13) How do you match colors using mixed media?
Scott Rawlins : For much of a rendering, the different media are used for different effects – so they enhance one another, rather than match exactly. For example, a layer of pastel dust is used to create a base hue, and other media (such as colored pencil or graphite) are used to deepen values, saturate areas or create shadows. A lemon yellow watercolor may be used with a goldenrod colored pencil to achieve the complex shifts of colors on a single flower petal. I don’t aim to match the colors, just make sure they work together well. (Note: Graphite can take on the hue of surrounding areas, in small patches. Sometimes when I need to darken an area of watercolor, I will “tint” the light area with graphite – and though the hue is not matched, the value is, and it is difficult for most people to discern the difference.)
Dolores R. Santoliquido : Given that I use both acrylic paint and colored pencil, I have a wide color palette to choose from. When starting a painting I use colored pencil first and lay in a thin layer of color, duplicating the lightest colors initially, the medium colors next and the darkest colors last. I match colored pencil colors to the color family of the area I am painting. I also overlay one color over another color if necessary. After I have completed the first layer of colored pencil, I overlay light acrylic washes to intensify the colors of the subject. The acrylic color reinforces the specific color chosen for the specific area being painted. I continue the process of alternating thin layers of colored pencil and acrylic washes until I reach the saturation level matching the subject I am rendering.
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