How to get an orange color and its shades in 10 photos + a table of all possible derivatives. How to get coral, peach, terracotta and red colors? Influence of white, black and brown in color composition.
Orange color is obtained by mixing red and yellow, but you can get a shade of this color (soft and light enough) by adding pink to yellow paint. Subsequently, all the main saturated shades of orange are somehow associated with red, yellow, pink, white. More complex and darker tones are obtained with the participation of purple, brown and black.
How to get an orange color by mixing paints: red and yellow of the desired tone?
Everyone knows that the main orange gradient lies between red-orange and yellow-orange. Since the color is obtained or two colors, then, depending on the percentage of each color, there is a shift in one direction or another.
Of course, all the resulting shades from the primary colors (in our case, red and yellow) will be paler. However, orange is made up of 2 warm tones, the waves of which are not very different (the opposite would be blue and yellow to create green), and even in the second order it looks quite catchy.
Mixing acrylic paints for painting:
How to get yellow-orange and red-orange?
It is believed that to get a classic orange, you need to take 1 part of yellow and 1 part of red. However, in practice it turns out that you have to take more yellow than red. In the palette, you can always choose the right tone by adding yellow or red to the mixture.
How to get a light orange color?
This tone has a wide range of pastel shades. They are built using white, but there is an alternative: mix pink and yellow, the resulting shade is a soft orange tone related to the light range:
Another option would be to add yellow and white.
Usually in a palette of 12 colors there is already an orange tint, which is much brighter than the color obtained by mixing, so when building shades, we will use the existing one.
There is a bright red-orange tone in my palette of glossy acrylic paints. To get light orange tones from it, I need to mix red-orange, yellow and white:
How to get coral color?
Although this shade is closer to pink, its construction is completely tied to orange, and there are 2 scenarios for obtaining it:
1) Complicated: we take red-orange, pink and white in approximately equal parts (when you mix, adjust the shade by eye, the main thing is to mix the paint thoroughly).
2) Red-orange is close to scarlet, and scarlet is a shade of red. Red mixed with white gives pink, and coral can be called a light shade of pink with an orange undertone.
In this case, the coral will lean closer to orange, but still remain a luxurious tropical shade.
How to get peach color?
Another light and subtle shade of the base color. Peach belongs to the soft pastel range., Standing out from it with its sophistication, it has long been loved and entrenched in our imagination. Its construction consists of 4 colors:
1) Red+yellow+pink+white
2) Orange+yellow+pink+white
3) Coral + yellow + white
How to get terracotta color?
Let's move on to darker shades of orange. One of the interesting options is terracotta: a medium-dark, but rich, complex red-orange hue is obtained by mixing purple and red-orange:
To make the shade lighter, adding a drop of white will help.
How to get red color?
The red color has an orange undertone. If you take brown and mix it with red-orange, the resulting shades will be dark, but saturated. You can adjust the tone by adding yellow.
How to get a dark orange color?
You can adjust the brightness of orange shades using black: either to completely darken it, or simply dim the brightness. This is necessary to create contrast.
If you want to dim light shades: mix white with black to a gray mass and bring it into the working tone.
Table for obtaining orange shades when mixing colors:
Practice in color science is indispensable, but theory can give you an understanding of how this or that tone is built.
In the center - the main color from which the color is built. The first circle of colors is the shades with which the color is mixed in the proportion indicated below. The third circle is formed by tones that are the result of mixing the primary color and the first circle in a smaller proportion than the third. On the sides of the color at the end of the beam, the same color with the addition of black (darker) and white (lighter).
How to get other colors and their shades: theory and practice. Click on the icon.
How to get blue color when mixing paints for painting, printing and computer graphics? Blue is part of the triad of primary colors, where the other two are red and yellow. Under natural conditions, it is impossible to obtain a color by mixing the other two. All features are determined by many conditions.
It is impossible to get a truly basic color in the process of painting pictures. It is false to assume that blue is obtained by mixing green and yellow, on the contrary, olive comes out. How to get blue? Achieving the goal is simple: just mix blue and white in equal proportions.
