Mixing Watercolors – A Combination of Science and Art

One of the most important aspects in watercolor painting is your sense of color. With luck, you have an inborn talent of discerning colors. But most of us don’t have that innate gift. The good news is that we can learn to mix colors from scratch. And eventually, as we study and master our craft, the colors that flow from the brush will become almost instinctive…

In watercolor painting, mixing colors is a challenge. A wrong shade here or there can make all the difference between a practice run and a work of art. Of course, it may take a long time to master such a simple thing as color. Happily again, part of the joy of art and painting is the learning of what workss.

The Basics

The basic colors are red, yellow and blue and the secondary colors are green, orange and purple.

In basic art classes, we are also taught that reds, oranges and yellow are named warm colors. Greens, blues and purples are cool colors.

Mixing

One of the first lessons in mixing colors is this — the most intense (and the purest) color come from combining two primary colors that lean toward the same secondary color. On the other hand, the more colors you mix together, the less pure your mixtures will become.

The difficulty in mixing watercolor paints comes from the absence of a “color neutral” tube color for each of the primary colors: red, yellow and blue. Some claim they have them, but these are colors that are just close and that most of them have a color bias or they lean towards some other color.

Combinations

Mixing colors need not be very complicated, if you think on as well as imagine first on the color you want to produce. If, for instance, you want pure vibrant purple, get it from a red and a blue that is biased towards purple.

A less intense purple can be had from the orange-biased red and a purple-biased ultramarine blue. For a dull purple, use the orange-biased red and the green-biased blue.

The same principle, more or less, governs colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel (ex: red and green). When mixed together, these colors will simply neutralize each other, producing only grayish, brownish color.

(One technique: To produce the color you want, use no more than three colors. Begin with the lightest one; add the darker one little by little until you get the shade you want.)

Neutralization

Mixing more than two pigments or mixing two pigments that are biased on two completely different colors will always result in “neutralized” mixtures. (“Neutralized” here means less intense or less pure.)

However, these less intense mixtures can be wonderful colors, too, and you need to know how to mix them to play them off against brighter, purer colors.

The science and the art

Another forgotten fact is that mixing colors is a matter of proportion. How much of each one goes into the mix determines the color shade of that mix. However, never over-mix your pigments.

One last word about mixing watercolors – your watercolor looks different on paper and on the palette. Spend some time dashing paint on the paper until you know what the actual look is going to be.

---

---

Mixing Watercolors related articles form the blogosphere…

Mixing Watercolors: A Simple Guide For The Serious …

Mixing Watercolors: A Simple Guide For The Serious ArtistWatercolors are a fine medium for any artist to work in. Most people’s experiences with the medium are.

Publish Date: 07/08/2010 0:07

http://www.humahost.com/watercolors/mixing-watercolors-a-simple-guide-for-the-serious-artistwatercolors-are.html

Watercolor Lesson – Color Practice « Mary McAndrew

Sometimes when you don’t feel like painting or don’t have the time to work on a painting, it can be helpful to just play with color mixing; this is also great for a beginner in watercolor (or any medium!) or if you haven’t touched them …

Publish Date: 07/12/2010 1:09

http://marymcandrew.com/watercolor-lesson-color-practice/

Abstract Watercolor Painting Instructions: How to Paint Colorful …

In addition to demonstrating how to use these formal elements to create abstract art, these abstract watercolor painting instructions will also show you how to mix watercolors to create analogous colors. Cool, huh? …

Publish Date: 05/10/2010 6:58

http://www.art-is-fun.com/abstract-watercolor-painting.html

---

Mixing Colors and Avoiding Mud : Watercolor Demonstrations

www.cheapjoes.com — Welcome to Cheap Joe’s Test Studio! People tell me all the time that they’re really good at making “mud” in watercolor. Well I’m going to show you how to prevent mud and I’m also going to tell you a little bit about what causes w…

Kafka graphic novel Robert Crumb Franz iBooks $4.95

Kafka – Crumb, Robert New Book $20.98

Kafka by Robert Crumb 2007 Paperback NEW $6.99

R. Crumb’s Kafka, Robert Crumb, Good Book $3.94

Kafka by Robert Crumb David Zane Mairowitz (2007) SC $6.99

---

Introducing Kafka $4.95 ‘What do I have in common with the Jews? I don’t even have anything in common with myself.’ Nothing could better express the essence of Franz Kafka. Alienated from his roots, his family, his surroundings, and even his own body, Kafka created a unique literary language in which to hide away. This fantastic introduction reveals the dark humour in Kafka as well as the paranoid side he is better known…

Introducing Kafka $11.95 This book is indeed a great introduction to Franz Kafka. Part illustrated biography, part comics adaptation, Introducing Kafka is the perfect starting point for those new to Kafka and a perfect next step for those who have read him for years. Robert Crumb’s idiosyncratic illustrations add a new dimension to the already idiosyncratic world of Kafka. Includes adaptations of “The Judgment,” “Th…

R. Crumb’s Kafka $12.95 Part illustrated biography, part comics adaptation, R. CRUMB’S KAFKA is a vibrant biography that examines this Czech writer and his works in a way that a bland texbook never could! R. CRUMB’S KAFKA goes far beyond being explication or popularization or survey. It’s a work of art in its own right, a very rare example of what happens when one very idiosyncratic artist absorbs another into his worldv…

---

Keep on Truckin’ is a phrase that will get you through hard times. And it is also synonymous with Robert Crumb… Thanks Robert! and a tip of the hat to the Grateful Dead as well…

Vintage Keep On Truckin ROBERT CRUMB Patch in Blue $5.99

Vintage Keep On Truckin ROBERT CRUMB Patch in Red $5.99

Vintage Keep On Truckin ROBERT CRUMB Patch in Black $5.99

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $21.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $27.95

Keep on Truckin! Robert Crumb Iron On Patch Sew Badge $5.64

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $19.95

R Robert Crumb Grateful Keep On Truckin’ Men’s T Shirt $21.95

---

Comics by Robert Crumb: Fritz the Cat, Angelfood Mcspade, Mr. Natural, Keep on Truckin’ $14.13 Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Fritz the Cat is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a “supercity” of anthropomorphic animals, the strip focuses on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently goes on wild adventures that involve a variet…

---

The Ghosts Above My Head and Let’s Go to Hell on a Sunbeam-DreW KAzinskY

“Bye Bye Baby” Robert Crumb & East River String Band