Beth:

For shadow areas on flesh, I usually prefer a warm tone.

Per your question, I don't do pastels, but I believe the concept is the same for both oils and pastels. Neutralizing colors can be done in two ways - the CA way of blending the color with its opposite on the color wheel, or the CV way of blending the color with a gray of the same chromatic value as the color. Again, I don't work in pastels, so I don't know how well this might work as you would apply one to the other and blend them together.

Jean: I just wanted you to be cautious. There are many ways of painting. :)

Throw caution to the wind
 

Michael, thank you for the concern, you're like a guardian angel. Not to worry much though, I don't have enough disposable income to throw much money away. I've got to save for a decent easel next. Mine is a $30.00 wonder, if I sneeze it wobbles!

Michele, I agree totally, mud is simply the wrong neutral in the wrong place. Having a tool to help maintain some consistency in color choice, or creating your neutral tones is what I was looking for. I struggled with Josh's new haircut (the last portrait I did) because my color choice for the figure was not consistent with my background scheme. As soon as I changed it, all the pieces fell together. But that meant a lot of time spent agonizing over why, why, why. Now I get it. As a beginner, I like some rules, then when I break them later it will be through choice and not error. :D Maybe this is one of the reasons and applications for color tools. So you can break the rules and fly!

Jean

The Bottom Line on Color Theory
 

Whatever system you choose or use, the bottom line on color is this:

HUE
You need to understand color hues enough to identify them and apply what you know about them to your painting - this includes color selection and mixing.

VALUE
You need to understand the value scale enough to be able to build a convincing 3d impression on a 2d surface. Further, you need enough understanding of chromatic value (values of specific colors) to enable you to effectively mix and apply color to achieve visual effects in your paintings.

CHROMA
You need to have a system to effectively neutralize colors without contaminating your base value or hue. Further, you need to understand how to effectively represent reality using neutrals contrasted with color.

This is a mouthful and I am still working my way through all this stuff and likely will until I am 80! :)

Color Wheel
 

Hi, This is a different color wheel than most use. I also like Paula White's Watercolor colorwheel.

http://www.mauigateway.com/~donjusko...colorwheel.htm

But I find this one fascinating also:
http://www.lebeau-jp.com/2002color_lec01.html

Sincerely,
Celeste McCall

Beth,

You wrote To "cool" off flesh tones, you could either combine a cooler color with the flesh tones already there, or select the proper color if you happen to have it in your box. Cool doesn't necessarily mean blue; it can be green, violet or blue, and of varying intensity, from strong chroma, to virtually neutral hues. Or if you are going for the direct color, a cooler version of what's going on in the light.

Colors in shadow are never going to be just darker versions of the local color in light; they will always be different in temperature and saturation.

So Chris, when pastel makers provide a series of values for the same color it is more for transitions than shadow and lights?

I have never used them for the shadows, but wondered if I should be, now I see I shouldn't have been all along! :)

Hmmm. I've never used a color wheel. We made one in grammer school. But that is my last experience with them. Usually I just make a big mess on my palette until I have the right mix. Although one thing I was taught is that the color of the subject should reflect or be mixed with the surrounding colors.

Point of departure
 

Like Rochelle, I have not used one since grade school. I think the delicate colors that we are concerned with have little to do with such rudiments. Many of the colors we deal with take place near the middle of the famous color wheel-in the tans and browns. It's the right greenish grey or slightly pink off-white colors that make the big differences. Color wheels don't help with that. Painters must "burn these concepts upon their hearts" and not keep them in a drawer in a taboret.

Karin?
 

Could you post the list of colors you use that are transparent? They were on this Forum long ago, I would like to see them again.

Thanks in advance.