In the visual arts, a ready-made palette is often used, where the proportions and ratios of colors are painted. But with it you can get only shades of blue:
- Blue - produced by mixing aquamarine and white paint in a 2: 1 ratio.
- royal shade- obtained by mixing aquamarine and pink.
- Dark Blue - Produced by combining two parts of standard blue and one part of black.
- Gray-blue - produced by combining the base color and brown. It is brown that will create a darkening effect.
There are a lot of options for proportions and ratios, combinations of shades. In the standard set, an analogue of blue paint can be obtained by mixing the color aquamarine with pink.
On the video: how to mix oil paints.
Synthesis in typography
This method is used in modern printers. It is believed that in the printing house blue can be obtained by mixing green and one of the shades of purple - fuchsia. Naturally, a pure base will not work, but only an analogue close to the original.
In the field of typographic work, the lack of quality in color saturation is improved artificially, with the help of a play of shades and contrast. With the help of a standard color wheel, shades can also be recreated. How to make a high-quality analogue, a highly qualified specialist will be able to answer using the trial and error method. In any case, there must be a basic tone, which, when mixed, will become the basis for creating your own interpretations.
Not only the palette for creating color is taken into account, but also the features of the surface on which the tone will be applied. First you need to take a sample and test it.
Computer graphics and main palette
You can create a blue color in the so-called "artificial conditions" without any problems. Even though it is basic, it is possible to find a specific condition. The software provides the ability to synthesize any color using a properly written binary code.
Unlike printers and artists, to get this base, programmers don't have to deal with the problem of getting the base color. The main thing is to choose the appropriate software environment.
natural dyes
Natural dye is valued much more than synthetic options. Such paint can be used for dyeing textiles and food items. You can get the blue color from:
- grapes;
- blueberries;
- blackberries;
- eggplant peel;
- cauliflower leaves.
There are more exotic options for obtaining a base. They are too expensive, complicated in terms of cooking technology. The above are actively used in the creation of food dyes, watercolors and gouache. But the resulting paint is completely safe for health and life. There are also disadvantages in the use of natural dyes: it is quickly washed out, an unsaturated base leaves marks on the skin and surfaces.
»we touched on the basics of drawing - what you need to do to draw about what you want. And they did it on the example of a pencil and paper. Why? Because it is easier than learning to paint with paints, because in the case of using paints, in addition to the problem " How can I draw this? the problem "" appears - so that what happens is very similar to what is intended. And in this article we will try to give an exact answer to this question.
How to get the right color? There are two ways. The first is traditional, using the color wheel known to many:
So, there are primary colors:
- yellow
- blue
- red .
which, when mixed, give
- orange
- green
- violet
- brown .
Moreover, the shades of mixed colors depend on the proportion of the primary colors. And, using the color wheel, you can get the desired color like this:
- Take a certain amount of the main color (for example, blue )
- Add some amount of a second base color (for example, yellow )
- Compare the resulting green with what you wanted to get
- Add one or another primary color to correct the hue.
- Or simply take the desired shade of green from a tube jar.
Why does the last paragraph appear - take the desired shade from the jar? Because getting the right color by mixing the main ones sometimes happens difficult.
Basically, to start, you can get the desired color using such a color wheel. However, as skill grows, so does the need for more precise color matching. After all, with the help of the principles described, it often turns out dirt. For example, it is very difficult to get a good violet color by mixing red And blue. Or is it hard to get necessary shades green , orange, brown colors. That is, the principles do not take into account any factors that affect the result when mixing colors.
We are happy to tell you that these factors really exist, and, moreover, with their help you can cope with the problem of "dirt" and still learn to get the right colors not by intuitive mixing, but by ordinary simple sequence of actions. This sequence and the reasons for the “dirty” of the standard color wheel were not discovered by us, but by Michael Wilcox. Who wrote the book . How to get the color you really want". By the way, you can download this book by Michael Wilcox at the link Blue and yellow do not make green.
Naturally, it will not be possible to present all the material of the book in one article, so we will limit ourselves to the main points, and we recommend that you take the details from this very book by Michael Wilcox “Blue and yellow do not make green".
