Luminous or Cloudy. Translucent or opaque.  Radiant or dull.  Lustrous or matte.  Each of these qualities can be achieved by manipulating how we apply paint.

Tip:  Cloudy, opaque, dull and matte are achieved by thorough mixing whereas luminous, translucent, radiant and lustrous can be made by scumbling.

Generally, to scumble means to pull one color over another.  In the early days, the term was used to signal dragging an opaque color on top of a more transparent one, but today we use it more broadly to describe a first color being applied, then a second color stroked into it or on top of it.

Here is a set of samples that show the results for mixing a purple.  (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

 

In the first example, the colors are thoroughly mixed before applying.  The next three examples show colors applied in two stages, one on top of the other.  In pastel, the first color is laid down, and the second color is applied with the stick laid on its side.  In oils, the first color is applied, then the second dragged into it with a single stroke.  In watercolor, the first color is applied and while still wet, the second is pulled through it with a single stroke.

Tip:  The colors used to get the luminosity characteristics with scumble technique are those analogous to and the same value of the target color.  

Looking at my color wheel above, for the four samples, violet was my target color . To do the scumbling,  I used violet's analogous blue for the bottom layer and scumbled with violet's analgous red violet.  This technique of scumble mixing with analogous colors will work to achieve luminosity, transcendence and radiance no matter your target color.

Dianne

P. S.  Try some scumbling with your favorite medium and show us your results on the  Facebook Forum.