How to Mix Colors
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Interested in learning how to mix luscious, vibrant colors? Have you ever mixed red and blue paint only to find you have "mud" instead of purple? Want to know how to create luminous shades of red and yellow? Now it's time to learn how!
Steps
- Learn by doing. Get out your paints and cut a number of 8" x 10" pieces of watercolor paper or primed canvas on which to try out all the following color mixing techniques. You will find these sheets a great reference tool.
- Understand the basic color wheel. If you don’t have one, get one. It’s loaded with good information and visually demonstrates the following:
- Primary colors are yellow, red, blue. You have to start with these colors as they can’t be mixed from anything else. Hence the term primary.
- Secondary colors are orange, purple, green. Yellow + red = orange. Red + blue = purple. Blue + yellow = green.
- Tertiary A tertiary color is one that involves all three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. It is a muted color. Tertiary means three. Orange plus blue is a tertiary color because orange is red and yellow. Add blue and you have three the primary colors in the mixture. Blue-green is not a tertiary color because it only has blue and yellow. It is a secondary color. A lot of incorrect information about tertiary colors and what they are is out there confusing people. If you want to mix brown or gray or if you want to tone down a bright color with its compliment, that will involve all three primary colors. You will be mixing a tertiary color.
- Primary colors are yellow, red, blue. You have to start with these colors as they can’t be mixed from anything else. Hence the term primary.
- Be aware that colors can be visually warm or cool.
- Warm colors include yellow, orange, and red;
- Cool colors include purple, blue, green.
- Warm colors include yellow, orange, and red;
- Create a color sheet of all your pigments, grouping like colors. Yellow can, be cool, just as a green can be warm, depending on the pigments used to make that particular color. Your color sheet will help you to become familiar with this concept. Paint a swatch of all your yellows, reds, blues, etc. It will become obvious whether a pigment is warm or cool by comparing it to the other swatches.
- Learn about complementary colors. This is key for two reasons:
- Complementary colors, when painted next to each other, enhance one another and almost glow. Why do you think a red rose is so stunning? It's those wonderful green leaves making the red dance. Did you ever wonder why so many spring flowers are purple and yellow? Mother Nature knows what she's doing.
- Most important - complementary colors, when mixed together, create a neutralized or grayed-down version of the original color. Alter the proportions to get blue gray, green gray, or purple gray; red brown, yellow brown, or greenish brown.
- Complementary colors, when painted next to each other, enhance one another and almost glow. Why do you think a red rose is so stunning? It's those wonderful green leaves making the red dance. Did you ever wonder why so many spring flowers are purple and yellow? Mother Nature knows what she's doing.
- Dull down colors that are too bright. When you have a blue that is too bright, you can dull it by adding a bit of orange. Give it a try. Take a dollop of blue and add a small amount of orange. Mix well and watch how the blue changes from bright to dull. Uh oh, are you getting a greenish brown? That's because you added too much orange, or the orange may have too much yellow in it. Yellow and blue make green, remember?
- Keep trying different color mixes. We know that it takes red and blue to make purple, and that yellow is the complement. Which red and blue do you choose to mix a bright purple? (HINT: NOT red with yellow in it.) Red and yellow make orange, the complement to blue, which will make a grayish purple and not a bright one. Got the idea? Give it a try.
Tips
- Complementary colors are directly across from each other on the color wheel. That's all well and good but what if you don't HAVE a color wheel in front of you? Here is a quick way to figure it out:
- If you are looking for the complement to red, the two primary colors left are yellow and blue; mixed together they make green, which is the complement to red. The complement to yellow? Blue and red are the primaries left that, when mixed, make purple - the complement to yellow. Cool, eh?
- What if you want to know the complimentary color to purple? Well - red and blue mix to make purple, the primary color left is yellow, which is the compliment to purple. TA-DA!
- If you are looking for the complement to red, the two primary colors left are yellow and blue; mixed together they make green, which is the complement to red. The complement to yellow? Blue and red are the primaries left that, when mixed, make purple - the complement to yellow. Cool, eh?
Warnings
- Color Mixing Takes Time & The Highly Technical Marble Drop Theory
- With all this information, consider the "marble drop" theory. Our brains can only comprehend so much information at any given time. When learning new techniques/methods, it is difficult to hold onto all these various tidbits. I picture them as marbles all lined up waiting to be absorbed. At some point you will think 'AHA! I get it!' and the marble will drop for that particular tidbit of information - you will no longer have to struggle with it. This makes room in your brain for the next pearl of wisdom.
- Your art journey is a spiral. As you get each new principle, when you come back around to study, oh, say color again, you have the capacity for a higher-level of understanding.
Things You'll Need
- Disposable paper palette (no messy clean up—I like it!)
- Mixing knife or palette knife (any size will do)
- Watercolor paper or primed canvas (there are pads available of both at your local art supply store; make sure you get actual primed canvas—not that paper stuff which I think is really icky)
- Water containers for cleaning brushes
- Synthetic brush of your choice (#8 round or #6 flat is good)
- Spray bottle to keep paint moist
- Paper towel for blotting and cleaning brush
- Color Wheel
- Paint colors as listed in following pages
- (Also visit Golden’s web site listed below for color samples)and also remember to wear something that can get dirty!!!
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Sources and Citations
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