Creating the perfect shade of orange or pink can be a daunting hurdle for beginners who don't know where to start when it comes to mixing colors. Fortunately, almost any color in the spectrum can be created with just a few basic colors. By learning the color wheel, you'll have the foundation you need to create any hue you want.
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Part 1 of 3: Mixing Secondary Colors
Step 1. Prepare the paint and all the tools needed
You will need a palette and a painting knife or brush. Stirring the paint with a painting knife will produce a more even and uniform color than with a brush.
- If you're using a brush to mix paint, clean the paint every time you mix up a new color mixture. Don't let the previous color mix with the new one. Use soap and water to clean brushes of acrylic paints, or odorless mineral alcohol or turpentine for oil paints.
- You can mix paint in a bottle instead of on a palette, if you really want to make a paint mixture for later use.
- Mixing paints is a skill that requires hard work and experience. Practice with different amounts of paint and combinations to get a better understanding of how paints blend.
Step 2. Start with the three primary colors
All colors are derived from the combination of three primary colors, namely: red, blue, and yellow. These colors cannot be made from other colors. The three colors are like the basic "parent color".
- It's best to buy more primary colors than other paint colors. Bottled paint is generally available up to 200 ml.
- Cat has two classes: student and professional classes. Student grade paint is cheaper, but in terms of durability, intensity, and other factors, it is below professional grade. The ratios required to mix certain colors may also differ in student grade paints, so you should be aware of this possibility when purchasing.
Step 3. Mix yellow and blue to make green
Use equal amounts of yellow and blue paint. Stir with a paint brush or painting knife. An unequal amount of paint will result in a green that leans towards one of the more abundant colors-blue or yellow.
Step 4. Mix yellow and red to make an orange color
Use equal amounts of yellow and red paint. Stir with a paint brush or painting knife. An unequal amount of paint will result in an orange color that leans towards one of the more abundant colors-yellow or red.
Step 5. Mix blue and red to make purple
Use equal amounts of blue and red paint. Stir with a paint brush or painting knife. An unequal amount of paint will result in a purple color that leans towards one of the more abundant colors-blue or red.
Step 6. Use white or black paint to change the tint, saturation, and tone of the color
Tints and shades refer to how light or dark a color is. Saturation refers to the density of a color. Experiment with mixing in a little white or black paint to vary the base color.
Whether white and black are classified as primary colors is still a matter of debate. For paint purposes, you need to know that different shades of black can be made with existing paint, but no paint mix can make white
Step 7. Save all the colors you have mixed
Place the paint in an airtight container-like a bottle-if you don't want to use it right away. You will use this paint to paint or create tertiary colors. Tupperware containers can also be a good option if you don't have bottles.
- If you don't have a container to store the paint in, cover the pallet with plastic and store it in the refrigerator (or freezer for oil paints).
- You can also place a wet towel over the paint to help it stay damp until it's ready to use.
Part 2 of 3: Mixing Tertiary Colors
Step 1. Start with a secondary color
Secondary colors are colors made from primary colors, namely: purple, green, and orange. You can use pre-mixed paint or buy a secondary color from the store. Also make sure you still have plenty of primary colors.
Step 2. Mix primary and secondary colors to make tertiary colors
Use equal amounts of primary and secondary paint. Stir with a paint brush or painting knife. An unequal amount of paint will result in a color that leans towards one of the more abundant colors-primary or secondary.
- You need to know, tertiary colors are always named after the name of the primary color that is mentioned first, for example "yellow-green".
- Different colors will have different names, depending on the manufacturer and the ingredients used in the paint. For example, one paint brand named yellow-orange Cadmium Yellow Light. Keep the name in mind when you go to the store to buy paint.
Step 3. Make the six tertiary colors
Each tertiary color is created in the same way, using equal amounts of primary and secondary paint. Different paint brands often have slightly different pigment mixes, so don't worry if the color isn't exactly what you thought it would be. There are six tertiary colors:
- Yellow-green
- Blue-green
- Blue-violet
- red-violet
- red-orange
- Yellow-orange.
Part 3 of 3: Mixing Browns, Blacks, Neutrals, Etc
Step 1. Mix tertiary colors with primary colors to make chocolate
In particular, mix “one tertiary color” with “a primary color that is not yet part of the tertiary color mix”. For browns, the ratio of each color will affect the type of chocolate produced.
- Adding more of a warm color, such as red, will result in a warmer brown.
- Adding more cool colors, such as blue or green, will result in a very dark brown, close to black.
Step 2. Mix complementary colors to make black
Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Examples are red and green, or blue and orange. Mixing these colors will result in a black that leans towards one of the colors used in the mix. The resulting black color is called chromatic black.
- Dark blues and browns can also produce dark blacks which can be made colder or warmer, depending on the paint ratio.
- Note that if you buy bottled pure black paint, you won't have much freedom to mix it up.
Step 3. Mix one primary, analogue, and complementary color to make gray
Analog colors are colors that are next to a specific color on the color wheel. For example, the analogous colors for green are yellow and blue. Adding an analog color to a color, then adding a complementary color mix, will neutralize the intensity of the resulting color and create a more gray color. Add white to make the blend value lighter until you get the gray you need.
Darker colors make it easier to lighten, while lighter colors are harder to make darker. For starters, mix a little white to gray, then add as needed
Step 4. Use the color wheel
With the three main color groups already in place, you can create any color you want. When in doubt about what colors are needed to make a particular mix, just take a look at the color wheel. Notice where the color is on the color wheel, then mix the two parent colors on the right and left of the color.
- Use white (or yellow) to make a color lighter.
- Use the complementary color of the color to make it grayish.
- To make the color darker, you need one of the parent colors. The resulting tint will be skewed towards the parent color.
Tips
- Make notes to remember what color combinations are and in what ratio to get the color you want.
- Make a replica of the color wheel as an exercise in mixing paints.
- Experiment! You never guess what color will come out later.
- Start with a small amount of paint so that you get used to it and know how much mixture is needed to make a certain color.
- Wear clothes to get dirty so you don't regret if they get stained.
- If you need a large amount of a certain color, make more mixtures than you need. If you run out and you have to re-create, the new mix runs the risk of taking on a much different hue than the previous one.
