Month: December 2012

Sometimes I get it wrong. I recently gave some incomplete advice to a student about choosing a background colour. As well as considering contrast in temperature and in value, what I didn’t mention is that it’s really important to echo some of the colours used in the subject in the background. Take a look at some of your favourite famous paintings and check this out. Even famous portrait artists often throw some of those flesh colours into the background. Glad to say, the particular background involved was in oil paint, and not difficult to redo. Looking forward to seeing how the student’s painting looks this week! So when doing backgrounds, think about: value, temperature, and echoing colours that you have already used.