New Video Tip: How To Create and Avoid Mud with Pastels

Have you checked out my YouTube videos lately? I just released a new quick video tip that you might like. If you are a Patreon member you had the first look at this video when we were exploring the subject of making mud. You can now see the video on my You Tube channel here:

https://youtu.be/5FWkwtDn5_A

Please be sure to subscribe to my channel so you get the latest videos!

Here is some more important information about making mud:

 Making mud is easy.  It usually happens when we don't want it.  All of the sudden that fresh beautiful color turns dull and muddy....dirty looking color.  Yuck.  It is frustrating and we work hard to avoid it.

Sometimes it is good to make mud!

My favorite place to mix up some muddy color is in my clouds.  Whether they are stormy tormented clouds or just the shadows in white clouds, we need to use gray.  But I really don't like to use gray. I have discovered that gray can be beautiful. It depends on what colors go into the makeup of the gray. This is where making mud comes in.

There are grays made from mixing black and white. I call them B & W Grays.  They work to show the value changes in clouds but they aren't very exciting or interesting. I prefer Technicolor Grays!

Technicolor Grays are a mix of colors that when layered together turn gray (or muddy but this time we make them on purpose)  Technicolor grays are rich and interesting to look at.  You can make your grays more colorful a couple of ways:

1.  Take your B&W gray and layer some other colors on top. The colors you choose depends on the mood you are trying to create.  Keep the colors the same value of the gray. You don't need to blend the layers with your fingers...simply layering the colors will blend them together.

2. Make your own grays by layering three or more colors of the same value. Again...keep layering repeating the colors until they blend.  Whenever you mix the complements together they become grayed so any three colors are bound to create mud...I mean gray!  I love to layer the tertiary colors of orange, green and purple.

How do I choose the colors to go into my technicolor gray mix?  I like to look at the ground....what colors in the ground could I use in the makeup of the clouds? This helps my painting have color harmony and good relationships between the ground and sky.