing this. Excellent observation.
You're quite welcome!
Sorry but how does this determine if Ultramarine is cool or warm? as we know the temperature of the atmosphere isn't a factor in why the sky is blue or determine how blue it is.
I know nothing about blue apparently.
Yet this lovely instructor gave me the best lesson I've ever had. On blue.
Thanks!
I liked your demonstration for determining the warm/cool of a pigment color, in this example blue. You are not the only artist who uses this system of color from a scientific viewpoint. I also use this method because a warm red goes toward yellow thus less 'cool'. This has always made much more sense to me. It truly is that 'center of the flame'. Over the years, I have noticed that many artists from Europe teach that a reddish blue is warm/ greenish blue is cool. Maybe it's a case of geographic atelier location and the trickle down effect of students become teachers over the many, many decades - sort of like the telephone game. I don't know. The main point here is: Wonderful demonstration and thanks Dianne!
Over the years it's been interesting for me to watch the trickle down effect of teaching. Some will grab onto one teacher's theory and hang onto it as dogma their entire lives whereas others will explore beyond one idea to discover others.
In the Studio Art Instruction oh your so right. I'm sure you've seen it all. I am as self taught now for 3 yrs. It astounds me how many painters on RUclips don't even know color theory nor composition. Many just practice and can paint but don't further themselves with learning ...painting is forever learning I think.
Your demonstration is clear...I hope many watch this...thank you.
If you look at the 'physical composition' of Ultra Marine Blue and Cerulean. Ultra Marine is composed of Blue and Red so it is BIAS towards WARM (because its obvious that red is the 'hottest' color on the wheel, hotter than than yellow). Cerulean is made up of Blue and Yellow (Yellow is not a hot as Red) so Cerulean is BIAS towards COOL.
Markus Yo Markus Yo If we are going to get “scientific” on color and temperature then Red is the coolest and Blue is the hottest. At least that’s what Florida State University say’s... micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/lightandcolor/colortemp.html which they based on a Black Metal Radiator Theory.
It’s all relative for everyone though. Back in Dianne’s camp they based it on black metal heated in a Blacksmiths fire which only reached “white” hot temps. Even so, color itself is not hot or cold it is just what you associate it with. Even FSU say’s that “color temp” is confusing for Artists because one is based on a scientific observation of heated metal and the other is mostly based on the Natural World Observation.
Based on the Scientific Study some colors seem to not exist. There is no Green for example. So are we to say that Green has no temperature? Or shouldn’t we be saying all color is 5500K since white light contains all color? Or maybe its 0 Kelvin since black absorbs it? Who is right and who is wrong? Everyone is. It’s all RELATIVELY ASSOCIATED.
Thank you very much for all your efforts and expertise! I'm taking lessons from the wonderful Irish artist, Roisin O'Farrell and she uses a so-called split palette, with a warm & cool version of each primary.
Your examples here are borne out by her choices for her cool blue (Ultramarine) and warm blue (Cerulean), with an occasional mix of the two to make a more neutral, true blue, very similar to Cobalt.
Thanks again for all you do for budding artists!
Thanks for sharing this. I love it when my teaching is reinforced by other artists.
My head is hurting . At least now I have a reason for being so confused about the temperature of blues. It’s not just me☺️
Think about temperature like this: a campfire. Yep, the hottest part of a fire is white, the next-hottest is yellow, then orange, then red, then purplish. The opposite of that is that when we get too cold, our skin will turn bluish.
We perceive warm/cool according to our felt perception of heat/cold. A blue that leans towards green has yellow in it; one that leans towards violet has red it it. Therefore, the one leaning towards yellow is warmer than the one leaning towards red.
Thank you so much, really helpful as always..I really struggle with blues, especially when mixing with other colours, your tips have cleared up a few things..thanks again, great channel ❤
I was taught hat warm blues are those that contain a bit of red, and cool blues are
those that contain a bit of green (opposite red and therefore cooler)
Colors that contain a bit of green contain a bit of yellow because yellow plus blue make green. The temperatures of hue at most strongly influences by the amount of primary hues in the mixture.
Thank you, Dianne for taking the time to answer and also for all your wonderful videos.
Right, how do we skip over green to yellow in terms of which way blue is leaning; we cant just go straight to yellow-green is still a "cool" color.
Bryan, in the spectrum color is continuous. Once color merges into another. The temperature changes are gradual just as are the hue changes.
A real Person doesn't make sense what your indicating. Look at the "tube," of paint as well...if it has yellow in it it's warm ...and red..cool ...this is important to know when mixing the primaries as admixtures.
Excellent discussion-thanks
Our pleasure!
Thank you Dianne, for your selfless contribution to these free videos. For me, it is like going back to academy again and you have trigger me to re-think what my mentors has taught me years ago...... Really thankful to you, and have a happy New Year ahead.