So, how to reliably and accurately get the right color?
For this, it is necessary to take into account an important theoretical point. Why do we see color? Because different objects (including paint pigment) have different surface, which reflects light differently from the sun or other light source. That is, the surface, for example, of a bathtub, has such a structure that it reflects all colors and absorbs nothing. And all the colors of the rainbow, as we know, form white. Accordingly, the bath appears white. On the other hand, the surface of soot has such a structure that it absorbs all the light falling on it. And soot reflects nothing. As a result, we see black soot.
What happens if you mix white and soot? It will turn out beautiful grey color. Why? Because the light is reflected from the pieces of white completely, as white. And then it is partially absorbed by soot particles. The more soot in the white, the darker the gray obtained - due to the fact that more and more white light reflected by the white particles is absorbed by the soot particles.
Exactly the same principle works for colored pigments. Thus, red paint is red because it reflects predominantly red color. Blue color looks blue, since the pigment in its composition absorbs all colors except blue. In the same way "works" and yellow color - the pigment absorbs most colors except yellow.
Next, we move on to mixing colors. So, for example, you take blue paint and red paint. mix them up and get dirt. Why? Because the reflected red ABSORBED blue pigment in the same way as the entire incident color. Accordingly, the red pigment absorbs all the emission of blue - because the nature of its surface is so arranged that predominantly red pigment is reflected.
But you may ask: "What nonsense, because mixing blue And yellow we still get green, and according to your theory, dirt should also turn out? Well, if there were really pure colors in nature, then we would see the formation of dirt. But there is one But, which makes it possible not only to mix colors, but also to carefully and reliably select the right shade of color.
So, the pigment reflects not only one light. Light of one wavelength is reflected in greater measure. Thus, the red pigment mainly reflects red color. However, all other colors are also reflected (for example, violet or orange). Exactly the same can be said about yellow color - mainly the pigment reflects yellow, but nevertheless it can be reflected in a sufficiently large amount orange or green. WITH blue same thing - it can carry additional "harmonics" green or purple .
So there is Not three primary colors. Eat six primary colors:
- Mainly reflective paint red and to a lesser but significant extent orange .
- Paint that mainly reflects red and to a lesser (but significant) extent violet .
- Pigment that reflects predominantly yellow and in addition green .
- Pigment that reflects predominantly yellow and plus additive orange .
- Mainly reflective material blue and partially violet .
- Material that reflects predominantly blue and partially green .
Well, have you already understood the principle of color formation?
It's very simple: you take yellow from point 3 and blue from point 6, mix these colors. The blue pigment neutralizes the yellow color, the yellow pigment absorbs the blue color. What color remains? Right, green! And not just green, but beautiful, bright and juicy green.
In the same way: by mixing the blue from point 5 and the red from point 2, you neutralize the blue and red colors, and a juicy and saturated color appears. violet color.
And finally: by mixing yellow 4 and red 1, you get orange due to the fact that the red pigment will absorb the radiation from the yellow, and yellow - the reflected radiation from the red pigment.
The result is NEW color wheel of the six primary colors:
The colors have arrows that point the way for the optimal development of the "blended" color. Respectively, variety of shades is born as a result of some combination of these SIX primary colors. "Incorrect" combinations (eg blue 6 and red 1) produce muted shades of colors (eg muddy purple). The combination of one "correct" color and one "wrong" (for example, blue 6 and red 2) produces more developed shades (for example, a brighter purple). Finally, combining the "right" colors (for example, blue 5 and red 2) produces a pure and vibrant color (bright and beautiful purple).
Naturally, reading the article is not enough to master getting the right color. It is best to read the book Blue and yellow don't make green» by Michael Wilcox plus do the practical color matching exercises in the book. However, our question has been answered.
Decided to take up painting or painting furniture? But don't know how to get different shades? The paint mixing charts and tips will help you do just that.
Basic concepts
Before you start studying paint mixing tables, you should familiarize yourself with some definitions that will make it easy to understand a new material for yourself. The words used in the theory and practice of blending shades are explained below. These are not scientific encyclopedic definitions, but transcripts in a language understandable to an ordinary beginner, without the presence of complex terminology.
