Warm and cool colors in painting

Some personal achievements:

A - Warm color range

How do you create a harmonious combination of colors in a painting? One solution lies in creating balanced relationships between colors and their shades, based on their dominant tendency, whether warm or cool.

In practice :

The warm harmonic range encompasses all the mixtures warm colors, with or without the incorporation of white, including earthy hues. A work conceived in a harmony The warm color tends towards red.

However, the predominance of warm colors does not preclude the use of cold colors in blends, to obtain shades of violet or green-yellow. These mixtures with cold colors are necessary to create shadows or to temper excessively saturated mixtures. They nuance and enrich the warm harmony, notably by introducing contrasting accents.

Example of warm colors

According to the color wheel, the warm harmonic scale is made up of the following colors: violet, purple, carmine, orange-red, orange, yellow and yellow-green.

How do you inject warmth into blends?

Examples of hot mixes

- The mixture of lemon cadmium yellow and medium cadmium yellow, enhanced with white and a subtle touch of orange tinged with red (1), illustrates how the addition of a tiny amount of red can warm up a yellow. Medium cadmium yellow is best used in a warm palette, as it offers the possibility of quickly reaching an orange hue.

- The mixtures of two yellows and two reds combined with white (2) are highlighted in (3) and (4) :
- Reds mixed with lemon cadmium yellow and white (3).
- Reds mixed with medium cadmium yellow and white (4).

The mixtures in palette (3) are cooler than those in palette (4), with lemon cadmium yellow being cooler than medium cadmium yellow. It should also be noted that cadmium red is warmer than madder carmine.

As far as mixture (6) is concerned, it can be seen that white not only lightens, but also cools the mixtures. To preserve harmony, it's a good idea to incorporate a touch of yellow.

The mixtures of the two yellows with the ochre and white (6) produce an impression of coldness similar to that of (8), lacking the element needed to maintain a warm harmony.

The mixtures of yellows with yellow ochre and reds, accompanied by white (7), are an extension of the palette (6) enriched with red, lending added warmth to the colors.

Mixtures of yellows and earths, with the addition of white (8), can be defined as an attenuated harmony to preserve warmth.

The following ranges illustrate how earth tones can be combined with other shades to achieve dark, yet intensely warm tones, with red always present.

- Mixtures of yellows, ochre, sienna and cadmium red with white (10) produce dark tones that give off a real sensation of warmth.

- Using cadmium red as a base, mixed with yellows and earths, with or without the addition of white, creates a palette of warm, harmonious tones (11).

- Starting with madder carmine, mixed with yellows and earths, with or without the addition of white, we obtain a range of shades different from those previously mentioned, but just as harmonious.

Warm colors and cool accents

The warm color palette includes two intermediate color categories: yellow-greens and violets. In practice, to obtain these hues, it is necessary to use cold colors, but in very limited quantities.

The best way to harmonize cool colors with a warm palette is to carefully select the colors with which they will be combined, in order to achieve warm tones.

The blends presented here are likely to be part of a warm harmony. Before examining in greater detail the combinations of warm and cool colors for the treatment of shadows, the enrichment of nuances or the introduction of contrasts in a warm palette, let's begin by analyzing two concrete examples, which correspond to completely distinct choices.

Shades of green against a background of warm colors

The green accents of the scarf in no way disrupt the chromatic harmony of this work; they simply add nuance to the colors. The use of a complementary color (right), integrated into one of the subject's elements, testifies to a resolutely colorist approach.

Yellow, green and white blends.

A - Mixing yellows with greens and white. The combination of lemon cadmium yellow with greens creates cool-tone yellow-greens (1).
Using medium cadmium yellow produces warmer yellow-greens (2).
Yellow ochre, when amalgamated with yellow-greens, produces warm-toned golden greens (3).
Any green-yellow can be warmed up by adding a small amount of red, to create earthy tones for shading (4).
It is important to remember that reds and greens, being complementary colorsmust be mixed in unequal proportions. It is interesting to compare (1) and (2).

B - blue and yellow

To achieve warm shades of yellow-green, a high proportion of yellow should be incorporated, along with a hint of blue.

It's essential to proceed with caution, adding small amounts of blue to the base color, which in this context is the warm color. Mixtures including cobalt blue are warmer. As in (A), they can be enhanced with a light touch of red.

