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Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about desaturation.

First, we desaturated with black.

Then we desaturated with white.

Last week, we did it with clear.

Now let’s clash.

Complements are hues which sit on opposite sides of the color wheel.

Direct complements sit directly across from each other.

Indirect complements are slightly off to one side or the other.

Now most color theory videos and blogs stop the story here. Green and red-violet are complements or opposites. When they’re sitting side by side, that’s when the party starts. Use them together in your next card or coloring page and they’ll add zip and zing. End of lesson.

But there’s more to the story.

Complements are frenemies

The visual friction between them adds interest to a color palette.

But what happens if two frenemies get together and have a baby?

Yes, what if we desaturate with a frenemy?

Tah-dah! We’ve made a Neutral.

“Neutralization” is the process of mixing two complements.

To shade is to add black, tint is to add white, dilute is to add clear, and neutralize is to add the complement.

In the above gradient, I’ve neutralized magenta with teal.

Or vice versa.

See how the color matures and grays down as we move towards a 50/50 split of pink to blue-green?

That’s neutral desaturation.

It “grays down” because we’re literally making gray.

Now I know, when we talk about the different Gray Copic Markers:

• Warm

• Cool

• Neutral

• and Toner

You think of them as:

• Brownish

• Bluish

• Switzerland

• and Amy-Said-Skip-It

You assume Neutral Grays are called “neutral” because they sit halfway between warm and cool, right?

Well, kinda.

You’re not totally wrong. Neutral grays are in the middle temperature-wise. The N grays are the most balanced, In fact, N5 is about the most middle of the road marker in the world— not too warm, not too cool, not too light, not too dark…

But there are lots of names we could call the Ns if it was just a matter of balance— equal grays, even grays, straight grays, unbiased, impartial, or my favorite— achromatic gray.

We use the word neutral for an important reason.

They’re called Neutral Grays because they’re the result of neutralization.

Ohhhhh… the lightbulb over your head just flicked on, right?

Now don’t get too carried away… Copic didn’t literally make the Ns by mixing two complements.

But they did search high and low to find a gray dye to mimic the look of a neutralized blend.

And that’s actually better. Mixed ink formulas are unstable and harder to blend.

Now Copic is really nice.

They give us a wide selection of grays and their Ns are truely the closest thing to a truly neutralized, authentic grayscale.

Copic Ns are far more neutral than many so-called Neutral Tint paints.

But have you ever noticed that N gray projects look dull and even the freshly colored areas look slightly faded?

Uh oh. It’s the selfish black effect.

Perfectly neutralized grays don’t bounce many lightwaves. N’s are greedy colors, just like black.

So on the whole, projects using nothing but N grays are lacking in spirit and personality because neutral gray doesn’t excite the light receptors in our eyes.

So what’s the solution?

Simple— add some color back to your N blends.

See our kitty cat here? I selected him today for a reason.

If I asked you to color the cat, you’d choose a pink for the nose, some green for the eyes, and your entire N gray collection for his fur.

But let’s do a test…

Stare at the kitty’s nose for a while.

Think about that pink. Which pink Copics would you use? Where would you place each pink?

Now stare into the kitty’s eyes.

See all the various greens? There’s some mint and spring green, some chartreuse, and celadon, maybe some aquamarine, and then there’s a bit of rose, and some coral, and a bit of blush…

Wait a minute. We are looking at greens but you’re seeing hints of pink?

Bingo.

Suddenly that gray fur isn’t so gray anymore, is it?

I’m seeing a ton of pinks and bluish greens in his fur. It’s everywhere.

And now this neutralization sample is your shopping list to color the cat.

In art, it’s never just gray.

In fact, the word gray should gradually disappear from your vocabulary.

What color is the kitty-cat?

He’s neutralized pink and green.

He is a rainbow.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

No business stays the same, especially not online businesses. It’s always evolve-or-die. MAJOR changes to Vanilla Arts are afoot. More info coming soon but here’s the time sensitive part:

THE BLEND WILL CLOSE ON JUNE 31

No new students for the summer/fall

The Blend will RE-OPEN on January 1, 2025

I’ll be launching a new 12 week course this summer, so I need the time and mental space to create and troubleshoot the new course materials.

If you’ve already purchased The Blend, nothing changes.

If you’re currently working through The Blend now, nothing changes. You will ALWAYS have complete access to all lessons and the forum.

I’m only halting new purchases.

So yes, I’m doing this because of time & focus constraints. My plan is that The Blend and the new course will rotate— 6 months on, 6 off, one on hiatus, the other open and active.

But there’s something else I’ve noticed…

The very first group of Blend students had the most amazing experience! They were a large and chatty group of students doing the same things at the same time. They were able to cheer each other on, share great advice, and commiserate when everyone messed up the same ice cream in the same spot. Friendships were made.

Since then, students have trickled through in smaller numbers and the peer to peer support network isn’t the same.

By limiting the enrollment period, I can encourage the original excitement and improve community experience for all future students.

MY ADVICE:

• Since this is a final call until 2025, I expect there will be a small uptick in June enrollment. Instant mini-community? I hope so.

• If you definitely want to do The Blend this summer, go ahead and sign up. You can work the lessons at your own pace, as usual.

• If you’re currently working Blend lessons but want to take a break, consider starting up again in January with the new cohort. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t :)

• If you know you’ll do better with maximum peer interaction, wait to enroll until January.

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK:

SAME’S THE SAME

Oh my goodness! I ask a question and you folks really, really, really come through.

During one of my livestreams, someone mentioned that my boxes of Primrosia Paint Pens (sets of 12) are disappearing from Amazon. That put several of you on the hunt for replacements and more info.

We’ve now heard directly from Primrosia that the box sets are only temporarily out of stock and they’ll be back soon.

Several of you purchased a 30 set and have confirmed that they are indeed the same pens I use.

The color names are still an issue because there are no names or numbers on the pens and it’s not always clear which name on the box matches which color.

And because the cans hold more than 2 boxes, I can’t give you a smiple rule like “Green Can = Pink Box + Black Box”.

But at least we know they’re not discontinued. Whew.

Oh, and I’m sitting on a big pile of newly released acrylic pens. So I’ll be testing other brands soon. But for now, the Primrosia cans are a safe purchase!

BTW, you should store Primrosia cans on their side. They’re pigment based which means the pens are best stored horizontal.

Remember, when you shop using my link above, any Amazon purchase over the next 24 hours supports the free content here and at YouTube.

THIS WEEK IN COLOR

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