Monochromatic Color Scheme

1. Monochromatic Color Scheme: Hi, everyone. It's Larissa. It's been a while since I last published a class on seal sheds, so I do hope everyone is doing well. If you still remember, my last two classes are all about color. We have learned the basic terms to use when talking about colors such as hue, value, saturation, tint, tone, and shade. We have also learned how to tell which ones are warm colors and which ones are cold colors. So starting today, following the last two classes, we're going to explore the wonderful world of color schemes. Some might call them color combinations. So what are color schemes? What do they do? Basically, color schemes are logical combinations of two or more colors on the color wheel. Using these ali combinations in art and design, we create aesthetic appeal and a sense of style. But they are not rules. At least I don't see them that way. I'd rather see them as the conventions that we could follow when putting together a color palette for our work. So if you're creating something but you don't know what colors to use, you can refer to these ali schemes for inspiration. There are seven commonly used color schemes, monochromatic, analogous, complimentary, split complimentary, triadic, square, and rectangle. We're going to learn all that, but I don't want to overwhelm you by talking about all these color schemes all at once. So I've decided to break it up into seven short classes. We will learn just one color scheme in each class while painting an artwork using that color scheme. In this class today, we're going to explore the monochromatic color scheme. I will give you more information about it later. But before that, let's see what we need when taking this class. Okay. 2. Supplies & Resources: As I mentioned before, we will learn what monochromatic color scheme is in this class, and we will paint an artwork using monochromatic colors. That means we're using our painting supplies. So these are what you need when taking this class, gouache paints, paint brushes, watercolor paper, a pink palette, a water container, and drying cloth or paper towels. You can also use acrylic or acrylic gouache to paint the artwork. I don't recommend using watercolor only because the color theory I'm going to mention in the class and the way I mix colors don't apply to watercolor paints. They work in a different way. So unless you know how to use watercolor, it's better for you to stick to gouache, acrylic or acrylic gouache when taking this class. I have also created this diagram for you to refer to when putting together a monochromatic palette for your work. You will find the link to it under this class. And about the artwork, we're going to paint a floral pattern. So this is the work I painted for this class. It's not a repeat pattern. If I make a few copies of this work and put them together, they don't make a seamless repeat. It's more like an implied pattern, just let you know. So we are using flowers and leaves as the subject matter. For that, I have put together a pintersbard with reference photos. So these pictures are taken by myself for the last few years whenever I see an interesting or beautiful punch. You can use your own reference photos. If you have taken some photos on your own, use them for sure. I encourage you to do that, actually, to build up your own library of inspiration. But if you don't have anything at hand, feel free to take a look at my photos here. I'll put the link to it under the class. 3. What is Monochromatic Color Scheme: Let's talk about the monochromatic color scheme. Judging by the word monochrome, you would probably guess it's about one color, and it's true. It's a one color show. A monochromatic color scheme is created by a single hue and its tints, tones and shades. Now, there are a lot of terms in just this one sentence. So let's refresh our memories. A hue is basically a color on the color wheel. When we add white to this color, we will get a tint, which makes the color lighter. When we add black to the color, we will get a shade, which makes the color darker. And when we add gray to the color, we will get a ton, which makes the color less saturated. If you want to review these terms in details, feel free to check out my color wheel class in your spare time. I will put the link under this class. With all these concepts in mind, we can look back on the monochromatic color scheme with a fresher eye. So to create the palette based on the monochromatic color scheme, you will need a base color to start with. Just pick any color on the color wheel. Then you can create tints, turns, and shades from this base color. And when you put all these colors together, you will have a monochromatic color palette. What's good about using a monochromatic color scheme? It makes your work harmonious and cohesive. It's so easy to put together, you basically just pick one color and mix it with black, white, and gray to create the other colors. And if your work is full of intricate details, using a monochromatic color palette can help simplify it and bring everything together. In the next lesson, we will put together a monochromatic palette for the work we're going to paint. 4. Preparing the Color Palette: Before we start painting, we need to assemble a monochromatic palette. I encourage you to put all the paints you have on the table and arrange them around the colour wel. It helps you understand where all your colors position and what their relationships are. After that, I would like you to consider these general rules when assembling your color palette. Your palette has no more than eight colors. A limited color palette is easier to manage. Ideally, your palette should have some saturated colors, some muted colors, some bright colors, and some dark colors. We're talking about visual balance and contrast in an artwork. Imagine the painting only has saturated colors. They're all competing with each other and you just don't know where to look. If it only has muted colors, it just looks dull and not interesting at all. If it only has bright colors, it just hurt your eyes. And if it only has dark colors, you just can't see clearly. So a color palette is really a combination of saturated, muted, bright and dark colors. I'm going to pick purple as the base color for my monochromatic palette. I will mix these three colors in my pigment collection to create a shade of purple. Then I'll mix this purple with white to make this light purple here and mix the purple with black to get this very dark purple on the other end. And I'll mix the purple with gray to create these two colors. I mix a little bit of gray to make the one on the left, and mix a bit more gray to get the one on the right. So this is my method of mixing colors and creating a color palette. Please allow yourself some time to put together a monochromatic palette before you move on to the next lesson. 5. Painting a Floral Pattern in Monochromatic Colors: In this lesson, I'll show you how to paint this floral pattern using monochromatic colors. I will use this picture that I took as a reference for my painting. You can find it in the printers board that I showed you earlier, and I will use the color palette I put together in the last lesson for the painting. So that's it for this class. I hope you enjoy painting and artwork using monochromatic colors. Don't forget to share your work in the project gallery so I can give you some feedback. Thank you, and I'll see you in the next class.