Achromatic colors are all intermediate shades between black and white, that is, gray. In these colors there is only a tonal component (dark - light), but there is no "color" as such. Those where it is are called chromatic.
Primary colors are red, blue, yellow. They cannot be obtained by mixing any other colors. Those that can are composite.
Saturation is a characteristic that distinguishes an achromatic hue from an identical lightness. Next, consider what a paint mixing table for drawing is.
Range
Paint mixing tables are usually presented as a matrix of rectangles or squares, or in the form of shade combination schemes with numerical values or percentages of each color component.
The underlying table is the spectrum. It can be depicted as a stripe or a circle. The second option is more convenient, visual and understandable. In fact, the spectrum is a schematic representation of a beam of light decomposed into color components, in other words, a rainbow.
This table contains both primary and secondary colors. The more sectors in this circle, the greater the number of intermediate shades. In the figure above, there are also gradations of lightness. Each ring corresponds to a certain tone.
The hue of each sector is obtained by mixing neighboring paints along the ring.
How to mix achromatic colors
There is such a painting technique as grisaille. It involves the creation of a picture using gradations of exclusively achromatic colors. Sometimes brown or another shade is added. Below is a table of mixing colors for paints when working with this method.
Please note that when working with gouache, oil, acrylic, a grayer shade is created by not only reducing the amount of black, but also by adding white. In watercolor, professionals do not use this paint, but dilute
How to mix with white and black
In order to get a darker or lighter shade of the pigment that you have in the kit, you need to mix it with achromatic colors. This is how gouache works, mixing acrylic paints. The table below is suitable for working with any material.
There are a different number of ready-made colors in the kits, so compare what you have with the desired shade. When adding white, you will get the so-called pastel colors.
Below is how the gradation of several complex colors is obtained from the lightest, almost white, to very dark.
Mixing watercolors
The table below can be used for both methods of painting: glazing or single layer. The difference is that in the first version, the final shade is obtained by visually connecting different tones superimposed one on top of the other. The second method involves the mechanical creation of the desired color by combining pigments on the palette.
How this is done is easy to understand from the example of the first line with purple tones from the figure above. Layered execution is done like this:
- Fill in all the squares with a light tone, which will be obtained by using a small amount of paint and a sufficient amount of water.
- After drying, apply the same color to the second and third elements.
- Repeat the steps as many times as needed. In this version, there are only three color transition cells, but there may be more.
When working in the technique of glazing painting, it is worth remembering that it is better to mix different colors in no more than five layers. The previous one must be well dried out.
In the event that you prepare the required color immediately on the palette, the sequence of work with the same purple gradation will be as follows:
- Set the color by taking a little paint on a wet brush. Apply to the first rectangle.
- Add pigment, fill in the second element.
- Dip the brush back into the paint and make a third cell.
When working in one layer, you must first mix all the colors on the palette. This means that in the first method, the final shade is obtained by optical mixing, and in the second - mechanical.
gouache and oil
The techniques for working with these materials are similar, since the pigments are always presented in the form of a creamy mass. If the gouache is dry, it is pre-diluted with water to the desired consistency. White is always present in any set. They are usually used up faster than others, so they are sold in individual jars or tubes.
Mixing (table below), like gouaches, is a simple task. The advantage of these techniques is that the next layer completely overlaps the previous one. If you make a mistake and after drying you don’t like the resulting shade, make a new one and apply it on top. The previous one will not show through if you work with thick colors without diluting them with liquid (water for gouache, solvent for oil).
Pictures in this painting technique can even be textured, when a thick mass is applied pasty, that is, in a thick layer. Often, a special tool is used for this - a palette knife, which is a metal spatula on the handle.
The proportions of paints to be mixed and the necessary colors to obtain the desired shade are shown in the previous table diagram. It is worth saying that it is enough to have only three primary colors in the set (red, yellow and blue), as well as black and white. From them, in different combinations, all other shades are obtained. The main thing is that the colors in the jar should be exactly the main spectral tones, that is, for example, not pink or raspberry, but red.
