Colors are my voice, and pigments are the words with which I paint emotions, tell stories, and bring visions to life. Today, I want to take you into my vibrant world, sharing some of my favorite pigments, the ones I use most often that make my works so rich in shades and contrasts.
Ready to discover my chromatic secrets?
![2023 - Il gabbiano Jonathan - oil on canvas - 150x100 cm](https://assuntacassa.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-Il-gabbiano-Jonathan-oil-on-canvas-150x100-cm.jpg)
Dark royal blue
Ah, dark royal blue! This color is the king of my skies and seas. It’s rich, intense, and perfect for gradients and transitions. In the piece “Towards Jonathan Livingston,” dark royal blue, mixed with white and magenta, brought the sky, the sea and the asphalt on the pier to life, with a delicate yet powerful contrast and maintaining a chromatic continuity that I adore.
Curiosity: As a child, while other girls went crazy for pink, I was fascinated by all shades of blue and azure. It seemed so unfair to me that boys could wear my favorite color! Even as a child, I hated gender stereotypes. This passion for blue has stayed with me and continues to influence my art.
Bright yellow and cadmium yellow
Bright yellow and cadmium yellow are like the sun in my works. I love mixing them together to calibrate the light in my paintings. Bright yellow is vibrant and energetic, while cadmium yellow adds a warm and intense hue. My ongoing search for light has led me to discover that these two shades, combined with white, can give my paintings a unique luminosity. In my work “Jump into Life,” these yellows made the light reflections on the buildings and the central figure lively and dynamic.
![2022 - Jump into life - oil on canvas - 80x120 cm](https://assuntacassa.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2022-Jump-into-life-oil-on-canvas-80x120-cm.jpg)
Scarlet red
Scarlet red is pure passion on my canvas. It’s intense, vibrant, and perfect for drawing attention. In “Urban Elegance,” I used scarlet red for the main subject’s dress, creating a wonderful contrast with the cooler tones of the urban environment. I like to mix it with other reds, such as magenta and orange, but also with Cesarean purple to achieve depth and three-dimensionality.
![2023 - Urban elegance - oil on canvas, 100x60 cm](https://assuntacassa.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-Urban-elegance-oil-on-canvas-100x60-cm.jpg)
Payne’s gray
Payne’s gray is my trump card for creating depth and drama. It’s rich, versatile, and perfect for outlining shapes and adding shadows. I often mix it with magenta, Cesarean purple, and blue to get different shades of black. In the piece “Urban Connections,” Payne’s gray gave definition and contrast, making the urban scene vibrant and dynamic.
![Urban connection, 60x100, 2024 oil on canvas, mini](https://assuntacassa.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Urban-connection-60x100-2024-oil-on-canvas-mini.jpg)
Stay tuned for Part 2, where more colorful secrets await. You won’t want to miss it—things are about to get even more vibrant!