Color Techniques for Landscape

Design
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/landscaping/design/colortechniques.html

Description/ Purpose:

Illustration by Gunda Luss

Adding color to a landscape design makes a plan come alive! It also communicates depth,
texture and interest to a plan, and helps the viewer to better visualize the finished
landscape. The following report reviews color palettes, explains various media available
to the designer, and presents tips for improving technique for using color in landscape
designs.

Design Considerations:
The best method for adding color is to use a simple color palette for each project and
emphasize only the essential elements within the design, leaving details to the
imagination. Overuse of color may result in a gaudy plan that is too busy and detracts
from the design itself. While surfaces in the foreground need to be correctly rendered, in
the distance, these same materials will appear only as values. Even highly textured
surfaces will appear white in bright sunlight. An eraser can become the best tool in
eliminating extraneous details and adding highlights.

Definitions of coloring terms:

 Red (carmine), yellow and blue (phthalocyanine) from which all other
Primary Colors
colors may be mixed.
Secondary Orange, green and purple, made by mixing adjacent primary colors on
Colors the color wheel.
Colors located between primary and secondary colors on the color
Tertiary Colors
wheel, created by mixing any adjacent primary and secondary color.
The clearest form of any color, without the addition of black, white or
Hue
its complement.
The intensity, strength or saturation of a color. The intensity of a hue
can be reduced by its complementary. For instance, the intensity of
Chroma
green can be reduced by adding red -- the eventual result being a
neutral gray.
Value The lightness or darkness of a color, E.g. light or dark blue.
Shade A color darkened by adding black.
Tint A color lightened by adding white.
Complementary Colors opposite each other on the color wheel. Mixing complementary
Color colors will produce gray.
A color scheme using values of only one color. Sepia (reddish-brown)
Monochromatic
is a common choice in illustration.
A scheme using two or three adjacent colors on the color wheel.
Example: yellow, yellow-green, green or blue, purple, violet. This
Analogous
scheme is equally useful in creating a simple palette for an illustration
or a garden design.
Generally thought of as yellow, orange and red, which seem to advance
toward the viewer. However this distinction may also be made of blues
Warm colors and greens. Example: ultramarine blue is 'warmer' than cobalt blue.
Willow green is 'warmer' than sage and Cadmium red is 'warmer' than
carmine.
Cool Colors Generally, blues, greens and violets, which appear to recede.

Sources: Architectural Drawing & Light Construction, Third edition by Edward J.

Muller, and Color in Architectural Illustration by Richard Rochon and Harold Linton.
The Color Wheel:
Figure 1: The Color Wheel

Relationships between colors are described by the color wheel. Used by artists of various
expertise, the color wheel introduces primary, secondary and tertiary colors as well as
color complements. The primary colors are red, blue and yellow, and cannot be created
by mixing other elements. However, any two primary colors mixed together will yield a
secondary color - orange, green or purple. Tertiary colors are created by mixing a
secondary color with a primary color. For example, yellow-green is made by mixing the
secondary color green with the primary color, yellow.

Color Complements are color opposites and contract each other, creating a vibrant, active
color palette. They are located on opposite sides of the color wheel from each. An
example of a pair of complementary colors is purple and yellow.

Color Palettes:
Depending on time and design requirements the palette used may vary from monochrome
to complex. Outlined below in increasing levels of complexity are some options. The
simplest palette is monochromatic, that is, using tints of one color for the entire drawing.
Sepia tone is a classic example, although this may create a retrospective appearance.
Figure
2: Plan

illustrated with sepia tone colors. Design and illustration by Gunda Luss.

An analogous color palette uses colors adjacent on the color wheel.

聽聽聽聽聽 Figure 3:
Analogous
color
Examples of analogous palettes: palette
 Yellow, Yellow-green, Green
 Green, Blue-green, Blue
 Blue, Purple, Violet

 Yellow-orange, yellow, chartreuse

Figure
4: A
plan
view
using
an

analogous color pallete. (Design and illustration by Gunda Luss)

A combination palette starts with an analogous palette and add a complementary

color(s) for more visual excitement. Some examples using Prismacolor 庐 markers as
suggested by McGarry and Madsen in Marker Magic are:

Lime
green, Malachite, Teal blue Fathom blue, Grayed
Spring green Nile green, Dark green Fathom lavender, Hot pink
blue, Grape

Non- Cream,
photo Warm
blue, Light blue, True blue Teal blue, Lime gray 30%, Warm gray 60% + Non-photo
green, Flesh blue, True blue
聽
Figure 5: Combination color palette. Source: Marker Magic, pp. 80-81

Media
Figure 6: Illustration using colored pencils.
(Illustration by Gunda Luss)
Although the following comments are by individual media, These can be mixed. Pencils
work well with markers or pastels. Markers and watercolor are relatively transparent
while pencil and pastel are not. Test the desired effect on scrap paper first. In Step by
Step Process Including Tools & Equipment, author Mike Lin has some of the best
technical suggestions. The following is a summary of some Lin's key points plus added
observations:

Colored Pencil

Advantages:

 user friendly
 blends easily
 easy to control
 can create light or value changes quickly.
 wax based and thus do not reflect light as well
 resists moisture and fading.
 fairly inexpensive

Disadvantages:
 time-consuming to use because of the fine point
 a beginner may have difficulty creating smooth, even color. On vellum, this effect
is mitigated by coloring on the backside of the sheet and by using a the colorless
'blender pencil'

For best strokes, color at a 45 掳, forward or back depending on whether you are right or
left handed.
Tips for coloring
1. Work from top to bottom;
2. Work from dark values to light;
3. Work from large areas to small;
4. Work from soft elements to hard;
5. Color trees before buildings to avoid a hard edge;
6. Draw repetitive items serially for maximum consistency;
7. Work from coarse to fine.

