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| Let’s mix paint! |
When I go to the local art supply store, I stand in front of the acrylic paint display trying to figure out what colors I already have and what colors I need. Every artist has their favorites. You could very simply start with the primary colors plus black and white, if you like mixing colors, that could be the way to go.
I like to work with a set of warm and cold primary colors. This means a lemon yellow and an orange yellow, a red with an orange tinge and a red on the edge of magenta with bit of blue in it, and a bright, royal blue and a blue on the cusp of turquoise. I also make sure to have a full tube or bottle of the colors I use most. I like to mix colors but if I can use it straight out of the bottle then there is less waste trying to mix the right color.
Speaking of mixing color, I put together this quick little tutorial for you after watching Judy Coates Perez’s new Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, Design, Paint, & Stitch. Judy’s method of mixing multiple shades of colors to create a beautifully harmonious painting is a skill worth learning.
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| 1. Place 3 colors of paint about 2-3" apart, lightest to darkest. | 2. Slide half of the lightest color towards the middle color and then move a little of the middle paint into the lightest color. In this example, the small amount of white on the brush will mix with the yellow to make a medium yellow. | |
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| 3. With medium yellow on the brush still, mix a light yellow into the white paint just to the left of the medium yellow. Clean off the brush in water or on a paper towel. | 4. Move some of the middle color towards the darkest color. | |
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| 5. Next, move some of the darkest color into the middle color you just moved and mix into a medium green. | 6. With medium green still on the brush, mix a light green just to the left of the medium green. | |
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| 7. In this example, because we used such a dark color on the end, we are actually able to easily mix an even lighter green by using the light green on the brush and the middle yellow paint. | 8. Here you can see the range of 8 different colors that were easily mixed from just titanium white, cadmium yellow (medium hue) and phthalocyanine green (blue shade). Pretty sneaky sis! |
Easy, right? You don’t have to use this technique to blend dark to light colors, you could blend red to purple, or aqua to mint—you hold the whole world of colors in your paintbrush.
Have fun painting!
