Yellows

There are very few yellows, compare the number of yellows to the number of blues or greens.... only 15 yellows!

Amber,  Yellow Ochre, Gamboge, Topaz, Mustard,  - the dark yellows

Canary yellow,  Chrome yellow,  Golden,  Jonquil, Maize, Sunflower,  

Lemon; - the slightly greenish cool yellow

Cream, Naples Yellow,  - the whitish yellows

Saffron - the orange yellows

 

Cream

It's a tentative colour, barely there and difficult to use in decorating well. 

Arles

Add black to yellow and what have you got - GREEN!! 

Fifty Blues

I got the Blues

Napoleonic Blue

Air Force blue, Alice blue, Azure, Baby blue, Blue, Bondi blue, Brandeis blue, Cambridge Blue, Carolina blue, Ceil,

Aubusson Blue

Cerulean, Cobalt blue, Columbia blue, Cornflower blue, Cyan, Dark blue, Deep sky, blue Denim, Dodger blue, Duke blue,

Monet Blue - this was a colour I used to make

Egyptian blue, Electric blue, Eton blue, Federal Blue, Forget-me-not Blue, Glaucous, 

 Han blue, Iceberg, Indigo,

Greek Blue

 International Klein Blue, Iris, 

 Cornish Blue - 1 part Greek Blue to 8 parts Old White 

Louis Blue

Midnight blue, Majorelle blue, Maya blue, Midnight blue, Navy blue, Non-photo blue, Palatinate blue, Periwinkle, Persian blue, Powder blue,

Prussian blue, Royal blue, Sapphire, Sky blue, St. Patrick's blue, Steel blue, Teal, Tiffany Blue, Ultramarine, Yale Blue,

Goethe's Colour Triangle

Goethe found he prefered to arrange colour in the form of a triangle. It is arranged in some ways like the colour circle but I agree with Johann, the the triangle is good because you can isolate the groups more easily. I'm not sure if I agree with the names of each of the groupings - but it is easy to see the colour groups. How can yellow, orange and green be called 'serene' for goodness sake?! I find my taste goes to the 'serious', melancholic' and 'mighty', whatever the latter means.

Before and after of my armoire. Tres chic, n'est pas?

How to paint an Armoire

This French armoire was bought in a local sale in England very cheaply but a little worse for wear and needing a bit of tender loving care. We fixed it up so the door opened and closed properly, then set about painting it.

When something is quite ornate already becasue of the carving, I like to bring this out but not add to much colour and busyness otherwise you detract from the piece of furniture.


1. I first painted it all over in Country Grey, my Chalk Paint the colour of putty.

2. When this was dry I painted just the areas which were raised carving in Old White, my white which is like the colour of chalk.I just used the edge of the brush to put the white in rather than being very careful to help with the distressed look.

3. With a big brush and clear wax I brushed all over the dry paintwork

4. After wiping off any excess wax I then sanded the raised carving rubbing through to the Country Grey underneath and to the wood in some places.

5. I then appled some dark wax all over the carving and in the corners of the panels too then wiped off the excess leaving some quite dark wax in some places.

Red Chairs

The red chair backs are in both the painting by Emile Nolde 

and the dining room at Charleston in Sussex

There's loads of black and blues too in both pictures but the balance is different so they look different. You can the colours from the Nolde but not use them so intensely. 

Inspiring stuff to get you going on a room.

Goya's Brushwork

I like the broad wide bands of colour that Goya used that probably developed from designing tapestries that couldn't be too fussy and detailed.

Francis Cadell, Scottish Colourist

Francis Cadell (1883 - 1937) Scottish colourist. I am so impressed by the way the slabs of cool colours are used with just a little of the hot orange and pink.

Craigie Aitchison

Craigie Aitchison died on December 21st 2009 aged 83. Beautiful colour. Look out for his other work.
He was Scottish and highly influenced by Gauguin. http: