Page 97 - The Decorative Painter Winter 2016

Certification Corner
Overblending? Underblending?
YUKO CULLINEY mda
If you submitted a piece for the SDP
Certification Program, you might have received judges’ critique comments regarding elements of your painting being “overblended,” “underblended,” or “showing good blending skill.” I would like to address the meaning of such comments.
The definition of blending is the technique
of painting colors so that there is a gradual transition from one to the other. Basic knowledge of elements of color theory will help you understand critical aspects of your painting. Key elements include explanations of hue, intensity, and value. Blending skill is important for adding interest to background treatments, adding accents and tints within objects to enhance overall color flow within a painting, and, perhaps most importantly giving form to an object (e.g., creating the appearance of three dimensions).
Blending Colors
GOOD BLENDING
OVER BLENDING
UNDER BLENDING
12 Basic Colors
12 Basic Color Values (Black and White)
It is important to realize that each color has
its own value. A color’s value can be revealed
by observing its appearance after it is converted
to a gray shade along the graduated gray scale
running from pure white to pure black (usually
shown in 10 shades of gray). This is possible with
most photo editing programs which can convert
a color image (e.g., a photograph of a painting) to a black and white version. At the right is shown a set of color swatches for the 12 basic colors. And below is shown the respective gray values for each of those 12 colors.
might give the impression of a fairly abrupt “line” separating adjacent colors/values. (See “Underblending” illustration.) An underblended object can create the impression of a distortion of the originally intended form (e.g., disrupting the smooth gradual curve of a sphere’s surface).
This short article has addressed what over-, under- and well-blended values and colors look like and the benefits
of acquiring good blending skills. Learning these skills is another topic that involves some complexity. In order to create a palette to paint an object with a three-dimensional appearance (e.g., the green apple illustrated above), one would first select a desired basic color – perhaps from the 12 basic colors shown as color swatches below – and then create a multi-step “color value scale” for at least that color. It would be a good exercise for the student to study the making of a multi-step value scale for each of the 12 basic colors. These multi-step color value scales should have five or more value steps in order to make them practical for actual applications.
Good blending occurs, for example, when two values of the same color meet on a painting, and they gradually “meld into” each other, exhibiting intermediate values in between. This effect requires at least three values. (See “Good Blending” illustration.) The same concept of good blending can apply to strokework – and it is mandatory at the Master Stroke level to double-load strokes.
Overblending is when two colors and/or values meet each other, but it might show evidence of mostly one color and/or value. (See “Overblending” illustration.) An object will appear flat if it does not have the appearance of several values.
Underblending, on the other hand, is when there is a lack of gradual change of colors and/or values. As a result, it
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