Colour Blending Basics How to mix colours from the three primaries

Learning the basics of colour theory is not only great for your painting skills, but it is easy on the pocketbook too. If you know how to mix all your colours from the three Primary colours plus white, then there is no need to buy all kind of expensive paint colours! Four of five tubes will do.

Here are some basics.

Primary Colours Red (warm) Yellow (warm) Blue (cool)	Secondary Colours Orange – red and yellow in  equal amounts Green – yellow and blue in equal amounts Violet – red and blue in equal amounts
Tertiary Colours, Warm Hues Red-orange – two parts red, one part yellow. Yellow-orange – two parts yellow, one part red. Red-violet – two parts red, one part blue.	Tertiary Colours, Cool Hues Yellow-green – two parts yellow, one part blue. Green-blue – two parts blue, one part yellow. Blue-violet – two parts blue, one part red

Colour Wheels

It is also helpful to use a colour wheel which will give you a very good idea of the colours needed to mix the one you want. If your colour wheel is standard round, you can use the two colours on either side of the one you would like to mix in equal amounts. also colour wheels are helpful to show you the complementary colour of the one you are mixing, exactly opposite your chosen colour.

Included in the Beginner Painting Kit

Colours to choose for your primaries

If you have ever spent any time in an art supply shop, you know that you can’t just  go and choose primary blue, (there’s ultramarine, cobalt, phtalo, cerullian) How do you choose?

The most important things to keep in mind when you are choosing your primaries if you want to limit the amount of money you spend on supplies.

Choose primary colours that are not de-saturated (that is, they do not have white mixed into the colour.) It will be impossible to achieve a true black and have your darks punch if you begin with washed-out primaries. For example cobalt blue, though a beautiful colour, is quite pale when compared with ultramarine blue.

Choose colours that are as pure as possible and do not have a tint of other colour. For example, ultramarine blue contains more red than pthalo blue which has more green. It can also be said that ultramarine blue is red-biased. Another example is cadmium yellow vs. lemon yellow, both are yellow, but cadmium yellow is red-biased and lemon yellow is blue-biased.

Here are the colours I use when mixing everything from the three primaries and white.

Red – Allizeran crimson. (this is a good deep red)

Yellow – Hansa yellow. (a bright, yellow with no red or green bias)

Blue – phtalo blue and ultramarine blue. (both have no white in the pigment, one is red-biased and the other is green-biased. When mixed together, they make and excellent primary blue)

Titanium White

Complementary Colour

Complements control the intensity of your colour. A complement is made up of the remaining colour needed to balance out the three primary colours. For example, red(a primary as seen in the colour wheel above) is directly opposite green which is a secondary mixed from equal portions of yellow and blue (the two remaining primaries). When all three primary colours are mixed in equal proportions, the result is black or no colour as they all cancel each other out. So if you want to knock back the intensity of a red or grey it, you would add a touch of it’s complement which is green.

Colour Tip

One of the best pieces of advice I can give to beginning painters is to never use black out of the tube. Always mix your own black (see colour blending recipes below). Black when mixed with your colours will deaden a painting, taking the vibrancy out of your colour.

Colour Blending

Colour theory is a remarkably complex topic. There is so much that colour can do for your paintings and drawings if you know how to use it. The following is a selection of mixing recipies that I have used over the years, for my earth-tone palette. They are by no means the only way to mix these colours. So take them as they are: one opinon among many.

 

 

Useful mixing recipes:

Black: I never use black from the tube. A rich warm black can be blended from burnt umber and ultra-marine blue. If I want to cool the colour down I will use raw umber instead of burnt umber and more of the blue.

Grey-Blue: A mix of ultramarine blue and white with a touch of burnt umber makes a lovely muted blue. Click here to see a Colour Mixing Post for a greyer version of this colour.

Sage Green: Ultramarine blue and yellow ochre with white added to lighten.  Click here to see a Colour Mixing Post for this colour.

Warm golden yellow: Cad-yellow medium and yellow ochre with a hint of burnt sienna and white to lighten if needed.

Deep Green: Most out of the tube greens I find too glaring. I usually mix my green with cobalt blue, cadmium yellow medium and some white for a bluer green. Ultra-marine blue, Hansa yellow or Cadmium Yellow Light for a deeper green. A touch of the complementary red will control the intensity. Click here to see a Colour Mixing Post for variations of this colour.

Olive Green: Substitute yellow ochre and raw sienna for the cad yellow medium to get more of an olive from the deep green.

Warm Red to Cool Red Choices: Cadmium red light can make a nice orange with some white. Scarlet is a lovely rich red hue of average warmth. Alizarin Crimson has a lot of blue and makes a great cool red.

For more information on Clay and Sand colours, complementary colour use to grey and control intensity without losing vibrancy follow this link for this colour mixing post in All About Art.

Easy Drawing Exercises

Kindrie’s Material Picks

Glossary of Art Terms