Acrylic work
Most often, these paints work on wood, cardboard, glass, stone, making decorative crafts. In this case, it happens the same way as when using gouache or oil. If the surface has been pre-primed and the paints are suitable for it, getting the desired shade is not difficult. Below are examples of mixing shades with acrylic.
For (batik) are also used but they are sold in jars of liquid consistency and are similar to printer ink. In this case, the colors are mixed according to the principle of watercolor on the palette with the addition of water, not white.
If you understand how to use paint mixing charts, you can easily create an unlimited number of shades when working with watercolors, oils, or acrylics.
- Note: Black can be obtained by mixing the available colors. Black pigment, of course, exists, but its use is too conspicuous. It is better to get dark colors by mixing transparent primary colors: shadows also have shades depending on the time of day and other factors.
- Read the "Other Tips" section below for guidance on choosing the best magenta and cyan.
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Mix red and blue. Everyone knows that red and blue, when mixed, make purple, right? Indeed, but this is not that bright, lively purple. Instead, they form something like this:
- Not very pleasing to the eye, is it? This is because red and blue absorb more and reflect less spectrum, resulting in a dark, dirty purple instead of a vibrant, vibrant one.
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Now try this: mix magenta with a little cyan and you will see the difference. This time you will get something like this:
- Magenta is a shade of purple, cyan is a blue-green hue, often referred to as bright blue or turquoise. Along with yellow, they are the primary colors in the CMYK model, which is based on a subtractive color scheme (obtaining color by subtracting individual components from white). This scheme is used in printing, including color printers.
- You can see that using the real primary colors - magenta and cyan - results in a much brighter and more vibrant hue. If you want a richer purple, add more blue. Add black for dark purple.
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Mix pigments to get primary and secondary colors. There are 3 main color pigments: cyan, magenta and yellow. There are also 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing two primary colors:
- Cyan + yellow = green
- Cyan + magenta = blue
- Magenta + yellow = red
- Cyan + magenta + yellow = black
- In subtractive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces black.
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"See the information below. See the "Mixing Colors" section for more detailed tips on how to achieve a wide variety of shades, including light, dark, and greyish. The Tips section provides an extensive list of colors and combinations that can be used to get those colors on the palette.
Light Blending: Additive Colors
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Take a look at your monitor. Look at the white areas on this page and get as close as possible. Even better if you have a magnifying glass. Bringing your eyes closer to the screen, you will see not white, but red, green and blue dots. Unlike pigments, which work by absorbing color, light is additive, that is, it works by adding up light fluxes. Movie screens and displays, whether it's a 60-inch plasma TV or the 3.5-inch Retina display on your iPhone, use additive color mixing.
Mix light to get primary and secondary colors. As in the case of subtractive colors, there are 3 primary and 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing primary colors. The result may surprise you:
- Mixing red + blue = magenta
- Mixing blue + green = cyan
- Mixing green + red = yellow
- In additive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces white.
- Note that primary additive colors are secondary subtractive colors and vice versa. How can it be? Know that the effect of subtractive color is a combined process: it absorbs some colors, and we perceive what is left, that is, the reflected light. The reflected color is the color of the light output that remains when all other colors have been absorbed.
Modern color theory
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Understand the subjective nature of color perception. A person's perception and identification of color depend on both objective and subjective factors. While scientists can define and measure light down to the nanometer, our eyes perceive a complex combination of not only hue, but also the saturation and brightness of a color. This circumstance is further complicated by the way we see the same color on different backgrounds.
Hue, saturation and lightness are the three dimensions of color. We can say that any color has three dimensions: hue, saturation and lightness.
- Tone characterizes the position of a color on the color wheel - red, orange, yellow, and so on, including all intermediate colors, such as red-orange or orange-yellow. Here are a few examples: pink refers to a magenta tone or red (or somewhere in between). Brown refers to an orange tone because brown is a dark orange.
- Saturation- this is what gives a rich, vibrant color, like on a rainbow or color wheel. Pale, dark and muted colors (shades) are less saturated.
