Edward Hopper's combination of colors is fascinating, and in this video I explore how he worked by doing another color study, this time of his 1940 painting 'Gas'.
I mix with the same palette of colors that I used for the 'Hotel By A Railroad' color study and I was surprised to discover the ease with which I could use these same colors in such a different painting. You will see that I mainly use the two-color mixing method, and I'm more convinced than ever that Hopper also mixed in this way - color shifting just a few mixes gave me all the colors I needed. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
I show you a useful variant of two-color mixing, whereby you can mix your own starting hue if you need to. I also break one of my golden rules and use black to darken some of the really dark colors. Like all rules, once you understand it, it's there to be broken, and I think Hopper's expressionist tendencies may have given him a special affinity for black so he is using it in a very conscious and specific way...
I was pleased with the resulting color study, which allows you to see how the combinations of colors work together - a fundamental part successful painting - and I am really enjoying stealing from Edward! Delving deep into his paintings has increased my understanding and admiration of him as an artist, and I hope it will do the same for you!
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The palette I use for this color study is 12 colors narrowed down from the usual 18:
- cadmium yellow
- yellow ocher
- burnt sienna
- vermilion
- alizarin crimson
- cobalt violet
- french ultramarine blue
- cobalt blue
- phthalo blue
- viridian green
- emerald green
The original of 'Gas' is on display at MOMA: www.moma.org/c...