Ostwald Color Theory: A Dream of Dazzling Color

A view from the studio: paint colors hand-mixed to match the Ostwald Color system. Each color of oil paint is adjusted to match the Ostwald chip, and then tubed for later use.

Along with learning the ins and outs of making archival paintings lately, I’ve delved into a century-old color theory, the Ostwald Color System. The search for the most beautiful rainbows and color harmonies has led me to recreate the Ostwald color series as tubes of oil paints which will be used in my work. I recently hand-mixed and tubed the first 38 colors, and I wanted to post an update as the number of completed color mixes just eclipsed seventy.

In order to mix the Ostwald Colors, I ordered two half-gallons of white oil paint from a paint supplier in New York. Pictured here, titanium white (PW6) oil paint bound in Safflower oil. Behind the paint are some of the Ostwald chips, and a series of paint mixtures.

When I stumbled upon the Ostwald system after years of painting with the help of the Munsell framework, I knew I was looking at something special. I’m currently re-creating all of the highest chroma mixtures as oil paints, so that I can pursue my color studies using the Ostwald framework.

When I was an undergrad at RISD, I heard it said that paint is the best medium in which to study color, because a person can control the finest gradations. In some sense, what is painting but color? At the time I was studying printmaking, and I thought, “Yes, it’s true, painting is the best medium in which to study color, and that is why I must study paint.”

Gorgeous, glistening oil paint. This can of titanium white has made its way into about forty new tubes of precisely matched colors. More to come!

In upcoming posts I’ll be sharing more of the process and the progress.

I’m curious about where this project will lead, and what kinds of discoveries will be made along the way.

If you’d like to check out my previous color studies, you can explore the artwork posted here.