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Deedoubleyou · 1 June 2009, 04:51 PM

The reason for the appearance of grays when only two colors are applied comes from how thick or opaque the upper layer of color is. Thinly applied color is more translucent than thicker applications and will allow more light to penetrate through it. When light travels through a layer and bounces off the bottom layer back out into space it will change the frequency on the return. How opaque the top layer is will determine how far through it the light will travel before bouncing back. If light penetrates deeper, the bottom layer of color will affect the frequency more. The various thicknesses of the streaked color will therefore give you a multitude of hues. In this manner you don't have to "mix" a color physically on a palette, light will do the work for you. Artists have been using this method for centuries from Leonardo Da Vinci to Johannes Vermeer. It is commonly called "glazing" because the artist would use a thinned color or "glaze" to tint the bottom color for the desired results. This method often gives the work a luminous quality that is much admired by collectors.

Dwayne

1 June 2009, 04:51 PM	#46 (permalink)
Deedoubleyou Two-seater Pilot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Long Island, New York USA Posts: 116	Grays The reason for the appearance of grays when only two colors are applied comes from how thick or opaque the upper layer of color is. Thinly applied color is more translucent than thicker applications and will allow more light to penetrate through it. When light travels through a layer and bounces off the bottom layer back out into space it will change the frequency on the return. How opaque the top layer is will determine how far through it the light will travel before bouncing back. If light penetrates deeper, the bottom layer of color will affect the frequency more. The various thicknesses of the streaked color will therefore give you a multitude of hues. In this manner you don't have to "mix" a color physically on a palette, light will do the work for you. Artists have been using this method for centuries from Leonardo Da Vinci to Johannes Vermeer. It is commonly called "glazing" because the artist would use a thinned color or "glaze" to tint the bottom color for the desired results. This method often gives the work a luminous quality that is much admired by collectors. Dwayne Last edited by Deedoubleyou; 1 June 2009 at 05:21 PM.