Color Theory for the Painter (Online Workshop) Summer 2025 w/ Rose Irelan
June 4 to June 18 (Wednesdays) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/T_xeLbOkzAc
Workshop Description
Learn how color theory can help you mix more harmonious color for your paintings and to get a better understanding to color theory and how to apply it successfully to you paintings.
Understand the properties of some of the most widely used pigments and how and when to use them.
Learn how to create Chroma Scales and Hue Scales to better study and understand color.
Explore using various limited palette color arrangements to achieve cleaner and more harmonious color for your paintings.
Learn how to mix those difficult and elusive colors and why they are important.
Understand why determining color temperature is so important and how to do it.
Learn and practice color mixing and palette management strategies to apply color theory to your oil painting practice.
Grow as an artist with a better understanding of color and gain confidence in your color.
Workshop Outline
Over the course of 3 weeks, we will be working on various exercises to better understand color theory and how to apply it to painting. These exercises are skill-builiding tools.
The concepts learned from the exercises will be applied to 3 different paintings. One for each week, using the color arrangements we worked on in class. The paintings will be simple in subject matter so that you can fully grasp the color theory and work with it on your painting without getting caught up in too much detail.
We will paint together in class for the exercise portion of the workshop. Students will finish the color theory exercises for homework outside of class if they did not complete them during the zoom class.
For homework, the students will apply the knowledge gained from doing the color exercises to a painting each week. The subject matter will be simple enough for students to execute a painting by using the color arrangements and theory gained from each class.
Week 1 - Painting with a complimentary arrangement of 2 pigments and Color Scales. Create a color board and create a painting with this concept.
Week 2 - Primary Triad arrangement with using 3 pigments. Create a Triad and then apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Week 3 - Secondary Triad arrangement using 3 pigments. Create a Triad Color Board and apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Workshop Materials List
PAINTS (oil, water based oils or acrylic)
Cadmium Yellow Lemon or Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Cadmium Orange
Yellow Ochre (or Gold Ochre by Holbein, which is my preference. I also like Rembrandt Yellow Ochre)
Cadmium Red Light (make sure you have a red light not medium)
Alizarin Crimson
Viridian Green Hue (Holbein) or a regular Viridian green. I prefer the punch of the “hue”
Cerulean Blue Hue (great for skies, some water, and some paler greens)
Cobalt Blue (I love Holbein Cobalt Blue Pale but it is expensive so any other brand is fine)
Ultramarine Blue Deep (Ultramarine Blue. Holbein is the brand I use for the Ultramarine Deep. Rembrandt also has it. Regular Ultramarine or French Ultramarine Blue is fine.)
Winsor & Newton Blue Mauve Shade
Quinacridone Rose or Permanent Rose (mostly used for flowers, sometimes for skies and more brilliant
violets)Ivory Black or Chromatic Black. for value studies and for mixing only. Not straight out of the tube or to “darken” . Black is used as another option for blue as a modifier and mixer. I also keep a tube of blue/black, from Holbein, but do not use blue/black for value studies.
Titanium/Zinc White or regular Titanium White (large tube- 150 ml). Gamblin makes the blend that I use most. You can use plain Titanium White if that is what you have on hand. I use both for different reasons which we will go into in class.
June 4 to June 18 (Wednesdays) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/T_xeLbOkzAc
Workshop Description
Learn how color theory can help you mix more harmonious color for your paintings and to get a better understanding to color theory and how to apply it successfully to you paintings.
Understand the properties of some of the most widely used pigments and how and when to use them.
Learn how to create Chroma Scales and Hue Scales to better study and understand color.
Explore using various limited palette color arrangements to achieve cleaner and more harmonious color for your paintings.
Learn how to mix those difficult and elusive colors and why they are important.
Understand why determining color temperature is so important and how to do it.
Learn and practice color mixing and palette management strategies to apply color theory to your oil painting practice.
Grow as an artist with a better understanding of color and gain confidence in your color.
Workshop Outline
Over the course of 3 weeks, we will be working on various exercises to better understand color theory and how to apply it to painting. These exercises are skill-builiding tools.
The concepts learned from the exercises will be applied to 3 different paintings. One for each week, using the color arrangements we worked on in class. The paintings will be simple in subject matter so that you can fully grasp the color theory and work with it on your painting without getting caught up in too much detail.
We will paint together in class for the exercise portion of the workshop. Students will finish the color theory exercises for homework outside of class if they did not complete them during the zoom class.
For homework, the students will apply the knowledge gained from doing the color exercises to a painting each week. The subject matter will be simple enough for students to execute a painting by using the color arrangements and theory gained from each class.
Week 1 - Painting with a complimentary arrangement of 2 pigments and Color Scales. Create a color board and create a painting with this concept.