C - Violets and purples

C. Violets and purples
These colors are obtained by mixing red and blue pigments, with the addition of white. The aim is to create warm violets, i.e. with a red rather than a blue cast. These shades are mainly used to reproduce or shade shadows.

A range of purple violets.

The addition of white facilitates a clearer distinction between the two violet tones obtained (5) and illustrates how they gradually warm up thanks to the incorporation of cadmium red (6) and madder carmine (7).

B - Cool color range

Chromatic circle of cool colors.

Theoretical representation

According to the color wheel, the palette of cool colors includes yellow-green, green, dark green, cyan blue, ultramarine blue, deep blue and violet.

The cold range in practice

The cold range, in its application, results from mixtures of cold shades, with or without the addition of white, offering bluish-tinted colors.
A cool palette can include red, provided it is introduced harmoniously so as to

Cold dominant contrasts with orange-red.

It's also worth bearing in mind the difficulties involved in mixing complementary colors in equal parts. These "warmed-up" shades add nuances that counterpoint the general cold trend, enriching the palette.
Warm colors can be integrated into a cool palette in a variety of ways.

Cool colors

Examples of cool colors

Each palette (A), (B) and (C) shows the fundamental cool colors and the results of their blending.

Palette (A) shows a mixture of permanent green and emerald green combined with white. It's worth noting that, of all the greens, emerald green achieves the coolest tonal range. These very cool blue-greens harmonize with the blends in palette (B).

Palette (B) offers a combination of green and blue tones, enhanced by a touch of white. Shades of blue include cobalt blue, ultramarine and Prussian blue, while greens are represented by permanent green and emerald green.

It is essential to emphasize the delicacy of the resulting harmony. When the proportion of blue predominates in the mixture, the result is precious blue-greens of great intensity, which enrich the (C) scale without causing a break in the chromatic transition.

Conversely, if the proportion of green is greater than that of blue, the resulting palette of tones will complete the palette (A). By amalgamating various blues with white, a vast range of blues (C) can be generated.

Observe the interplay of textures and transparencies. The three scales (A), (B) and (C) combine to form a harmonious whole.

Cool colors and warm accents

How do you introduce warm colors into a cool palette? This can be achieved by mixing them, in appropriate proportions, with suitable shades to obtain combinations in harmony with the cold range. We start with a cold base color, to which we add small quantities of warm colors. Theoretically, it's a matter of composing yellow-greens and violets that can be integrated into a cold harmony.

In practice

The predominant color of the subject is the one that determines the color mixes to be developed. The process systematically involves integrating other hues in small proportions with the dominant color.

Two illustrations

Cool range, warm accents.

In both these works, the artists aspired to a delicate, cool harmony, devoid of striking contrasts. The figure stands out against the background, creating a vast expanse of light color, while retaining a subtle, original harmony.

Cool range, warm accents

Mixing cool and warm colors

Palettes (A) and (B) illustrate general examples, while palette (C) groups together blends designed to meet a more specific case.
Yellow-greens (A). Whether made from greens or blues, they systematically incorporate yellow, which is the coolest hue, cadmium lemon yellow. Combined with emerald green, these yellow-greens are ideal for inclusion in a cool palette.
The yellow-greens obtained should be compared with those of the warm range.

How do you create violets for a cool palette? Amalgamate madder carmine with shades of blue and white to create violets with bluish highlights, adding just the right amount of blue to accentuate the cool trend (B).

As far as purplish green is concerned, although it's easy to create a violet-blue color, the question arises as to how to create a purplish green, the blue-green with a violet tendency seen in predominantly blue landscapes. Let's look at mixing (C). A green is an amalgam of yellow and blue; to produce a violet shade, all you need to do is add carmine, i.e. fuse complementary colors.

To obtain harmonious shades, it is imperative to use these complementary colors in carefully balanced proportions. It would be wise to compare the results obtained with those of palette (B). The delicate variation in shades reflects the minimized proportion of complementary color incorporated into the mix.

The purpose of mixing is to create compositions in (A), (B) and (C), with the aim of achieving a delicate harmonization of hues within a work of predominantly cool tonality. Depending on his sensitivity and personal vision of the subject, the artist can choose opt for a nuanced harmony, free of pronounced contrasts, or, on the contrary, decide to balance out marked contrasts. Blends will vary according to the objective sought.

Additional articles