Due: Monday, Sept. 9

Introduction
   Make a color chart of all the pigments in the basic palette on the supply list except for white and black. Painting this chart will familiarize you with the physical process of mixing and applying paints, teach you some color vocabulary and help you to develop a sense of the visual qualities of color.
Each hue will be shown in four different guises: glaze, tint, hue and shade. The hue is the color straight out of the tube, at full strength. Note that this use of the word "hue" is a bit different from the definition given in color theory. That is because, in this exercise, we are working with pigments. For example, burnt umber is not a pure hue; we would not find such a color in the spectrum. Actual pigments and the pure hues in color theory may be a little different.
A tint is a lightened value of a hue. We will create tints by adding white paint to the basic colors. This creates a range of light value colors known as pastels.
A shade is a darkened value of a hue. Shades may be produced by adding black to the hue or by adding the complementary hue. We will use the latter method in this chart because I want you to realize that adding black is not the only way to darken a color. Sometimes shades produce startling, unexpected results. For example, what would you call a shade of yellow? The mixture of yellow and violet may surprise you!
A glaze is a color mixed with a medium and applied in a transparent layer. Glazes are lighter than the color from which they are mixed, but they look very different from tints.

Materials and techniques
  This chart will be done of a sheet of 15" x 20" illustration board. Illustration board is thick, so it will not pucker or warp when the paints are applied to it. Before painting the chart, we will gesso the illustration board to seal it so that it will not absorb paint. Add water to the gesso in a container until it is as thick as heavy cream. Paint a large "X" on the back of the illustration board. When it has dried, paint the white surface with one even coat of gesso using your largest brush. It should be perfectly smooth. When that coat has dried, apply a second coat at right angles to the first coat. When that is dry, proceed as described below.
  Using a 2H graphite pencil and a yardstick, draw the ten columns of four blocks on the illustration board as shown in the diagram below. Keep the pencil lines light and neat. Do not copy any text on the diagram to your chart. Dimensions in inches are shown on the diagram along with the locations of all the colors.



  For each color, mix some of the paint with just enough thinner (water for acrylic, turpenoid for oil) so that it will flow from the brush. Use this mixture to paint in the block marked "HUE". Paint each block neatly and carefully, filling it evenly and fully with color. We want to be able to see what each tube color looks like in a solid, full coat.
  Set out some medium (gloss or matte acrylic medium for acrylics, the supplied glazing medium for oils) and mix a very small amount of pure color in it. Mix this thoroughly so that no streaks or blobs of pure pigment are left. This mixture should be quite transparent but still strong in color. Paint an even, thin layer of this mixture in the topmost box marked "GLAZE".
  Next, set out some pure white and add a small amount of your hue to it. Mix thoroughly so you have an even tint. Add a bit of thinner if it is too stiff to flow nicely and paint in the block marked "TINT".
  Now take a small amount of the complementary color and add it to your hue mixture, mixing thoroughly to a uniform tone. Use these combinations (the hue is given first):
1.) Cadmium or Hansa Yellow Light + Dioxazine purple
2.) Iron oxide yellow (yellow ochre) + Dioxazine purple
3.) Cadmium orange + Ultramarine blue
4.) Napthol red light + Permanent green
5.) Alizarin crimson + Permanent green
6.) Quinacridone violet + Permanent green
7.) Dioxazine purple + Cadmium or Hansa yellow light
8.) Ultramarine blue + Cadmium orange
9.) Permanent green + Napthol red light
10.) Burnt umber + Ultramarine blue
  Paint these mixtures in the blocks marked "SHADE". Be sure you rinse your brush clean with thinner before going on to the next color in your chart so that each hue will stay clear and distinct.
   Complete the chart. Grades will take into account the uniformity of the glazes, tints and shades, and the general neatness and care with which the chart is painted.

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