You are so welcome! And Happy New Year to you, too.
Great tip for beginners and anyone that paints and did not have as knowledgeable teacher as you!
Thanks!
LOL you picked a good one to stir up the gallery Dianne. The same blue can look warm and cool according to surrounds , so I don't worry about it. Is the blue redder or greener ? People associate red/orange/yellow with fire and hence warmth...but on a hot summer's day in australia ( 43°C _110°F) when you look up at the sky near the sun , the colour is a muted purple . In Art Spectrum oils there is a colour called tasman blue that depicts our sky . In Langridge oils the zinc blue and video blue also reflect the colour when the UV will toast you. Langridge and Art Spectrum are both made in Melbourne. Langridge has more pigment in it than michael harding oils with the video blue being quite pungent. The coolest colour by my experience is the blue green of the sea on the south coast . That water comes straight up from Antarctica. Warm or cool probably is a personal response to many memes in one's head. Of course we don't want to piss off Santa in his red suit, now do we ? ...but he does live at the north pole ! In metals heated, blue hot comes after white hot. I think I am beginning to get dizzy going around in colour circles.Cheers
A big smile here, Paul. Back in the day (the 60s, actually) when I was in art school, only the traditional pigments were available. Acrylics had just entered the scene so their color choices were pretty much the same as those of oil and watercolor. Thalo blue and ultramarine blue were the two with both the widest value range and purest hue, so they were the ones that caught the debate of which is coolest/warmest in hue. And so on the debate goes four decades later...
In the Studio Art Instruction A really HUGE smile on me! Temperature is so differently relative in personal situational understanding (fire, science, geographic regions, psychology), visual relationships in painting (seasons, light, shadow). The relationship of color and temperature is amazing! Never a dull moment (unless of course we are painting a “dull moment in time” in which yet again...color and temperature play roles!)
But since no one can decide upon a universal single usage SHOULD we TEACH IT WHEN REFERRING TO “HUE BIAS” when referring to combined hue saturation proportions (Main hue Red that contains more yellow than blue or Main hue Red that contains more blue than yellow {or whatever ones “primary” definition is-a whole new issue}) as many do? Even if we could all come to a universal starting point, using “temperature” as “hue bias” can still be confusing. Example: IF Yellow is the warmest and Blue the coolest. This actually means that if you told me to “warm” up my blue that I can go in any hue direction because we defined blue to be the coolest and therefore a movement toward Red or Yellow is “warming” then I will be really confused when told to cool down the blue which in my mind I can only then head toward the cold darkness of black. It would be the same for Yellow. I can “cool” it heading any direction but to “warm” it...?
I don’t talk “temperature” when talking about hue “proportional bias”. For me temperature is SITUATIONAL RELATIVE and in general is VALUE related. Thus when I begin to teach color temperature in relation to the color wheel and color in general (JUST LIKE YOU) it is light to dark for warm to cool and yellow to violet as warm to cool. Since my love is Landscape genres Yellow is like the Summer equinox and Violet is the Winter equinox. It is the difference between Day and Night, when the Sun rises and sets, where Winter meets the Spring thaw. Violet is the moment where Fire & Ice violently and beautifully and equally collide and struggle for dominance. Yellow is mellow and flows with time and season. But as far as that goes it is MY GENERAL perspective.
I am amused when people say that my shadows should be warm in a cool setting. Unless they specifically mean to use a DIRECT COMPLIMENT to “cool” down my hue-I’m gonna have to say, “ I have yet to meet a shadow that is warmer then that which is in the light. Even if we are talking about a wind break-if the hue is the same but in shadow it is cooler in hue not warmer-even though I might “warm” the “cool” hue a bit by adding a “warm” hue instead of a cool black or cool blue.
I am now reminded of a famous saying one of my high school science teachers would always use at the end of his lectures, “All clear? All cloudy? Or partly confused?” To which I would reply, “It’s always cloudy in this class.” To which he would reply, “Mr. Journey. You owe me 10 minutes after school.” To which I would reply, “Will the clouds be gone by then?”. Next thing I knew was the Principle was the next one in line to try and “clear” up this mess. LOL. But you make things clear. I like that. But now-for some strange reason-I feel like I owe you 10 minutes after this.....
I have no idea how to think about color and this video helped me tremendously to build a visual vocabulary for types of blue. Thank you!
Wonderful! It also might help for you to watch the video of my November chat ruclips.net/video/1D-TxG6aOkY/видео.html
Great quick tips Dianne! Thank you!
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Yours was the best visual explanation and tip on how to decipher cool vs. warm blues. Thanks so much. I love all your tips, even oil tips. I love watercolor and always have a problem planning my painting. Would love it if you could do a Tip on that. Thanks, Dianne
Thanks for that, Brenda. I will put this suggestion on our schedule. Since we film these several weeks in advance, look for it in the late spring to early summer.
