Colourful Greys

Whether you choose to use pre-mixed neutral colours or blend bolder hues together, HASHIM AKIB shows how to create interest in the duller parts of a painting

- HASHIM AKIB

When you’re starting out on your painting journey, it is easy to become nervous of bright colours. Less confident artists often rely upon certain neutral colours in their palette as they easily transform stronger tube colours by desaturating, tinting or darkening them. These neutral pigments include Flesh Tint, Buff Titanium, Warm Grey, Payne’s Grey and Neutral Grey and they help to create an earthy, naturalistic look in a painting without bolder colour clashes. Burnt Umber is another popular choice for less experienced artists, who use it liberally in mixes with other colours to create darks and neutrals. These are quick fixes though. A better understanding of your options when it comes to neutral colours – and greys in particular – will improve your paintings no end.

The main issue is that these pre-mixed neutrals can generally suck the life out of colour mixes and lend a flat appearance to artworks. Most of the time this can be disguised with sharper drawing or an emphasis on tonal ranges, but I prefer to mix neutral, earthy and grey shades from pure colours. This way I have more control over the temperature by adjusting quantities of colour. That said, every so often I’ll include a new addition to my palette to freshen up my work. The latest was Neutral Grey from the Amsterdam range by Royal Talens – it’s light enough not to dominate mixes, yet potent enough to tame richer colour.

Neutral colours are necessary as they help to anchor saturated colour as well as create a calming presence, but a reliance on the pre-mixed neutrals can stifle your evolution as an artist as you’ll miss out on exploring and pushing your own boundaries of colour. Like most elements in art, it’s about having the discipline to use the component parts sparingly to create balance.