ART FOUNDATIONS: Shift Into Neutral, Nov 28, 2026

Shift Into Neutral: Discover the Color in Gray

Gray is rarely just black and white.

Step beyond basic grayscale and discover the surprisingly colorful world of neutrals. In this hands-on Art Foundations workshop, well explore how artists create beautiful, complex grays and muted colors by mixing complementary colors and adjusting color temperature.

Students will experiment with warm and cool neutrals, learning how small shifts in a mixture can create subtle greens, blues, violets, browns, and grays. Well look at how these colors work together to create depth, atmosphere, harmony, and mood without relying on bright, highly saturated color.

After experimenting with color mixtures, youll put those discoveries to work in a small painting, learning to recognize and mix the quiet colors you actually see rather than automatically reaching for black, white, or a tube of gray.

This workshop is especially helpful for artists who want to become more confident mixing color and understanding the relationships between hue, value, temperature, and saturation.

What You’ll Explore:

• Mixing chromatic neutrals instead of relying on black and white
• Creating warm and cool grays
• Neutralizing colors with their complements
• Seeing subtle color shifts within seemingly gray subjects
• Using neutrals to make other colors appear richer
• Creating depth and atmosphere with restrained color

Saturday, November 28 | 11:00 AM1:00 PM
$15 | All materials included

All skill levels are welcome. No previous painting experience is required.

This workshop is part of the Alabama Art Academy Art Foundations series, designed to build the fundamental skills artists use across media. Art Foundations workshops break essential concepts into approachable, hands-on exercises so you can better understand your materials, strengthen your technique, and build confidence in your own creative practice.

A stronger you starts here.

Alabama Art Academy at Alabama Art Supply
1006 23rd Street South
Birmingham, AL 35205
205-322-4741
AlabamaArt.com

Elizabeth Ragona, MBA

Artist, framer, business strategist, and Sales & Marketing Manager at Alabama Art Supply, Elizabeth Ragona combines her experience in business, marketing, pricing strategy, and the arts to help creative professionals build successful and sustainable art businesses. Her workshops focus on practical tools and real-world solutions that artists can apply immediately.

Part of theAlabama Art Academy: Art Foundations series build confidence and essential skills while discovering the materials and techniques artists use.