Week 2 - Primary Triad arrangement with using 3 pigments. Create a Triad and then apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Week 3 - Secondary Triad arrangement using 3 pigments. Create a Triad Color Board and apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Workshop Materials List
PAINTS (oil, water based oils or acrylic)
Cadmium Yellow Lemon or Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Cadmium Orange
Yellow Ochre (or Gold Ochre by Holbein, which is my preference. I also like Rembrandt Yellow Ochre)
Cadmium Red Light (make sure you have a red light not medium)
Alizarin Crimson
Viridian Green Hue (Holbein) or a regular Viridian green. I prefer the punch of the “hue”
Cerulean Blue Hue (great for skies, some water, and some paler greens)
Cobalt Blue (I love Holbein Cobalt Blue Pale but it is expensive so any other brand is fine)
Ultramarine Blue Deep (Ultramarine Blue. Holbein is the brand I use for the Ultramarine Deep. Rembrandt also has it. Regular Ultramarine or French Ultramarine Blue is fine.)
Winsor & Newton Blue Mauve Shade
Quinacridone Rose or Permanent Rose (mostly used for flowers, sometimes for skies and more brilliant
violets)Ivory Black or Chromatic Black. for value studies and for mixing only. Not straight out of the tube or to “darken” . Black is used as another option for blue as a modifier and mixer. I also keep a tube of blue/black, from Holbein, but do not use blue/black for value studies.
Titanium/Zinc White or regular Titanium White (large tube- 150 ml). Gamblin makes the blend that I use most. You can use plain Titanium White if that is what you have on hand. I use both for different reasons which we will go into in class.
June 4 to June 18 (Wednesdays) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/T_xeLbOkzAc
Workshop Description
Learn how color theory can help you mix more harmonious color for your paintings and to get a better understanding to color theory and how to apply it successfully to you paintings.
Understand the properties of some of the most widely used pigments and how and when to use them.
Learn how to create Chroma Scales and Hue Scales to better study and understand color.
Explore using various limited palette color arrangements to achieve cleaner and more harmonious color for your paintings.
Learn how to mix those difficult and elusive colors and why they are important.
Understand why determining color temperature is so important and how to do it.
Learn and practice color mixing and palette management strategies to apply color theory to your oil painting practice.
Grow as an artist with a better understanding of color and gain confidence in your color.
Workshop Outline
Over the course of 3 weeks, we will be working on various exercises to better understand color theory and how to apply it to painting. These exercises are skill-builiding tools.
The concepts learned from the exercises will be applied to 3 different paintings. One for each week, using the color arrangements we worked on in class. The paintings will be simple in subject matter so that you can fully grasp the color theory and work with it on your painting without getting caught up in too much detail.
We will paint together in class for the exercise portion of the workshop. Students will finish the color theory exercises for homework outside of class if they did not complete them during the zoom class.
For homework, the students will apply the knowledge gained from doing the color exercises to a painting each week. The subject matter will be simple enough for students to execute a painting by using the color arrangements and theory gained from each class.
Week 1 - Painting with a complimentary arrangement of 2 pigments and Color Scales. Create a color board and create a painting with this concept.
Week 2 - Primary Triad arrangement with using 3 pigments. Create a Triad and then apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Week 3 - Secondary Triad arrangement using 3 pigments. Create a Triad Color Board and apply these colors to a painting with this concept.
Workshop Materials List
PAINTS (oil, water based oils or acrylic)
Cadmium Yellow Lemon or Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Cadmium Orange
Yellow Ochre (or Gold Ochre by Holbein, which is my preference. I also like Rembrandt Yellow Ochre)
Cadmium Red Light (make sure you have a red light not medium)
Alizarin Crimson
Viridian Green Hue (Holbein) or a regular Viridian green. I prefer the punch of the “hue”
Cerulean Blue Hue (great for skies, some water, and some paler greens)
Cobalt Blue (I love Holbein Cobalt Blue Pale but it is expensive so any other brand is fine)
Ultramarine Blue Deep (Ultramarine Blue. Holbein is the brand I use for the Ultramarine Deep. Rembrandt also has it. Regular Ultramarine or French Ultramarine Blue is fine.)
Winsor & Newton Blue Mauve Shade
Quinacridone Rose or Permanent Rose (mostly used for flowers, sometimes for skies and more brilliant
violets)Ivory Black or Chromatic Black. for value studies and for mixing only. Not straight out of the tube or to “darken” . Black is used as another option for blue as a modifier and mixer. I also keep a tube of blue/black, from Holbein, but do not use blue/black for value studies.
Titanium/Zinc White or regular Titanium White (large tube- 150 ml). Gamblin makes the blend that I use most. You can use plain Titanium White if that is what you have on hand. I use both for different reasons which we will go into in class.