Color Theory BASICS for oil painting

I can help you draw & paint better ⬇

Learn about the color wheel, primary colors, secondary colors, and complementary colors.

Discover how to use color theory to create visually appealing designs.

Watch this video to learn the fundamentals of color theory and how to use them in your designs in less that 10 minutes.

Check out my Patreon for more resources on color theory and design...

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About me:
My work focuses on the human figure. I've given drawing and painting workshops and demos throughout the United States and Europe. I have been making realist drawing and painting tutorials for two years now that I release through my Patreon page.

[TheRealCFF]

I noticed you’re using a large, cool, low, chroma background, and small, warm, high chroma wardrobe. Well done, Renaissance videographer.

[theMarkofArt]

Hello I'm Stephen Bauman and in this video I'm just going to speak and you're going to love it!

The color stuff is cool too (and/or warm)

[howardmceachern]

A much-needed tutorial. Thank you Stephen.

[MisterrLi]

Thanks Stephen!
Nice to see the traditional color theory taught clearly and with illustrations.

Some problems appear, when you mix different color fields like psychological
properties with wavelengths, the concepts don't match 100%. Also, when
talking about color "mixing" what is understood is probably the mixing of paint,
and these work very differently compared to mixing ligh mixtures, where blue
mixed with yellow typically mix to white compared to green when mixing paint.
This is crudely understood as additive and subtractive color mixing, and they
are not really possible to unite precisely in one system for obvious reasons
(because they make rules for totally different kinds of mixing principles).

I believe in mixing color theories from different fields and use for example the
many psychological effects in "color illusion images" in painting, photography
and computer graphics, or in mixed arts for short. Deeper understanding of color
in different fields only give us more freedom in using color in the best possible way.

[elagangabrown]

Thank you so much for this lesson Stephen! Please do more

[m.i.miller]

Stephen, thank you so much for this video and lesson.. I am fairly new to all this art theory and you have made this so easy and enjoyable to understand.

[ucantgetuson]

I like ur voice/ it's not annoying, calm and pleases my ears😍

[scholarthefuture]

Its nice to revive all basic lessons 💜💓 thanks

[Doootjeee]

You made something finally click in my brain!! Thank you 💖

[valac_]

Your videos are my favorite Steve! LFG! 🤘🤘

[anamaricadilla]

Thank you so much for this wonderful lesson, StephenI Perfectly explained!

[xSanji]

So helpful even thought i knew most of these things, you really explained it well, i understand it even better now :)

[noirodex]

I love how he popped up in the middle of the colour wheel lol

[krzysztofkobalczyk]

Very good explanation with examples. Thank you very much.

[andysmith]

To clarify the confusion between Valve and Chroma, I understand that you suggest adding grey to Chroma (weaker and stronger colours). But specifically, what sort of grey should you add to make Hue either a weaker or stronger colour?

[mrgadget]

Very interesting lesson for me, a novice of the subject. Interestingly, I must say this as a physicist, the blue colors which are associated with cold temperature in color theory, are actually the warmest ones in reality: blue wavelength is short, meaning that it carries more energy than the reddish colors, which in turn are the coldest ones in reality.

[antonioblanco]

Pretty Nice Mr Bauman really helpful. I like so much your tips about chroma relations. Thank you so much!
what about light in compositions?

[bobjuniel]

Stephen, the primary colours in Subtractive mixing, as in painting, the printing industry and your ink jet printer are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Not the colour labelled magenta by the paint manufacturers but a colour close to Opera Pink in watercolours. Red and Blue make a chromatically impure purplish grey colour. Yellow and blue make a chromatically impure grey green. I haven't tested Quinacridone magenta, or Permanent Rose in W&N but my guess is they are as close one will get to Primary Magenta and will mix with Ultramarine Blue to make good mauves and violets. Similarly Winsor Blue in watercolour is closest to Cyan so maybe Winsor Blue Red Shade will make good purples while Winsor Blue Green Shade will mix to make clean greens. Phthalocyanine Blue Red shade and blue shade are options in other brands. The is no accurate primary yellow. I would use Winsor Lemon to mix greens and Winsor Yellow with Winsor Red to mix oranges. My referrence is "Color Fundamentals, " by Maitland Graves. The Oswald colour system of Red, Yellow and Blue was incorrect, as students of Sir Isaac Newton well know. Look up Primary colour in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, even the Encyclopaedia contradicts itself.
Landscape painters rarely use pure greens, though I do painting paddy fields in Thailand. Ultramarine and a yellow orange or even Yellow Ochre often make good the right landscape greens. Aussie grass is often golden or even pink. Australian gums are often painted with Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue, both Tertiary Colours.
Portrait painters used to use Alizarine Crimson for the deep value magenta tones, it mixed well with Ultramarine for dark tones and cerulean blue for cooler tones. Sadly Alizarine Crimson genuine is fugitive, it fades; maybe Permanent Rose, Permanent Magenta, or Permanent Carmine should replace it.

[CarolinPeters]

Super concise and clear tutorial. Thank you!

[aichamarzougui]

Hey Stephen, thank you for taking the time and effort to make this video. very appreciated!

Would it be correct to understand the trio HUE - VALUE - CHROMA this way:
- Hue: the wavelength that I'm choosing among the 12 basic wavelengths
- Value: the amount of light (black or white) I'll give that wavelength
- CHROMA: the intensity of the expression of that wavelength (sometimes my brain translates this to the amount of hue)

And I'm thinking in terms of watercolors. It makes sense to me and I want it to verify if it's correct or not. Thank you :)