This is amazing! I'd heard people talk about warm and cool and I just didn't see it... I see it now! Wow! Thank you so much.
You are so welcome!
I love your reason behind yellow being the warmest color, and it makes sense. Every time I teach my students about color temperature, I always have to remind them to be open minded, and it is indeed still an on going debate, and nobody know the definite answer. I honestly didn't realize that's the order which metal changes color when heated, but then yes molten iron is yellow/white and not bright red. Very interesting.
In the long run, it's how color works in our paintings. We don't have to make a decision as to whether red, orange or yellow is the warmest. But some folks just enjoy debating 🙂.
I will never in a million years understand how people see Ultramarine as warm; it's about as ice cold of a color as it gets! Perfect for cool violets and cool shadows. Great video.
Thanks. That one has always baffled me, too, but there are folks that will argue to the grave about it.
Trying to learn more about acrylic colour to choose my colours to purchase and mix, I found you! I subscribed as teacher you can teach me much. Thank You so much Dianne!!
My pleasure. Enjoy the journey.
I am so happy i found this video just behoren i started a painting ..under the zee.. my blue background wil be more Alice thanks to this wonderful tip. Thousand thanks.🎨🤗😌😍👏🏼💝
Great! Have fun playing with blues.
This is the best explanation ever. Thank you, Ms. Mize.
Thanks.
I have learned much from your explanations. Very helpful. Thank you! God bless.
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Thank you so much Dianne for putting this together. I was being really frustrated on how to get violet, but this video helped me to understand how to create cool and warm blues. Thanks once again for the good work.
My pleasure to share. Thanks for watching.
Love these videos. Helps me paint.
Glad to help
Thank you! This is the first time after many tries I've understood the warm vs cool for blues!!
So glad you found this one helpful.
Thank you so much! I’m a struggling new artist and this instruction and comments made so much sense!
My pleasure.
Wow . My colour theory just got dumped on its head. Cant wait to get to painting to try this. Thanks.
Happy painting!
Kerry Freeman sorry but I lol reading your comment. ..classic. ..
you should be charging money for these videos :) thank you very much Diane!!
People would have a fit if we did. 🙃 We do charge for the full length lessons at diannemize.com but I enjoy knowing I can also give these Tips.
I am very grateful that you offer these tips at no cost. They often give me a lot to think about such as this discussion Next step after the Quick Tips, is to view the videos. Nicely thought out resources leading to in-depth instruction. Can't thank you enough.
I think "color bias" term will solve the debate on warm or cool colors. I will just apply this. Thank you for the videos! You have been very helpful. Goodluck and be happy (always) 🙂
Yes! Thank you!
What a wonderful, lively discussion. :). Your video makes a lot of sense to me - It is determining whether a a color is warmer or cooler when compared to another color and in relationship to the color wheel. You video was very helpful!
When I bring up temperature of color, it always produces a lot of discussion. Fun stuff!
Terrific--Thank you, Diane!!!!
You bet. Thanks for watching.
Prussian blue is the color that shifts the most towards the green when it's mixed with white or other opaque colors. By itself, it is a deep violet-blue, but when mixed with white it becomes a blue-green. If the Prussian blue is by itself, almost all of the green light gets absorbed because the light is reflected a lot of times between different pigments, but when it's diluted, more of the green light can escape.
Thanks for adding that characteristic of Prussian blue.
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful and are the best. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks. They are fun to do.
Excellent Ma'am, Very helpful!
My pleasure.
Thank to exist! You are sooooooooooooooo good, your tip are so well done. THANK YOU
My pleasure!
such an eye opener for me. thank you for this! great tip!
My pleasure.
This has been very helpful. Thanks a lot! 👍🏻😍
You're welcome 😊
Excellent presentation...thanks😊
Most welcome 😊
VERY HELPFUL THANKS!!!
My pleasure! Thanks for watching.
This is totally backwards from what I learned 🤔🤔🤔 I learned that since ultramarine is closer to red it is warm. And cooler blues are closer to green so they are cool
It's a matter of which is closet to yellow, not which is closest to red or green. The concept of warm/cool is based on fire/ice. Fire at its warmest is white, then yellow then red, etc. as it cools. You can observe that in a candle flame or burning wood. Yellow, then is warmer than red, and since of the blues, on the wheel, ultramarine is furthest from yellow, it is coolest.
Thank you for this..as i struggle in this dept ..has helped me a lot watching this :))
Very helpful!
Great!