- Lightness indicates how close a color is to white or black, regardless of the color. If you take a black and white photograph of flowers, you can tell which ones are lighter and which ones are darker.
- For example, bright yellow is a relatively light color. You can lighten it even more by adding white and making it a pale yellow.
- Bright blue is naturally dark and low on the light scale, while dark blue is even lower.
Mixing paints
-
Follow this guide to get any color you want. Magenta, yellow and cyan are the primary subtractive colors, which means that any other color can be obtained by mixing them, but they themselves cannot be obtained from other colors. Primary subtractive colors are used when mixing pigments such as inks, dyes and paints.
Colors with low saturation (dim colors) come in three main types: light, dark and muted.
Add white for light colors. Any color can be lightened by adding white to it. To get a very light color, it is better to add a little bit of the main color to white so as not to waste excess paint.
Add black for dark colors. Any color can be darkened by adding black to it. Some artists prefer to add a complementary (complementary) color that is opposite the given color on the exact CMY/RGB color wheel. For example, green can be used to darken magenta and magenta can be used to darken green because they are opposite each other on the color wheel. Add black or complementary color a little at a time so as not to overdo it.
Add white and black (or white and a complementary color) to get muted, grayish colors. By changing the relative amount of added black and white colors, you can get any desired level of lightness and saturation. For example: add white and black to yellow to get a light olive. The black will darken the yellow, making it olive green, and the white will lighten that olive green. Various olive green shades can be obtained by adjusting the amount of paint added.
- To obtain a desaturated color, such as brown (dark orange), you can adjust the hue in the same way as for a bright orange - by adding a small amount of colors nearby on the color wheel: magenta, yellow, red or orange. They will make the brown more vibrant while changing its hue. But since brown is not a bright color, you can also use colors on the other sides of the triangle, such as green or blue, which will darken the brown while changing its hue.
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Get black. This can be done by mixing any two mutually complementary, as well as three or more equidistant colors from each other on the color wheel. Just don't add white or any color containing white unless you want to get a shade of gray. If the resulting black leans too much towards a particular color, neutralize it by adding a little complementary color to that color.
Don't try to get white. White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. Like the three primary colors - magenta, yellow and cyan - you will have to buy them, unless, of course, you work with materials like watercolor, for which paper itself is used instead of white if necessary.
Develop an action plan. Think about the tone, lightness, and saturation of the color you have and the color you want to achieve, and make adjustments accordingly.
- For example, a shade of green can be brought closer to cyan or yellow - its neighbors on the color wheel. It can be lightened by adding white. Or darken it by adding black or its complementary color, namely purple, magenta or red, depending on the shade of green. You can tone it down by adding black and white, or make a desaturated green a little brighter by adding (bright) green.
- One more example. You mixed red and white to make pink, but the pink came out too bright and warm (yellowish). To correct the warm tone, you will have to add a little magenta. To tone down a hot pink, add white, a complementary color (or black), or both. Decide if you want a darker pink (add only the complementary color), taupe pink (add white and complementary color), or just a lighter pink (add only white). If you're planning on adjusting the hue with magenta and muting the pink with green or cyan (complementary to magenta and red), you can try combining the two by using a color between magenta and cyan, such as blue.
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Mix paints and start creating a masterpiece! If all this seems impossible to you, you just need a little practice. Creating a color guide for your own use is a good way to practice using the principles of color theory. Even by printing it out from a computer, you will provide yourself with useful information while you still have no practice and you cannot work on an intuitive level.
Color samples and how to get them
- Choose the color you would like to receive and follow the instructions below. Each pattern provides a range of possibilities; you can adjust the amount of paint used to get exactly the color you want. For example, any light color can be lightened or darkened by adding more or less white. Complementary, or complementary, colors are colors located opposite each other on the RGB/CMY color wheel.
- Red: Add some yellow or orange to the magenta.
- Light red (salmon pink, coral): Add white to red. Use less white and more red to get coral.
- Dark red: Add some black (or cyan) to red. Cyan is complementary to red.
