Learning to draw. What color suits… your soul?

Painters, dip your brushes… (Bulat Okudzhava)
When we were kids, we used to ask, “Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why is snow white? Then they took paints and turned a snow-white sheet into a multi-colored fairy tale, in which a person reaches the blue skies, green trees barely reach his knees – and above all this splendor the sun shines brightly with rays spread in all directions. And then, over the years, the world gradually fades and dims… We are surrounded by millions of shades – but do we really see them? Do you perceive harmonious and conflicting color combinations? Do you remember the color of your friends’ eyes? How often do you look up to the sky? Do you notice that objects cast colored shadows? Do you see how the colors change with a barely noticeable change in lighting? Do you still think the sky is blue and the grass is green? Take a look: they shimmer with hundreds of shades! The artist who created the world did not spare the colors. And other artists following the Creator again and again create their worlds: on paper, canvas, fabric, porcelain, glass… How do they manage to create such beauty? …At the beginning of the last century, the artist and teacher Johannes Itten made a striking discovery: artists with different types of appearance prefer to write in different colors. “If you want to understand the orientation of the artist,” he argues, “not only the color of his hair, eyes and skin is important – the “aura” of this person is the most significant. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pink-skinned students tend to work with very pure colors. People with black hair, dark skin, and dark brown eyes give the main role to black, and pure colors are given accompanied by black. A student with red hair and pink skin preferred to work with intense colors: yellow, red and blue in their contrasting sound. The formation of the artist must be from his subjective predisposition to certain colors and shapes. They open the way to the knowledge of the individual characteristics of the student. To help him find his inherent attraction to this or that color or form means to help him discover himself. This is why simply drawing from life without considering the preferences of the painter can be more repulsive than inspiring. And before studying the objective laws of color, you must first learn how to express your personality. Practice Let’s paint two pictures. Of course, you will need brushes and paints. For starters, a regular school gouache set and a pair of brushes are suitable: thin and thick. An old plate is perfect for a palette. (It’s better to lay an oilcloth on the workplace so as not to stain it with paint – for some reason it always spreads! And if the artist tries to work as carefully as possible, painting will soon become disgusting to him). So, the paints and brushes are on the table, the virgin-white palette is waiting to be turned into a magical alchemical vessel, the glass of water for washing the brushes is full. You put on your favorite music and chose free space and secluded time. You can start. Open the jars or tubes of paints and squeeze them little by little onto the palette. Then take a brush and start mixing them, creating new colors and shades. Do not think about correctness and harmony: become an artist and creator. Be a child and just play! If you like the new shade, put it on paper to remember. If you get “dirt” – it does not matter, you can always wash it off. When you’ve played enough – it’s time to start painting. Take a sheet of paper and write: “My favorite colors” Now draw. In 20-30 minutes you will be fine. Once you’ve finished painting, let it dry, change the water in your brush glass, wash your palette, play different music, take a new piece of paper and write: “Colors I don’t like.” Paint a picture with your least favorite colors. Be sure to save both pictures – soon you will continue to get acquainted with your color preferences. You have to express your feelings in color, as well as paint the paintings “Seasons”. But that will be in a few days. Today, get a folder for your work, wait for your paintings to dry, sign them and put a number in order to make life easier for the art historians of the future.