Molly Hargarten Art

Balfour Trunk Show

I will be participating in the Balfour Lodge Trunk Show on Oct. 22, 2011 from 1-4PM. This is free and open to the public. Located at 1331 Hecla, Louisville, CO. This is one of the paintings that I will have for sale. Please come by.

posted October 21, 2011 | Comments (0)

Color & Value Scales

The next few lessons that we worked on were mixing color and working with value. I found that I liked mixing colors but I didn’t like some of the mixtures that I got. I decided that my tube Benzemide Orange was a nicer color than the orange that I mixed. Likewise for Chromoxide Green and Thioindigo Violet vs. mixed green and violet. The value scales of all the different colors was challenging. I found it easier to get the tints rather than the shades. I had to modify the shades several times. This was a useful lesson.

posted October 07, 2011 | Comments (0)

Color Friends

Three artist friends and I are getting together weekly to study color. We are working on the exercises that Nita Leland has in her book, “Exploring Color”. The first exercise is to paint the 4 seasons. This is a way to document where you are with color at this point; the pigments you use, the mixes and combinations. This is what I came up with so far. This isn’t a very good painting but I was just trying to get my usual colors on the page. Some things that I have noticed is that I usually paint with a light value to start with and I use two tube greens, Veridian and Chrome Oxide. That is a big no-no in watercolor painting! More to come.

posted September 19, 2011 | Comments (0)

Color Palette

Here are the colors that I am presently using on my palette. I have come to these via my teacher and by taking other painting workshops. They are: : Indanthrene Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Payne’s Gray, Cobalt Turquoise, Viridian Green, Chromoxide Green, Aureolin Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Benzemide Orange, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Violet, Permanent Rose, Thioindigo Violet, Grain Brown, Opera. Two friends and I are going to start exploring color theory. The first thing we plan on doing is painting 4 small compositions, one of each season, with our present palettes. This is to establish a baseline so we can see how our palettes change as a result of this study. Stay tuned!

posted August 31, 2011 | Comments (0)

Color is Important

Color is important and I love it. The brighter the better. I have started using ‘Opera’. This is a bright pink pigment that I never thought that I would use. When mixed with orange, it makes a brillant hue that really pops on your paper. Another combo that I love is Burnt Sienna and Thioindigo Violet. When these two pigments are mixed you get a deep, juicy, earthy color that adds interest and emotion to landscapes and organic objects.

posted August 26, 2011 | Comments (0)

EBCA Open Studio Tour

I will be in the EBCA Open Studio Tour April 30-May 1 & May 7-8. I will be showing with Carol Monaco and Marissa Perry-Saints at 205 W. Emma from 11-5 each day (I am #15 on the EBCA map). We will have food, drink and sale items plus I will be doing a demo at 2PM each day. Also, and this is cool, you can hear me talk about my art at the EBCA Preview Shows at the Great Frame Up in Longmont and the Lafayette Library by dialing 888-827-8566 (Artlook), then 8005 and finally 15. Please stop by.

posted April 23, 2011 | Comments (0)

Where Does Color Come From?

On the sixth day, God created the artist, realizing no doubt that He had far from exhausted the uses of color.
Robert Brault

Physicists that researched the properties of light discovered that there is a short band of visible light rays at one end of the light band. Within that visible portion, Sir Isaac Newton discovered the color spectrum. In the seventeenth century, he passed white light through a prism and saw that it split into bands of beautiful color. He later combined the two ends of the bands and thus, the color wheel was born. In Newton’s time, the number seven was important and he identified seven colors in the spectrum, the six colors that we have today; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet, plus indigo. Who knew?

posted April 22, 2011 | Comments (0)

Where to Start the Color Journey?

I am going to start this journey by examining the works of some of the best colorists that have passed our way. Turner, Delacroix, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh and Bonnard are all masters of color expression. They all possessed the drive and inquiring minds needed to motivate them to understand color and its use. They accomplished an understanding of color in order to use it to bring individual expression to their work. Take a look. What do you think?

posted April 12, 2011 | Comments (0)

Why Study Color?

The use of expressive color is felt to be one of the basic elements of the modern mentality, a historical necessity, beyond choice.
Henri Matisse

Color is the main way that artists express themselves. Color touches the heart. So why do so many artists focus on the study of line, shape, composition, value and think that color ‘just comes to a person’. Painting is the act of putting color on canvas or paper. How hard can that be? But to use color well to evoke feelings and emotions takes much effort and study. Many avoid teaching or studying color because it is complicated and to really understand it takes effort and that can be intimidating. Students want quick formulas and mixes to find the perfect ‘tree’, ‘sky’ or ‘flesh’ color. I have the book, Exploring Color, How to use and control color in your paintings by Nita Leland. In this book, the author presents a methodical and concentrated method of understanding color. For the next few months, my intention is to go through this book and complete all the exercises that the author presents. Then…. I want to see how my paintings have changed. Want to take this journey with me?

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The Value of a Sketchbook

Something that I do is carry a small sketchbook with me. I keep it in my purse and when I see something that I like I jot down a few notes about it, or do a quick sketch. Later, when I am back in my studio, I have a reference so I can put together a painting. There are times where I have to wait, for an appointment, a flight, where my sketchbook comes in handy. I can focus on quick renditions as people walk by or spend more time sketching a person sitting across the room from. My sketchbook can double as a painting creativity journal as a collection of the ideas you have and things that inspire you. It’s a place to record ideas that you can’t use immediately — you may think you’ll remember them, but one can’t remember everything, so it’s better to make a quick note and put it into your painting creativity journal. Don’t think it’s for only finished ideas or well-planned projects, it’s definitely not! It’s the place to record those quick thoughts before you get distracted, those images lurking in your brain, and for building up a personal image library.

A few things to include in your sketchbook:

1. Ideas for painting titles or a theme for a series of work.
2. Sketches of interesting compositions.
3. Flashes of inspiration.
4. Notes on painting techniques that you notice in others work.

What are other things that you keep in your sketchbooks?