This warm/cool business with the blues confuses the hell out of me. At art school in the UK you are always taught that Ultramarine leans towards Purple so it's warm and Pthalo leans towards Green so that makes it cool. I bought books by Mitchell Alaba who describes it the the same way as taught here and at first I thought it was a misprint , but since then I've found other publications mostly American using the same system.
Yes, Adrian, these conflicting theories do make it confusing. It's a matter of which is warmer, violet or green. isn't it? Then that triggers the question of which is warmer, yellow or red since it's red mixed into blue that causes violet, and yellow into blue that causes green.
No matter which of these theoretical positions one takes, in the long run, whether either is warmer or cooler matters only in how it is used in painting.
Excellent
Thanks
Interesting discussion of the experienced quality of relatively warm and cool. I think it is about the tonal quality and e.g. if you talk of different temperature of yellow, to me a yellow leaning toward green feels relatively cooler than a yellow leaning toward red. But no matter what we call it it changes the vibrational tone of a painting.
Good point.
I’ve learned quite a bit from your videos. I have to admit that I subscribe to the red is the warmest color though; and ultramarine blue is warmer than a cool greenblue. It’s a subject that I’m sure we can all agree to disagree on. I was watching a video made by the folks at New Holland paints and they were saying that ultramarine blue was a warmer blue than cerulean blue which I myself feel is true as well.
Jon, it might indeed be a matter of perception. Perhaps it would be better and clearer if we simply label them blue leaning towards red (ultramarine) and blue leaning towards yellow (cerulean) and not even make it debatable. After all, they do work together when interpreting a blue sky.
This is fantastic. Thank you!
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Every colour has a warm side and a cool side. This show me the opposite of the way I use colours. In Hairdressing green is Ash cool colour, to tone down reds in brown hair and brass/ orange in Blond hair. For warmth one would use red to orange or red to purple depending which way of the side of red you want to go. In my painting I use the same method. You really got me shocked and confused at the start but thought ok I have just learnt something else. Thanks.
Expansion of how we think is always a positive thing. The sages say when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.
Excellent! Ty
You're welcome!
Thank you! So many people I watch on the ArtTube call blues with yellow “cool blues and those with red “warm blues”. !? I was starting to think my intuition was wrong. Why do so many label it differently?
It depends totally upon perception, Caroline, and on how people are taught.
I agree with you. In general, all blues are cool, but some ( like ultramarine) are cooler than the others.
When I want a sunny sky, I'll use mostly cerulean or sevres blue or, similarly , phthalo ( plus white). Ultramarine gives a higher altitude impression to me ( or a cloudy weather when mixed with more white). Cobalt blue also , being in the " middle", feels less cool than ultramarine. Prussian blue, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult to specify: As you said, if mixed with white it looks on the blue grey/ green side. Alone, as a dark glaze, it reminds me of the early night sky, so ..
It's a matter of psychological perception, it seems. Yellow/ orangey stars ,like our sun, are associated with higher temperatures than red dwarfs. That's , perhaps, the origin of our perception of yellow/ orange as the warmest colour. Our sun is the most bright and warm thing that everyone sees everyday.
On the other hand , the energy of the light is proportional to the frequency, so blue light is more energetic than both yellow and red, yet we perceive it as cool ( due to the colour of the ice, perhaps). So the warmness of the colour is mostly psychological; the relation to physics is not so straight forward.
In the long run, cool/warm in a painting is relative. It's the visual relationship of color that causes us to perceive it the way we do. I like to think of it as sensory perception--our eyes are sensory receptors. They receive and we humans respond accordingly. That response is a combination of physical, psychological, emotional & spiritual.
Great, thank you!
You are welcome!
I like to think of it as snow. Purple in the shade and towards yellow in the sun.
Mmmmmm
You can cool any of those warmer blues with purple
Not necessarily, Kim. The red in purple makes it warmer than blue.
Aye aye aye! Firstly I never saw yellow as being warmer than red! That in itself was a lightbulb moment. But that makes sense because if I looked at the warmer green which looks like olive, that colour is definitely warmer than the blue/green!! Soooo, going towards the red is cooler. The warm blue and the cool blue still confuses me though and I will just keep in mind that the more purple it looks the cooler it is.
Your perception will become more sensitive over time.
When it comes to blues, I see it like this: the warmer blues are the purple blues, the blues that lean over to the red side, because in a sunset, the clouds will be towards that colour. The cooler blues lean towards green, because the sea is a greenish turquoise blue, which is symbolic of cold. I don't think it's down to perspective, it's an analytical observation rather than a "feeling". This is taught the wrong way around here and confusing to the viewers
I think I made the point in the Tip that this concept is controversial. There are camps on both sides.
