Color for walls?
 

Although my studio has been built for over a year we are just finishing the walls now. Two of the walls are entirely made of 6 ft. windows, the remaining walls have 4 ft. beadboard wainscoat with drywall to the ceiling.
I have read that neutral "whitish" is best but would like a two-tone finish. As much as I love to paint walls are not on my "fun" list -- so I only want to do this once! Any suggestions will be appreciated. :)

Suggestion
 

Sandy, why don't you try a neutral greenish grey?

It's such a good colour both for backgrounds, in case you are painting life, and also to have your paintings hung against. It will make all the colours pop out.
Ilaria

Hi Sandy,

I agree with Ilaria. If you search around the Forum you will find several posts on the benefits of a mid-value gray wall color. If you have clients at your studio you can paint from life or shoot photographs of them against this background using natural light as your light source (or artificial light, as you prefer).

Personally, I don't have this color on my wall at the moment but it's high on my to-do list.

Lucky you!
 

Sandy,

First of all, lucky you to have such a wonderful studio!!!!

Well, after reading this post I suppose I have created some work for myself that once again I didn't even know I needed to do :o . I have a small studio space that I share with the family computer and . . . the walls are an off-white. I have a corner set up for my subject to sit so I can paint from life and what a great idea, to paint the background a color! I will continue to read to see what the consensus is for a background color, so far it looks like I'll be buying some greenish grey paint. Though I don't care for green. Maybe a medium grey for me. It would be easy to put up a horizontal bar for draping fabric over too.

Joan

Thanks for the input, I'm a big fan of green. I still want to separate the wainscot from the upper wall. There will be a chair-rail, but I had hoped to break it up with color. Perhaps two different values of the same green/gray color? The wainscot is approx. 4 ft. high.

Joan,
The studio was a long time coming. Especially since there are other areas of the house that need attention, like a new kitchen. I had to make the choice of one or the other and find the food tastes the same in the old kitchen :D
During Peggy's workshop she has a cool, simple drapery system. She used PVC pipe that made a giant upside-down "U" It breaks down to store or pack. It's lightweight and best of all, cheap.

Hi Sandy,

Besides a tasty wall-color you could also buy or make a folding screen and paint it different colors on either sides, in that way you have three alternative colors. The screen is also perfect to hang draping fabric on.

Allan

This is the formula for the David Leffel/Sherrie McGraw/William Whitaker green. It is on the walls at ASL in New York and on walls at the Scottsdale Artists School.

Bill Whitaker turned me on to this color and it is wonderful. My studio walls are this color.

Benjamin Moore & Co.
319-3B

UTC Gallon Formula
OY 3x20.50
BK 2x15.00
OG 0x17.00
GY 0x10.75

I will post a pic of the color on the wall a bit later today.

APPEND: You can see pictures of the green in question in this topic:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...9&page=1&pp=10

I agree with this. Because my studio is also my main point-of-sale, I hang lots of paintings on these walls. They were painted in this green scheme for other reasons (largely for control of reflected light and color), but the discovery that my framed paintings look great in this unintended showcase has been a most pleasant and unexpected gift.

Steven, I'd love to see a photo of your studio/gallery. I'm thinking of creating the same sort of space for myself and would be very interested to see what you have done.

A folding screen is a good idea Allan.
Michael,
I imagine any paint store can mix this formula. However I am still wondering do I have to paint the wainscot and drywall the same shade? Could one or the other be a different value of the same color? If so, darker bottom/lighter top or vice versa?