COMPLEMENTARY COLORS. FIGURE SET

Six rich shades for mixing

The six acrylic paints from the range intended for figures are not built for painting a uniform or flesh out of them. They are pure, highly saturated shades which are added by the drop into other paints. The set contains rich orange, rich violet, magenta, rusty ocher, phthalocyanine green and blue-green.

Why precisely these colors

The shades form three complementary pairs, that is, pairs lying opposite each other on the color wheel. Orange stands against blue-green, violet against rusty ocher and magenta against phthalocyanine green. When a pinch of its counterpart is mixed into a color, the shade loses saturation and darkens without going gray. That is the difference from shading with black, after which a color pales into a dirty gray and the figure looks dusty.

Where to use it on a figure

The most common use is a shadow in a fold of cloth and a highlight on a lit edge. A drop of violet suits the shadow of a khaki uniform, blue-green the shadow of a sand-colored coverall, and a little green the flesh tone on the shaded side of a face. Magenta and orange, on the other hand, can liven up a trim, a collar tab or the sheen of leather on webbing. The paints can be used on their own as well, but then they almost always call for a base coat, because a saturated pigment on its own covers weakly.

Thinning and application

This is a water-based acrylic, thinned with water or with the acrylic thinner of the same maker. On a figure you work in thin, heavily thinned coats, which are left to dry between the individual transitions. Rinse the brush as you go; a saturated pigment bites into the bristles and is then visible in a light color.