My perception is not wrong, rather it is the side of the argument that bases the temperature of a color on the color of fire. If you student colors in a bonfire or a fireplace, you will see yellow towards the hottest spots, the orange to red to violet progressively towards the cooler parts of the fire. Therefore yellow is perceived in the fire as warmer than red or orange.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction but you're talking about warm colours such as red and orange, where yellow Next to those colours or mixed in with those colours represent warmth. We're talking about blues. Yellow mixed with blue doesn't make the blue warmer; a blue needs red to warm it up, wheras I'd choose a blue that leans towards the yellow/greenish side if I were using a cool blue. I most certainly wouldn't choose a purplish blue as a cool
Excellent info thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Very helpful, thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching.
Good lesson
Thanks.
What about testing the Blue-Violet (Ultramarine) as a swatch juxtaposed with a Greenish Blue (manganese or Pthalo); Warmth should advance and Cool should recede. So wouldn't the hue that advances be characterized as "warm". I do also keep in mind that color is always relative so all this is not really relevant because it will come down to what's adjacent to the blue. I was taught that technically if yellow green is cool then blue green is cooler as is contains more blue and if red-violet is cool then blue violet is cooler (this is graduate school info).Gamblin's website lists Ultramarine Blue as warm and Cerulean and Prussian as cool...
Bryan, I smile because I remember such arguments from graduate school, too. It comes down to human diversity in perception. Somewhere there is research showing that humans will perceive of the same two juxtaposed colors advancing and receding differently. For example, when shown side by side ultramarine and pthalo at the same value, people can't agree on which one advances and which one recedes. As you say, it is all relevant.
I was wondering if you have a color temperature chart? Gamblin has one but I am interested in getting more data. My sight is a little challenge when it comes to color. Love your videos!
I've not tried to develop a temperature chart because there are so many variables to reading temperature of color. Temperature becomes important only when mixing more than one color. If side by side, one color feels as if it's leaning a bit more towards yellow or red than blue, it is warmer than the other one. It's more about perception than intellectualizing. And too, individuals perceive differently.
Thank you...I appreciate you taking time to reply. I loves your videos.
Well to be honest both sides are warm!... warmer than neutral blue that is, cool refers to blue, the most cool blue is the most neutral blue, like cobalt perhaps, some are closer to red, some are closer to yellow, which both are warm colors, as the warmest color is orange, i'd determine ultramarine blue is a slightly violet/deep blue, which its intense transparent properties allow it to mix yet fairly intense greens and also some beautiful violets or purples if you wish to. So when mixing, you need to focus on how violet, neutral or green you want your blue mixture to be!
May I add that any color that has more blue in it than one adjacent to it is cooler.
Great tips
Thanks.
That's completely opposite to the way it is taught in modern theory. In modern theory cool blues are those which contain green. Warm are those which contain red. That's because the warmest color is actually orange-red and the coolest cyan blue. As the blue gets closer to the warm side of the wheel by the shortest route it becomes warmer and so can't be considered getting warmer if it must pass through cyan first. Once it passes through cyan it is approaching green and isn't considered blue anymore. Going towards red it gets warmers until it passes through violet. Thereafter it's considered a type of violet or purple.
Jeremiah, modern theory doesn't change the behavior of color. Color is a universal language caused by each hue's relationship to other hues as they influence one another side by side or in mixtures. That relationship cannot change with theory. Theory is based on ideas, not real behavior.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction You are simply wrong. I'm a professional colorist in the comic book industry by trade and have been for over 25 years. Blues which contain green are considered COOL by modern theorists and that's because CYAN is the coolest color PERIOD. Blues which contain red are considered WARM. Blues like cobalt, cyan, ice, etc are all greenish and considered cool. Blues like phthalo, iron, prussian, ultramarine, are all reddish and considered warm. Another thing some people get wrong is white and black. Black itself is considered a warm color and white a cool because white reflects light and doesn't absorb heat whereas black does the opposite. Blues which are warm naturally contain more black and are darker. Cyan is the coolest color on the wheel and orangish-red the warmest. Not yellow. In fact yellow is the most neutral in color temperature. The modern wheel is divided into two halves. With yellow at the top, violet at the bottom and cyan at the left bottom corner and magenta at the right bottom. This wheel was absolutely necessary for printer primaries so art could be reproduced. Blues in the lower left quadrant and purples in the lower right. Reds is the upper right and greens in the upper left. So then for a blue to pass into the warm side by fastest route it must pass through VIOLET, not green. The warm side are those colors that are seen in fire, and the cool those seen in water. Green is a water color and therefore COOLS the blue. People get confused because it also lightens color and contains yellow, but that's brightness, not color temperature. Until it exits out of cyan adding yellow doesn't warm it at all. If you doubt me ask yourself what a warm or cool yellow looks like. A cool yellow has GREEN, these would be lemon yellows and the most common of the yellow ochres and they are used to make green either by mixing with blue or black. A warm yellow has orange. These would be golden yellows. Hansa yellow or arylide as we say is a perfect neutral yellow and used in printing. So if you place yellow at the top of the wheel it's easy to tell if you are going cooler or warmer by whether you are going counter clock wise or clock wise. Use the information if you want. I don't care.
