Only Three Colors

It is amazing how many colors you can create in watercolor using only the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. Creating a painting with transparent versions of these colors can really stretch your color skills. 

Here are two paintings started as teaching demonstrations that I later finished.

Pine River Valley
Watercolor
8” X 10”

This valley above Lake Vallecito is gorgeous. The Pine River trail gently undulates for the first few miles along the edge of a lush, grassy valley against rocky cliffs. We’ve hiked this trail in all seasons and each time we see something new.

A fence runs along the trail for the first three miles because there is an easement across a private ranch. There is an area where you’ll see yaks grazing in the meadows—yes, Yaks. Not a critter you expect to see as livestock in Colorado.

This image came from a pretty spring morning when the temperature was just perfect—not too hot and not too cold. A Goldilocks kind of day that feels like a distant memory given today’s 94 degrees. I was drawn to the backlit spruce trees that contrasted with the deep blue shadows of the ridge on the other side of the narrow valley.

San Juan Cliffs
Watercolor
8” x 10”

This was a demonstration piece I started on a women’s watercolor workshop and river trip on the San Juan River in Utah. The cliffs along the San Juan River are awe-inspiring and come in an array of colors and textures.

I helped teach watercolor techniques to the group, including the three-color challenge that resulted in beautiful paintings by the artists. I demonstrated how you begin with yellow, applying it where it is part of the final color. When it dries, you add the next layer (or “glaze”) of red or blue. The layers of transparent paint “mix”, to create colors on the painting. This gives a different result than when you mix colors on the palette and apply that color to the paper. As an example, there is a layer (or multiple layers) of yellow followed by a layer of red to create varying shades of orange. Add a layer of blue, and you get brown.

It’s a fun challenge, and sometimes I limit my palette to the primary colors to experiment and discover new ways of creating colors in a painting. This method provides a pleasing color continuity throughout the piece, which adds a unique and lively quality.

Art supplies are a powerful magnet for artists. It’s kind of a sickness, some people might say. When I discover a new color, I get a little weak in the knees. Most artists can’t help themselves: “Oh my gosh, that golden brown and delicate purple are so luscious—I HAVE to have them.” But the reality is with the basic three—plus a couple of earth tones—you have what you need to get started with watercolor.