| Have you ever noticed that people see
colors differently? No, really! Look at the "palette" or range of color that
your favorite artist uses. Some are warmer, some are colder. Some use very stark whites,
some use ivory whites. There is actually a difference in our eyes, in the cones and bars
or whatever they are... no, wait, cones and bars are for the kilnsitter... maybe it's
cones and rods? Yes, that's it. Cones and rods. Ahem. Anyway, there are actually
differences in how people perceive color.
I know this because I have had the interesting experience of trying to translate colors for people who come to visit. They look into my china cabinet like kids look at the Sears Wish Book, trying to pick out the color that they want on their own horse. Then, we start with the negotiation. Often, they are seeing a different color than I am. I see things more greenish, more cool, and so favor the warmer colors in my palette to make up for it. Others may use a cool palette and shy away from the really warm deep red tones. Looking in my cabinet, they are also seeing the final effect, which may be modified by five layers of different colors. This effect is next to impossible to duplicate. "She's not a machine, damnit Jim, she's a human being." So, in the end, what they get is potluck. Ultimately, however, they are almost always happy because it is uniquely theirs. When you are looking at H-Rs, notice how warm their white and their black is. If you repair H-Rs you will find that straight white acrylic out of the bottle will NOT do. You need to mix it with a beige, such as FolkArt Tapioca. Some of their white/grey horses are almost straight Tapioca! And their greys contain a lot of brown. Don't use black and white acrylic and try to duplicate a H-R grey. Use beige, white, black and brown. You would be surprised. And their black is quite warm, almost a dark brown. There is a good reason for this I suspect. Black pigment for clay is very expensive, and requires a lot of pigment to achieve a true black. So a very dark brown mix is probably more cost effective. The most effective colors for earthenware underglazes are sprayed on in carefully controlled layers, and each one modifies the one below it. If you learn how each color modifies your basecoat, you will go a long way toward making the color do what you want. And a sacrifice to the Kiln God doesn't hurt. Joanie
Color: A Natural History of the
Palette by Victoria Finlay
Bright Earth: Art and the
Invention of Color by Philip Ball |