Awesome Video
Thanks!
In response to the conflicting comments, I'm going to repeat something a teacher once told me, albeit he originally said it about music: it's not color fact, it's color theory.
That's a good one! Thanks!
Its not only color theory . . its about the 'physical composition' of pigment!!!
Thanks Ma'am 🙏
Thank you for this video but oh my did this confuse me even further. I've read a lot of color theory by Jane Blundell who explains it as that when a blue that goes towards red it gets warmer than a blue that goes towards green which is cooler. However, a green that goes towards blue is cooler than a green that goes towards yellow.
If it lean towards yellow it is warmer than if, to the same extend it leans towards yellow. Color theory must be understood from the relationships of hues on the color wheel which is based on light. Yellow light is warmer than red light. We can experience that by observing fire. Where the flame is the hottest is closer to the source of the flame. Further from the source it turns orange, then red, then red-violet.
But ..but...Some artists say Ultramarine Blue is a warm blue. I think Dianne is right, though. I agree Ultramarine Blue is a cool blue.
I know, Sachie. Whether Ultramarine is warm or cool is one of the longest, most unresolved arguments among artists and color theorists. It doesn't matter except how the color works in the painting. My 60+ years working with all the colors I discussed in this Quick Tip cause me to read ultramarine as cool when in the presence of thalo or cerulean or Prussian. In the long run, it's the relationship of one color to another that determines its temperature.
Thank you, Dianne. I always went with my feelings and felt Ultramarine Blue was a cool blue until someone said it was a warm blue, confusing me. I thought, is there something wrong with my colour perception? Your technical explanation on this subject has cleared up my uncertainty. I really enjoy your tutorials. Thanks, again ❤️
That was BRILLIANT!!! Thank you so much!! No w my big fight is to move oils to acrylics and I’m not doing well at all. I can’t control the paint at all and I’m finding the sound and sensation of brushes scuffing and scrubbing on the canvas distasteful.
Is that a part of painting with acrylics or am I doing something dreadfully wrong?? Anyone?
Dawne, acrylic dries very fast, unlike oils. So the first thing you will need to do is to learn how to either work faster, change you sequence of application, or retard that drying. Also, most oil brushes generally don't work with acrylics unless they are synthetic because hog bristle does not like to be wet with water. So you'll need to switch to synthetic brushes.
Try doing those two things and your transition should go more smoothly.
What’s hard for me to grasp is this: Yellow is the warmest color, warmer than blue and warmer than red. Therefore, a spectrum yellow would be the warmest yellow and it would be cooling down in both directions. As it shifts toward green it’s cooling down because blue is cooler than yellow but since red is also cooler than yellow, as yellow sifts toward orange it’s also cooling down. But,...we call Indian yellow or Cad. Yellow deep warm yellows? Is that just for convenience or am I missing something?
Warm and cool are relative. Overall, the reds/oranges/yellows on the wheel are warmer than blue or the other colors on the wheel containing blue. But when one of those warms is placed side-by-side with a cooler version of itself (i.e., yellow with a bit of blue added), the color with the blue added is cooler than the one without blue.
I'm doing a livestream workshop tomorrow (Jan. 29, 2020) on this very subject. Go here ( diannemize.com/workshops/ ) for more info. If you want to take the workshop, but can't attend, you can take it via replay.
Thank you. 😊
My pleasure.
Dear Denize Mam
In blue I have heard about ultramarine blue, prussian blue and one more blue which u showed right now which is close to sea colour like turquoise. But haven't heard of Rambat blue. But have also heard of Cobalt.
Thanks
Rims1
I think you heard "Rembrandt" rather than Rambat.
Great display of blue colors . I learned alot as i have never had that many different blue tubes of paint at once.I was wondering if you know the color that Guy Harvey uses on his paintings for the underwater paint? I can't figure it out. He seems to use it for just about all the paintings. It seems like a royal blue brilliant or something. If you happen to look would you let me know please? Thank you, keep up the great wortk.
Guy Harvey is not using just a single blue, but a range from the blues leaning towards green to those leaning towards violet. He is also mixing other colors with his blues in some places.
Unless you go by spectrum. Red and violet separate cool and warm. Red orange yellow green blue violet. So in that case UB moves toward violet cooler than blue that moves toward red or yellow because you hit yellow first. Not sure about the yellow comment. So question. Phthalo blue green shade would be warmer or cooler than Phthalo blue red shade? Under her theory green shade would be warmer than red shade. Does anyone agree?
hawkowldolphin , color theory is one thing, mixing pigments is another. On the one hand we have how light behaves within the spectrum and on the other we have how pigments affect each other when mixed. In the long run, painters managing temperature are dealing with hue of the pigment which has elements that don't appear when measuring light through the spectrum.
