Finally lets look at mixing the last two primaries: Red and Blue. What do we get when we mix these? Yep – purple. You are on to it! So which primary colour are we left with…yellow! Yellow is the complimentary colour of purple. Yes! You’ve got it!

Tip: Instead of using tube black or grey – use the natural complimentary colour as we have discussed above, to describe your shadows. I like to use a little of the ‘local’ colour and then add some of the complimentary colour to create realistic and natural shadow colours that glow and dance.

I imagine you’ll be wondering about my definition of ‘local’ colour. It’s quite easy really – if you are painting a Green leaf – then Green is the local colour. So take a little Green ‘local’ colour and add some complimentary colour to this. (you’ll have worked out from the above formulae that the complimentary colour of green is? ….Red – that’s right! ) This will give you a luminous but greyed colour – just ideal to describe your shadows.

Tip: Another excellent idea is to vary the colours in your shadows. A shadow that is full of colour is lively and vibrates with the surrounding local colour.

Take a look at my painting ‘All Aboard’.

’All Aboard’
660mm x 390mm
Watercolour on Arches Hot Pressed Paper 300gsm
(Available as a fine art giclee on watercolour paper reproduction print)

See how the shadow on the floor is not a solid mass of grey? I took the local colour of the floorboards (these were initially painted as if they were without shadow). The local colour was really a variety of colours; a brownish, orangey, yellowy colour - with a light wash of green to neutralise them. To this combination of local colours I added a variety of complimentary colours. Blue – to balance the orange, purple to balance the yellow and a touch of red to balance the green. Notice how I ‘favoured’ these colours in different areas of the shadow colour – how I allowed each of these colours to dominate in areas. See how this made the shadow glow? The shadow colour on the little lad’s shirt was described using varying depths of orange and orange-yellows. See how this combination made his shirt come alive.

Now just for something totally different and in an Australian/New Zealand flavour:

Lets look at ‘On Active Service’ – almost a monotone painting.

‘On Active Service’
Watercolour on Arches Hot Pressed Paper. (Original available at time of writing).

This painting is one of those images that I needed to paint. A tribute to our ANZAC servicemen and also a tribute to those at home. The news of the day is symbolised by the New Zealand Herald as it sits on the breakfast table alongside a much-welcome cheery letter from a serviceman. He has just been given his stripes and he describes his surprise in his letter which has the letterhead “On Active Service”. This is an actual letter and a photograph of the serviceman. Notice how the photograph is not new and pristine. It is much-loved and time-worn. The letter itself is very readable and the glasses magnify the words in their lenses. A different perspective – we can appreciate how news from our servicemen must have been treasured insights into the day to day happenings in the regiment. This serviceman returned home to his family and the items you see here are of course treasured as they were then. They were generously loaned to me ... which was much appreciated.

This painting is full of symbolism and has a truth and honesty that I needed to portray. It was important that the viewer enjoyed the excitement of the news too, so I had to write the words just as they were. In “fair dinkum kiwi/Ozzie”. A joy to read! See how I have used green and red and blue in the shadows. This counterbalanced the brown/ecru/orange subtleties of the main subjects. (I hope the colours reproduce well for you to see).