Fine Art Paintings And The Use Of The Secondary Color Orange

By Edward Sylve

Although orange is not a primary color it is a very dominant secondary color which is very complementary with the color blue. The other secondary colors that also dominate are purple and green. To create orange the colors red and yellow are mixed together. The use of both of these warm colors helps to bring power and movement to every painting. Orange lends brightness to the painting and, why not? It is after all the product of both yellow and red mixed together. Other artists can only dream of using orange the way that the famous artist Fredric Leighton did. Orange is great for painting fruit but also has many other applications.

Orange and its Spirituality and Psychology:

There is no doubt that orange brings a dominant force with it being the product of the two primary colors red and yellow. This makes orange a very warm color and very appealing when used in your painting. If the desired effect of your painting is one of peace and tranquility then using orange is not the best idea. Orange is exciting and energetic with bright orange being a very distracting element to the viewer. Flames are usually depicted by the use of orange as well as being an excellent color for representing the sun in your landscapes. Orange is an excellent way to create the sun-tanned effect when painting figures lying on the beach sunbathing. Pure orange is not very realistic a color but different types of orange are wonderful for fruits and flowers. Orange as a color has been named after the fruit which bears the exact same name. Being able to make it through with patience and persistence is what the spiritual meaning behind orange is, when viewed it brings to mind a sense of cooperation. Orange has nothing but strong meanings attached to it. You need not look further than salmon, gold and peach to see that orange has so many strong values. Shades of orange have so many great qualities to them even though pure orange is a little harsh and abrupt. Orange is an interesting color and brings a lot to any painting.

Orange and the pigments used to make it:

Cadmium is the most common used pigment in orange but Azo and Copper are also used. Ochre, earth pigments and Iron Oxide blend to make the Subtle orange color that artists love to use. Cadmium yellow is actually purchased and used to make variations of orange over the actual Cadmium orange that can be bought right from the tube.

Giving the color orange a mix:

As has been stated, mixing yellow and red will make orange. The more red is added the more reddish orange your color or the more yellow is added the more yellowish orange you will achieve. Darker oranges are that way because they contain more red and lighter oranges have more yellow in them. Adding slow small amounts of white and tan to the orange color can help you to eventually get a salmon or peach color according to artists. Patient shades of orange will take a little patience to finally get.

Article Source: http://interpret.zar.vg