Making a Color Value Chart

Cheap Joe's Test Studio: Making a Color Value Chart

Joe Miller demonstrates how to make your own watercolor value chart to hang up on your wall. Here is a transcription for those that can't turn their speakers up.

Well it's me again, ol' Joe from Cheap Joe's. Today I'd like to show you how to make a color value chart for you to hang on the wall of your studio. So that rather than having the colors in your tube or your palette you can see what they really look like on paper. It's fun, you're going to love it. Stay with me.

I've taken a piece of Kilimanjaro 140lb watercolor paper and I've already done these. Now I want to show you how I did them. I've taped it off in little one and a half by 2" blocks all the way across. That takes more time than anything with artist tape. Then you simply take your watercolor, and I use it right out of the tube. Put it right up here in the corner; squeeze a little dot on it. Take a little half inch flat brush and just work it right in. That's pure watercolor now right in there. Now then I clean the brush really well, have it nice and damp and begin to pull that water right on over. That osmosis will pull that color right on over into there and now I have a value study of wild fuchsia. Beautiful color. Here's another color called arctic ice. Do the same thing, put your color down. Always start with your lighter colors, yellow and work to the darker colors and that way you will not contaminate your brush when you're moving across the paper.

Now then I simply let it dry, be sure it's good and dry. I kind of got in a hurry on these. Take your tape off and they're nice and clean and ready for you to put the name underneath. This is arctic ice. And now I have a nice chart to put on the wall to see what all these beautiful new watercolors that I've just bought look like on the paper.

Ok, remember just take your 1" artist tape, your 140lb Kilimanjaro paper, block it off, put a little color on there, wet it down good, then let osmosis pull it on across with clean water and you'll have your own color chart. Thanks for your business, tune in again next time, we'll have more tips coming up.