Supplementary and Complementary Colours

HUE RELATIONSHIPS

A basic colour wheel can help you understand the relationships between different colours. Two of these relationships are supplementary and complementary colours.

Supplementary Colours

Supplementary Colours are those that are next to each other on the color wheel. Together, they create a sense of calmness as they work well together.

An artwork with a lot of supplementary colours can seem peaceful and pleasant, as in this painting by Claude Monet which uses blues, greens and yellows, all supplementary colours.

Claude Monet, water Lillies

  
Complementary Colours

Complementary colours  come from the opposite side of the colour wheel. These colours bounce off of each other, that is, they have maximum colour impact. An artwork with a lot of complementary colours will look busy and striking.

You can see this in this painting by Van Gogh, where he use purples in the sky to bring the light out even more. the oranges in the sky bounce off their complement - blue.

Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, c. 1889

Usually artists use a combination of these relationships to draw your eye towards certain parts. For example, a painting with a lot of greens, blues and purples might have a few yellows, reds and oranges added to really stand out.

You can see this in this beautiful painting of water lillies by Monet:

Claude Monet, Water Lillies, 1916

Keep an eye out for our colour course for more about colour! (Coming soon!)

How to Draw a Donut

This is one of my easiest (and most fun!) how to draw videos, featuring a frosted donut with sprinkles! It starts with an ellipse (a squished circle). This one is especially fun for kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVjnrG9sZiM

Please let me know if you found it fun and want to see more!

How to Draw a Cupcake

I've uploaded a fun and simple video on how to draw a cupcake (not to mention with very groovy music!). This should help beginner drawers, those of you with a sweet tooth, those who want a basis for chibi characters and any of you who want to create advertising materials (a small token of my appreciation to cake decorators and bakers ;) ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNEPo4EPNsA

If you would like to see more of these, please subscribe to the Blueberry Beetle channel and like our videos! T

Thanks!

Video Tutorial on Fixatives

Hi All, here is a link to our second video tutorial for Basic Materials, specifically on Fixatives.

This tutorial should be especially helpful for those of you who would like to work in graphite pencil, charcoal and chalk pastel.

Please check it out and let me know what you think!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWDSN6HjU6I

First Video!!

Hi guys! Well, today I have hit a milestone - my first video post! Check it out on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/Q_tW0_loE_A

 This will be the first of many so watch this space and please tell me what you think of my first ever video!

Tips for Drawing Great Flowers

       1.   Think About Composition

I’m a big fan of drawing flowers as you find them when there’s something that just strikes you. However, before you invest too much time in the drawing or painting, look at your flowers from a few different angles to make sure you have the best one. 

With arranged flowers, thinks about which flowers you want to stand out. These will be your focal points. Try and balance these out so they are not all in the same place (more of this soon in Composition).

       2. Draw the Big Shapes, Not the Small Details

Always try and reduce the complexity of your subject matter – it makes it much easier to draw and is less overwhelming.

  3. Let Negative Space Define the Details

Once you have the big shapes, use negative space (the shape around the object) to cut out the details. This will help ensure you draw what you really see and again, reduces complexity.

You will build up the positive spaces naturally as you go. For more information on Negative Space and Positive Space, keep an eye out for a Negative Space lesson coming up on Blueberry Beetle.

4. Always Extend from the Base

You want your flowers to feel elongated and delicately extended, not clumpy or squashed. Make sure you leave plenty of room for stems.

 Much of this will come from your original composition.

Once you have your outline right, then you can more on to more details or to painting.

       5. Keep Your Colours Fresh

 Avoid  using black to darken your flowers - this just makes everything seem grey! Try using supplementary and complementary colours, or similar secondary and tertiary mixes instead to keep eye-popping colours (more of this in our colour workshops!).

Sometimes adding fresh colour towards the end of the work is enough to freshen everything up.

If you found this helpful, please favourite this page – there are more step-by-step tutorials on drawing flowers coming soon at Blueberry Beetle.