The various shades on the market - i.e. phthalo blue green shade vs phthalo blue red shade - are entities unto themselves until either mixed with another color or juxtaposed to another color or both. So any warm-cool theory in painting is dependent upon what happens to hue when mixed with another or juxtaposed with another or both.
Thank you for this video. I've always thought of Ultramarine Blue as Cool, as you have said but other people in videos are saying it is a warm blue. It's very confusing.
Annie, it doesn't have to be confusing. Just think of which one is furthest from yellow on the color wheel and that tells you which one is cooler.
Thanks Ma'am
Green=cool color. Red=warm color.
I can understand that people reacts..
Best regards /David
The cool/warm characteristics of color confuse a lot of people.
Yellow = warm color, Purple = cool color,
Is the sun next to the horizon? I think I’m rather dyslexic when comes to things like this.
As it goes down and comes up, yes.
I don't understand what difference it would make while painting
Check out Quick Tip 112 - ruclips.net/video/Z8Wd1HuDMPE/видео.html - and Quick Tip 265 - ruclips.net/video/x452ekExi2g/видео.html . Warm and cool are components of color. When the light is warm, as images move into shadow, that shadow area becomes cooler. What I did not point out in QT 265 is that when the sky is overcast, the light is cooler, causing shadows to become warmer. In realistic painting, we observe these principles in order to effectively communicate light and shadow and the character of the light source.
Thanks nanna
I am super confused now... in the Old Holland video, they state that ultramarine is a warm blue (from the reddish tone) and manganese blue is cold (tinted with green and looks turgose).
ruclips.net/video/gFExPruq8fw/видео.html&ab_channel=OldHollandClassicColours
I was always tought that ultramarine is a cool blue, however when mixing colors with lemon yellow, you can clearly see how the green color becomes cooler when mixed with managanese (cool) when compared to ultramarine (warm).
Mika, that debate has been going on for decades. See this post I did in my weekly newsletter: archive.aweber.com/awlist4319336/CKKPw
Plz can u tell how it will help in painting, ur explanation is very precise and good, I always look forward to ur videos, coz u don't drag n come straight to the point
See my answer to your previous question.
Hi Diane , your teaching has been just invaluable in my art journey. I keep hearing ppl say that all highlights are cool and all shadows are warm ?! Is that using comparative temperature meaning that the highlight may actually be a warm color but it’s cooler then the shadow? I’m confused and any straightforward answer would be great. Also is it true that the sun only produces cool versions of the rainbow??
Anybody saying all highlights are cool and all shadows warm are misinforming you. The temperature of highlights and shadows depends primarily upon the temperature of the light source.
And no, it is not true that the sun produces only cool versions of the rainbow.
I'm tempted to ask you who is spouting this kind of misinformation, but I suppose that would be unprofessional.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction this is the person I heard on utube and video which really confused me
ruclips.net/video/CPoeCEoLqfQ/видео.html
What does it help to call a blue warm or cool? Why not just call it greenish or reddish?
It doesn't help to call a blue warm or cool. In fact, to call the blue greenish or reddish makes more sense, but the warm/cool nomenclature has worked its way into our conversation.
OneDawkinsFan it helps when you want to mix the primary colors as admixtures. ..if you want to mix an orange...which is warm...you'd want a yellow that leans towards the warm..which would have red pigment. ..and a warm red that has yellow pigment. ..if you use Hansa Yellow light which has green and a napthol red has blue...the orange will not be a true orange ...both have cool pigments ...
It has major implication for mixing color!
Where can your personal art be viewed? I love your tips, very helpful. Thank you!
Thanks Veronica. You can see my work at diannemizestudio.com . Also, if you happen to be in the north Georgia mountains, at the InSide Out Gallery in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.
Gracias por el video 🙂
My pleasure!
I'm confused also. U.B. has red in it which makes it warmer. Also I was taught that the green side of the color wheel is the coolest no matter how close to yellow it is. Help !!!!
Harry, As you can see from all the comments on this Quick Tip, there is a LOT of confusion about the temperatures of blues. A good way to approach it is to watch what happens to a piece of metal when it is heated up. As it gets hotter, first it turns purplish, then red, then orange, then yellow and so on. From this viewpoint, yellow is warmer than red. Yellow and red are both primary hues, both warm and the third is the coolest hue, blue. A blue mixed with red, then is slightly cooler than a blue mixed with yellow. Does this help? (Dianne)
Another way to determine whether ultramarine is cool or warm is to look at the overhead sky on a sunny day. You wold use ultramarine to paint the overhead sky. Near the horizon, you would use warmer colors like thalo blue.
