subject: The Art Of Using The Secondary Color Orange In Fine Art [print this page] Orange is a dominant color which is usually reserved for primary colors so it is no surprise that it compliments the color blue even though it is just a secondary color. Purple and green are also dominant secondary colors. To get orange you must put both yellow and red together. Both of these are very warm, vibrant colors that bring life and power to any painting. Orange is powerfully warm and inspiring when put in a painting and it owes its power to its parent colors, red and yellow. Frederic Leighton the great famous artist used orange in ways that could only leave other artists envious of how he did it. Obviously the color orange is not just for painting fruit.
The Psychology and Spirituality of orange as a color:
There is no doubt that orange brings a dominant force with it being the product of the two primary colors red and yellow. This makes orange a very warm color and very appealing when used in your painting. If the desired effect of your painting is one of peace and tranquility then using orange is not the best idea. Orange is exciting and energetic with bright orange being a very distracting element to the viewer. Flames are usually depicted by the use of orange as well as being an excellent color for representing the sun in your landscapes. Orange is an excellent way to create the sun-tanned effect when painting figures lying on the beach sunbathing. Pure orange is not very realistic a color but different types of orange are wonderful for fruits and flowers. Orange as a color has been named after the fruit which bears the exact same name. Being able to make it through with patience and persistence is what the spiritual meaning behind orange is, when viewed it brings to mind a sense of cooperation. Orange has nothing but strong meanings attached to it. You need not look further than salmon, gold and peach to see that orange has so many strong values. Shades of orange have so many great qualities to them even though pure orange is a little harsh and abrupt. Orange is an interesting color and brings a lot to any painting.
The pigments that create orange:
Azo and Copper are used in the making of orange but the most popular pigment used is Cadmium. Iron Oxide, earth pigments and Ochre are used to make the more subtle of the orange colors. You can purchase orange paint to use right from the tube by buying Cadmium Orange but usually Cadmium Yellow is the base for creating very exciting variations of orange.
Mixing the color orange:
As has been stated, mixing yellow and red will make orange. The more red is added the more reddish orange your color or the more yellow is added the more yellowish orange you will achieve. Darker oranges are that way because they contain more red and lighter oranges have more yellow in them. Adding slow small amounts of white and tan to the orange color can help you to eventually get a salmon or peach color according to artists. Patient shades of orange will take a little patience to finally get.
