Toning down a mix can backfire and give you “mud.” Mud usually occurs when all three primary colors end up in a mixture in equal proportions. If you have neon-green grass, just add the tiniest dabs of red paint until you tone down the yellow-green and get a more natural-looking hue. The most common technique is to add a tiny amount of complementary color. However, you can tone down or dull the mix to make it appear more natural. Think of a pastoral field that has neon-green or bright yellow-green grass. Leaves and grass are rarely as “green” as our memory or imagination pictures them. Our minds imagine colors brighter and more intense than they are in real life. You can learn more about this concept here.

You can do this by cutting a small hole, or window, in a piece of paper so when you place the paper over the photograph, only the color you want is visible. It is important to isolate the color you are trying to achieve by blocking out all other colors around it. This is very important and could be an article all its own. Color MatchingĬolor Matching is the process of mixing colors to result in a color that is the same as the object in real life or in your resource photograph. When mixing colors, it is helpful to consider all values (different shades and tints) of each color you are mixing.įor example, if you are mixing a specific red to paint an apple, mix enough of the base color of the apple (under regular lighting with neither highlights nor shadows), to be then able to add white for the highlights or shade the dark parts of the apple.īe careful because tinting a color lighter or shading it darker can alter the color in temperature or hue (i.e., black contains a lot of the primary color blue and can turn some mixtures “green”) and can ruin your mix. If you start with a puddle of blue and try adding yellow into the blue, you will use up more yellow to achieve the same green than you would by adding the blue into the same size puddle of yellow. If you don’t get the green you are hoping for, add another dab of blue and so on until you get the color or value you want. When mixing colors, always add tiny amounts of the darker color into bigger puddles of the lighter colors.įor example, if you are trying to mix green, make a puddle of cadmium yellow and add the tiniest dab of ultramarine blue into the cadmium yellow and mix. The most important factor for minimizing wasted paint when color mixing is understanding the Dark-into-Light rule. If you have less paint to work with when color mixing, you will be less likely to experiment with multiple different mixtures until you get it “right.” Ratios of One Color to Another The last thing you want is to mix the perfect color and only have enough to paint half the face of your portrait. Money you spend now pays for itself later when your mixing skills are on-point, and you get it right on the first try. It pays to squeeze out and mix more than you think you will need when you are experimenting. In this section, we will look at some basics that will make the process of mixing colors easier and less frustrating. However, if you are looking to get a quick and dirty overview of paint mixing, read on! Color Mixing Tips and Tricks If you want more direct instruction about oil paint color mixing or other advanced art topics, consider this professional course, perfect for beginners. It takes longer: It is quicker to open a tube and start applying the “perfect” color to the canvas.Wasted paint in the beginning: As you learn mixing paint colors to match specific settings or subject matter, you will make mistakes and waste paint.Each time you paint a new subject, you will have to go through some trial and error as you mix paints. It can be frustrating: You won’t likely get mixing paint colors perfect on your first attempt.

Why should artists put time and effort into something that is challenging and can be frustrating? Let’s find out!! If you’ve tried to paint a field of grass, leaves on a tree, a portrait, or any other subject that you want to make look natural like it does in real life, then you’ve made some mistakes when mixing paint colors. Isn’t There a Formula for Mixing Colors?.What Should I Avoid When Mixing Colors?.The Basics of Color Theory and the Color Wheel.

Advanced Mixing Tips and How to Make Different Colors.What Are The Different Mixing Strategies?.

Silver and blue paint