Lori Biggs discusses color theory.

The Warsaw Artist Forum’s March meeting was a colorful delight to all who attended. Artist Lori Biggs taught basic color theory and mixing concepts. The color wheel, as well as the concepts of color temperature, primaries, complements and tertiary colors, was discussed in great detail.

“The basic understanding of color lends itself to creating depth of perception, mood lighting, abstract balance, and more realistic landscapes paintings,” said Biggs.

Moving from color theory to mixing, Biggs continued, “Though most artists know how to mix primary colors to achieve secondary colors, not everyone knows how to successfully mix them to arrive at tertiary colors, created by mixing side-by-side colors on the color wheel”.

The concept of changing the temperature of a color using tertiary mixes, and how these techniques affect paintings was explained and illustrated using several examples of highly successful paintings.

Continuing with a 30-minute exercise, Biggs instructed participants to paint from a supplied photo with provided materials. A very limited palette of the primary colors plus white was provided. However, the paintings were to be done using opposite colors from those on the photo. For example, a yellow sunflower was to be painted in purples tones, and a green tree and landscape was done in reds.

The next Artist Forum meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, at the Bowling Alley Spare Room, 1535 N. Detroit St. in Warsaw. Artist Robert Hudson will lead the meeting. He will discuss what his artwork has in common with the Dutch Masters and how history inspires him to tell a story. All participants are encouraged to bring a current work of their art to critique after the meeting. More information can be found at http://www.artistforumgroup.com/