Airbrush mistake #5: Too much of a good thing

 

We don't perceive reality like a camera does, especially when it comes to color. We unconsciously alter the colors in our world in subjective ways . For instance, we tend to increase the intensity of the colors of objects that interest us, and we end up painting them more vividly than they actually are. However, in the visual world colors are much less intense than people realize.

Many artist use transparent colors straight out of the bottle in their work, and while there's nothing wrong with bright beautiful colors, the results rarely correspond to reality.

This happens for three reasons: One, as mentioned before, we perceive higher saturation (intensity) of colors in objects that interest us. For example, many artists spray straight orange as a skin tone, which is far from representing actual skin color. Yes, skin has an orange component, but the intensity is much more subdued than many people imagine. The second reason that artist tend to oversaturate, is from the belief that more is better. If their painting looks good when they spray some paint, they think that adding more paint will improve things. That sounds like a great idea, but too much color intensity compromises realism. The third reason is that its easier to put the paint in the gun straight out of the bottle. That's right. Laziness.

If you want more realism in your paintings, be cautious about using colors straight out of the bottle, because strong colors rarely correspond to reality. When I do use color straight out of the bottle, I like to paint with a little contamination in my gun to "dirty up" the color. remember to exercise restraint.

Don't drown your artwork with paint as if you are putting out a fire. Your paintings will thank you for it.