It makes me want to cry...

I think there are a lot of artists out there teaching the very basics of color mixing. I see a lot of swatches with tinted out colors and 35 different reds on one card in varying tone. You mix it with white..a little more white…more white…and then maybe some black. Boom. Color class. Not so fast.

Or what about the color wheels..paint the color wheels and use them for your art. What happens when you want to use a color that is not on your wheel? You may end up mixing and mixing and wondering what that purple on your palette doesn’t go with the colors on your color wheel….or even worse, you can’t mix the same color wheel again..and now you’re stuck!

My online workshop goal since day one, way back in 2009, was to figure out formulas and processes to help artists like me simplify (while still being complex and gallery ready!) the processes of abstract painting. Abstract painting does not have to be a puzzle or a mystery..you don’t have to look at paintings and say, “Oh…She’s got some sort of magic ability I will never have.” I’m telling you. You can do this.

In my new online workshop, “Expanding on Color”, my mentor and I (Chris Cozen, author of the best book on color) are teaching the SCIENCE of pigments. Why do you need to know this? Because we have discussions in there that will help you grab a bottle of paint and understand how it is going to mix BEFORE you pour out one drop of it! No more wasted paint!

We also are going to teach you the best practices for expanding your color library! You won’t paint a color wheel…you won’t even paint tinted out pages of each color you own. You’ll start mixing what YOU like and what YOU want to paint with on day one!

NEW! “What You Give is What You Get”, mixed media on canvas painting by the author.

I would never in a million years been able to mix the greens in the new painting above without this information. I am honestly telling you, this best practice has changed me forever- and it was easy. The old Julie would have thrown out a pile of paint with a palette like this one…or she would have used a load of expensive, left over paint as base coverage for standby canvases in her studio. Not any more.

A frequent comment that I see in my private Facebook Group for all of my students is that people don’t understand how little paint I am using. This paint is expensive! But you know what? If you thought I was using little paint before….I’m using HALF of that amount now.

Check out the new workshop..I am excited to help you if you need guidance through the process. Click here for more info or leave me a comment below! I am always happy to hear from you!