- Muted red: Add white and black (or cyan) to red.
- Yellow: Yellow cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it.
- Light yellow: Add white to yellow.
- Dark yellow (olive green): Add some black (or purple-blue) to the yellow. Violet-blue is complementary to yellow.
- Muted yellow (light olive): Add white or black (or violet-blue) to yellow.
- Green: Mix cyan and yellow.
- Light green: Add white to green.
- Dark green: Add some black (or magenta) to the green. Magenta is complementary to green.
- Grey-green: Add white and black (or magenta) to green.
- Cyan (turquoise blue): Cyan cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it.
- Light cyan: Add white to cyan.
- Dark cyan: Add some black (or red) to cyan. Red is complementary to cyan.
- Grey-blue: Add white and black (or red) to cyan.
- Violet blue: Mix magenta with cyan or blue.
- Light Violet Blue (Lavender): Add white to purple-blue.
- Dark purple blue: Add some black (or yellow) to violet-blue. Yellow is complementary to purple.
- Greyish Violet Blue: Add white and black (or yellow) to violet-blue.
- Violet: Mix magenta with a little cyan, blue or violet blue.
- Light purple: Add white to purple.
- Dark purple: Add some black (or lime green) to purple. Lime green is complementary to purple.
- Muted purple: Add white and black (or lime green) to purple.
- Black: Black can be obtained by mixing any two complementary colors or three colors equidistant on the exact CMY/RGB color wheel, such as red, green, and blue. If you get a dark color instead of pure black, correct it by adding its complementary color.
- White: White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You will have to buy it. To get a warm white (such as cream), add some yellow. To get a cool white, add a little cyan.
- Grey: Gray is a mixture of black and white.
- When mixing paints, add them little by little to control the color. You can always add more. This is especially true when working with black and blue, which tend to dominate other colors. Add a little at a time until you get the desired result.
- To find out if a color is complementary, use your own eyes. It's an old trick: look closely at a color, then look away at a white surface. Due to the "color fatigue" of the eyes, you will see the opposite color.
- Choosing primary colors when shopping can be tricky. Look for a magenta that is free of white and blue pigments (PW and PB). Violet and red pigments such as PV19 and PR122 work best. Good cyan PB15:3. PB15 and PG7 are also good. If you need art paints or glazes, you can try to match the colors with a printer. Print a sample from your computer to a printer to take with you to the store, or look for the primary colors on the sides of a cereal or cookie box.
- You need one color triangle of colors that provide visual balance to the picture, and another color triangle to determine pairs of colors that cancel each other out, since complementary colors for these tasks are slightly different. So, ultramarine works well with lemon yellow and other beautiful yellows, but to darken these yellows, use purple. More information on this subject can be found online.
- How many tubes of different paints do you really need to paint a picture? Jean-Louis Morell's book on watercolor painting shows how, using the cyan-yellow-magenta color triangle, to get almost any desired color from just four or five, but this can also be done using these three plus white (as white in watercolor painting protrudes paper)!
- The best range of shades can be obtained by mixing colors that are close to the CMY primary colors, but to get a darker shade, one - or even better two - should be darker than these primary colors, for example, Persian blue or cobalt blue, crimson alizarin.
- What are you writing? The colors you need depend entirely on what you're writing. For example, ultramarine, Neapolitan yellow, burnt sienna and white are useful for distant landscapes if bright greens and yellows are not needed.
What will you need
- Palette - disposable paper is well suited.
- Palette knife (any size)
- Watercolor paper or primed canvas (available from your local art supply store; ready-made primed canvas works well)
- Containers with water or solvent for washing brushes
- Synthetic brush of your choice (#8 round or #6 flat works well)
- Spray bottle to keep water-based paints from drying out
- Paper towels to remove dirt and clean brushes
- Color circle
- Paints
- A bathrobe or an old shirt that you don't mind getting dirty
- Gloves
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Take paint. Any kind of paint will do - even those used on furniture or walls - but it's best (and cleaner) to practice with a few small tubes of oil or acrylic paint. First, let's see what happens if we mix just two colors - red and blue.