The sky is warmer at the horizon and becomes cooler overhead. In fact, you can apply roygbiv from the horizon to the sky above.
helps me.
I wish art was a science. I have herd various RUclips art experts stating Red was the hottest colour, Then Orange now yellow.
Yeah, I know. Actually it is the science that causes so much argument about which is the warmest color. Personally, I base that decision on the art rather than the science. It is what it does to the painting that matters in the long run. People can argue theory all day long, but it's the application that counts. What we call it doesn't matter a hill of beans.
Why does the top of the blue sky look more ultramarine blue and the bottom look greener or warmer?
The yellows from the sun rays mix with the blue of the sky.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction I learned to paint from observation over the last 50 something yrs. Next to no formal instructions. I love what and how you teach basics. It’s so exciting now knowing why I’ll be painting what I paint. Thank you so much.
I didn't find it helpful. I think warmer blues go towards reds and oranges than yellow. Orange is almost across blue so how could it be cooler if it's on the opposite side?
That's okay. The argument about which is warmer, red or yellow, is ubiquitous in the art theory community, as is which color wheel is the correct one. The three pioneers in color theory are Newton, Goethe and Schopenhauer who started us thinking in terms of temperature. Then the 20th century gave us Munsell, Albers,, Itten and a slew of others. Anybody who as studied ALL these theorists knows that in the long run, color is a matter of perception. Each of us chooses the perceptive theory that we most closely relate to.
I mostly agree: It really depends on the value and what color is next to it. Lighter blues (especially if they have a fair amount of red or yellow) will seem warmer and darker blues (especially if it is more blue, blue) will seem cooler!
Dear Mam
After cobalt and prussian blue whichich u maxed with white which is third colour u mixed.
Pls let me know.
Thanks
Rims1
Rupali, I don't really understand what you are asking for. Can you be more specific? Thanks.
Thank you for all your tips
Is it possible to have one on the Prussian blue how to use it and for what
Prussian blue is a PB27 pigment, one of the earliest synthetic mineral pigments, but lacks stability (i.e., it tends to darken when exposed to light over time), so is used less and less by artists who want stability in their colors. It is a greenish blue, slightly less saturated than Thalo blue and is used when a greenish blue is needed in a mix. Like all pigments, it has no specific use.
helps a lot thanks
Glad it helped
How can I make Navy Blue?
Try either Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue with a bit of Ivory Black. Depending upon your perception of Navy Blue, you might need to adjust with a bit of Alizarin Crimson.
To me, ultramarine blue looks warmer than phthalo blue. I realize it's quite common to see a green blue as warmer than a red blue. Ultramarine blue just looks and feels warmer. Since true blue is opposite the color wheel from orange, it may be a matter of opinion as to which is warmer and which is cooler.
Cori Atalanta I agree with you.
Cori, my work with color is based on the physics. It's more than how it looks, but how it feels. The original concept of hue temperature is based on the tactile feeling of fire and ice. Observing fire, where it is yellow is warmer than where it is red. The fact that orange is the complement of blue makes it opposite in hue, but not in temperature.
Dear Mam
Can't we make sky blue colour with ultramarine blue or Cobalt blue.
How u made tester for shades.
Reply me soon.
Thanks
Rims1
Rypali, the color you use for the sky depends upon the colors you see in a particular sky in a particular light, and the area of the sky you are painting.
I disagree due to what I believe is an incorrect initial assumption, which is that yellow is the warmest color. Blue is in the coolest range, orange is in the warmest. They are opposite mixing complements. Starting with blue, if you mix to an orange, going either way, through red (to violet etc.) or through yellow (toward green, etc.), those blue mixes are all warmer than neat blue. Which one is warmer depends solely and completely on which of those blue mixes are closer to orange. It is irrelevant to claim that a green blue is cooler or warmer than a violet blue. However, it is my belief that which one is closer to orange is what matters. If they are equidistant then they are equally warm. If they are not equidistant then the one closer to orange is warmer than the other blue mix, but that is just my opinion. There will never be a verifiable, actual, scientifically proven label.
Your disagreement is noted. It is an old unresolved argument that surfaced with modern technology. But aren't you being a bit judgmental to say "it is foolish" when one calls one hue cooler or warmer based on any indication of which of the warm colors is warmest? What matters in the long run is how the colors are used in painting. What we call them is irrelevant except when we are trying to communicate verbally. And verbal communication cannot survive when we start making judgmental rather than analytical statements.
@@IntheStudioArtInstruction yes, you have helped explain why it is both too nebulous to claim, and that it is irrelevant in painting. I changed that word foolish to your word choice of "irrelevant" instead.