Architectural Color and the Artist’s Palette

Colors change

when one color is next to another.

Repetition brings harmony

with variations of hue, value, intensity.

Take cues from nature

and the effects of sunlight and shadow.

Perform a balancing act of warm and cool colors.

Warm the cool colors and cool the warm colors.

Create a sense of structure with light and shade,

warm and cool, bright and dull.

When mixing colors, use opaque colors sparingly.y

Except for exterior architecture and objects on display.

Mix with a color’s complement to create

the luminosity of full spectrum color.

Don’t use black to make grays

or to tone down the intensity of a color.

Use atmospheric perspective.

Toward the horizon, color becomes bluer,

red is closer and blue is farther away.

Look at color by daylight.

Preferred studio windows face North light.

Limit your palette with specific boundaries.

See colors that are not there.