COLOR MIXING GUIDE FOR

TL

OIL PAINTING

IN DEPTH GUIDE
Practical guide to color mixing

Actionable lessons you can put into practice today

 A Practical Guide To Color Mixing

One of the most important things to learn in painting is how to mix colors. There
is more to painting than just applying paint to canvas. After all, it is color that
makes up your painting.

It can seem a little daunting at first dealing with so many colors. With patience,
practice and constant experimentation you will get a feel for it. Learning to mix
will save you money on not needing to buy unnecessary paint colors as you will
know how to mix them yourself!

Also, you will get greater richness in your painting if you work on creating subtle
color transitions. Just using colors straight from the tube will result in work that is
oversaturated and unnatural looking.

First of all lets take a look at the color wheel (above) and learn some basic
color theory
before delving into mixing oil paints. Use the color wheel for reference as
you go through this article.
 Complementary Colors

At the top of the color wheel you will notice red – directly below it at the
bottom is green. Green and red are both complementary colors. Now, lets
look at the third color to the right of the red – orange. Opposite of orange is
blue as blue is the complementary of orange and vise versa. Another
complementary color would be purple and yellow.

Whatever color is opposite of another color on the color wheel is its

complementary color.

Analogous

Colors that are beside one another on the color wheel. For example blue,
light blue.

Triadic

Three colors that form a perfect triangle on the wheel. An example would be
red – blue, yellow.

The Practical Application - How to Mix Colors

First off, the primary colors yellow, blue and red are important because all
other colors stem from just these three. These colors cannot be made from
other colors – thus they are considered ‘parent’ colors.
 Secondary colors – those mixed from the primary colors – are
green, orange and purple. They are mixed from the following
primary colors:

Yellow + Blue = Green

Yellow + Red = Orange
Blue + Red = Purple

Tertiary Colors

When a primary and secondary color are mixed together a tertiary color is
created. As with secondary colors you must use equal parts of each to
successfully mix a tertiary color. You can always notice a tertiary color by
name as it is listed with its primary color first:

Blue Green
Blue Violent
Yellow Green
Red violet
Red Orange
Yellow Orange

Mixing Brown

If you wish to mix a brown you will need to mix a tertiary color with a primary
color. However, it is important that you mix the tertiary color with the primary
color that is not already a part of the tertiary color’s mix. So, for example if
you made a red orange, red is the primary color so you need to choose
either blue or yellow.
 Complementary Colors

Learning complementary colors is one of the most important things when it

comes to color mixing. We already touched on them briefly but will bring
them up again. These are the colors that are opposite from each other on
the color wheel. So, for example, when looking at the wheel you notice that
red is at the top – opposite the red is green at the bottom of the wheel. Thus,
green is the complementary color of red and vise versa. The same holds true
for blue and orange and purple and yellow (as well as all other colors in
between!).

What are complementary

colors good for?

When you pour your orange out of the tube it is a very saturated color and
will not do you much good when you are trying to get a hue that is more ‘true
to life’. So, what do you do? This is where complementary colors come in. As
blue is the opposite of orange, when you add some blue to orange it will
make the orange less orange – therefore creating a more muted color. Or, if
you would rather have a more muted blue you would just add some orange
to the blue. The same of course holds true for all the other complementary
colors - green/red, and yellow/ purple and all the others in between.

You could technically add a brown (burnt umber) to these colors to mute
them, but this creates very uninteresting colors and will not help you in the
long run. Working on mixing the opposites to colors helps you create
beautiful and dynamic colors. You will grow exponentially more in your color
mixing than if you would just add brown to colors.
 Mixing Black

Nearly any combination of two deep, dark colors will produce a

black as long as one is cool and the other warm. For example,
ultramarine blue and burnt umber is a good mixture for a black –
blue being the cool and burnt umber the warm. As well, pthalo
green and alizarin crimson makes a strong black. I use these two
colors for black the most often as it is such a deep and rich color.
Pthalo green is an extremely strong color – you just need to make
sure that the green does not overpower. You could also get a blue
black by mixing pthalo blue with cadmium red light – it will depend
on you how cool or warm you will want your black to be.

All the rest of the colors

So far, we have barely skimmed the surface! I believe most of what

one learns comes from mixing comes from experience. The best
thing you can do for yourself in the process of learning to paint is
simply to mix a LOT. All the time. Be experimental with color and
mix combinations that you would not ordinarily think of – the results
may surprise you.
 Think of color mixing in terms of cooking and adding spices – a
little bit of this, then a little bit of that… What I find accelerates the
learning process is to watch an experienced painter work and see
how they mix colors. For myself, this helped me to get outside of
my own head and
think of more unusual color combinations. The result was that my
ability to make compelling color combinations on the canvas
increased exponentially. Most importantly, be patient with yourself
as you learn.

Thank You!
For taking the time to read this color mixing guide. I hope you were
able to learn from it! I will be continually adding more painting
tutorials and advice at ArtStudioLife.com. Keep your eyes open on
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way!