Source: AIA Architectural Illustration by Paul Stevenson Oles

According to Paul Stevenson Oles, the following colors comprise a good basic palette
(listed in order of importance):

1. Burnt umber 9. White 18. Yellow ochre

 10. Sienna
2. Indigo blue 19. Slate gray
11. Dark brown
3. Ultramarine 20. Warm gray light
12. Sepia
4. Canary yellow 21. Warm gray medium
13. Raw Ochre
5. Dark green 22. Apple green
14. Sand
6. Non-photo blue 23. Olive green
15. Flesh
7. Scarlet 24. Grass green
16. Vermillion
8. Black 25. Light green
17. Terra cotta

Note: Colors above are based on Prismacolor 庐 product names.

A colorless blender 'pencil', which may be used to minimize undesired texture, is also
available under several different brand names. The blender works equally well on plain
paper and on vellum but it will not blend as thoroughly as the marker blender.

Markers

Figure 7: Using markers for a pond

illustration. (Illustration by Gunda Luss)
The large nib and free-flowing color of markers make them the quickest way to add some
sparkle to a plan, elevation or photo view. When using them on vellum, as with pencil, it
is best to apply to the back side of the sheet. This produces a softer more even tone and
prevents the smearing of inked lines.

There a number of marker brands but they all have some limitations in a good selection
of green tones. Using a blender marker, that has no color of its own, is a useful way to
increase the range of the markers available. The blender does not have any effect on
marks made on plain paper. Use it only on vellum and clean the tip on scrap paper
between colors.
In rendering a 'photo' view it is best to have three tones in rendering foliage: the base
color, the highlight and the shadow. It is possible to effectively render an object with the
base color, a blender for highlights and a dark gray for shadows.

Figure
8:
Pencil

illustration showing 3 shades of green (left) compared to green, dark gray, and using a blender. (Illustration
by Gunda Luss)

Ink- Dyes
Most often used for separate illustrations on illustration board, this technique could also
be done on a small piece of watercolor paper and 'cut into' a vellum sheet for a photo
view. Inks and dyes produce a brilliant color but are not light-fast and will fade so, not
good if you plan to keep it for years. Use the watercolor technique and materials noted
below.

Water Color
Figure 9: Example of using watercolors to
illustrate a landscape design. (Illustration
by Gunda Luss)
Using watercolors to illustrate a design requires a bit of practice and the largest up-front
expenditure of time and money. Good brushes are expensive as is good paper; however, it
is worthwhile to use good tools because it makes the job easier. Better paper, such as
Strathmore 庐 or Arches 庐 is much more forgiving and will take more working over than
cheaper kinds. Watercolor paper needs to be 'sized' before use. This means taping the
edges to a board with masking tape and wetting the entire surface with water. Let it dry
and then proceed. Draw the view lightly in pencil, put in the color washes next and
finally add the detail with your favorite ink pen or marker.

To inset a photo view, done on watercolor paper, into a vellum sheet, cut both at the same
time with a sharp Xacto 庐 blade and metal straight edge to get a perfect alignment. Tape
in place from the back.

Pastel
This medium is harder to control than other media but offers clear brilliant color. It can be
used to create an impressionistic 'photo view' or used to add color where you would
normally use a marker. Apply the color on the back side of a drawing on vellum by
shaving off a small amount and rubbing with a finger. Spray illustrations with a fixative
to prevent smearing.

Other useful techniques

 Transferring

o Tracing
o Carbon paper

Use a fine point pencil or a ballpoint pen with or without ink as a stylus. Attach the top
edges securely to keep in register and to allow for peek at the progress. Or make your
own by blackening the back the back of your rough drawing with a soft black pencil.

 Edgers: It is hard to control the length of a stroke. If it necessary to have a clean

edge in the illustration or around the edges, the following items may be helpful:
Drafting (not masking) tape, a simple card, an eraser shield, a triangle, a clear
scale or a ruler.

 Negative pencil. An electric eraser can be a handy tool for removing pencil marks
from larger areas, but if a white line is needed to indicate mullions, flagpoles,
masts, or cables against a dark background, a useful method is scoring. On thin
paper a resilient underlay may be necessary to prevent buckling. The stylus may
be a leather tool or an empty ballpoint pen. Simply draw wherever the white lines
 are needed. Then carefully stroke across the surface - the indented lines will
remain white.

Figure
10:
Example
of using
a stylus
to 'draw'
white
lines and
illustrate
hard
features
such as
walls and
patios.
(Illustration by Gunda Luss)

References:

Albers, Josef, Interaction of Color, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1971

Lin, Mike, Drawing and Design with Confidence. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York,
1993

McGarry-Madsen, Magic Marker, The Rendering Problem Solver for Designers. John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1993

Muller, Edward J. Architectural Drawing & Light Construction, Third edition. Prentice
Hall, NJ, 1985

Oles, Paul Stevenson Oles, AIA Architectural Illustration, Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, New York, 1979

Rochon, Richard and Linton, Harold, Color in Architectural Illustration, Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, New York, 1989

Paul Stevenson, Drawing the Future, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1988

Shen, Janet and Walker, Theodore D., Sketching and Rendering, Van Nostrand Reinhold,
New York, 1992
This report was developed by Gunda Luss, student, University of Minnesota Department
of Horticultural Science.