At various times in their careers, the Impressionists didn’t use black at all. Take Monet’s paintings of Rouen Cathedral in the morning full sunlight, in dull weather, and in blue and gold to see what a genius can do with shadows (he did 20 paintings of the cathedral at different times of the day). It’s not true to say the Impressionists never used black, but they certainly popularized the idea. If you can’t see yourself working without black, then consider mixing up a chromatic black rather than using a straight-from-the-tube black. It also has the advantage not ‘killing’ a color it’s mixed with to the same extent.
What You Need to Know About Color Theory for Painting
Marion Boddy-Evans is a professional quilter, artist, and writer with 15 years’ experience specializing in quilting and painting. She is a commissioned artist at the Isle of Skye Art Studio located in Scotland, where she also teaches workshops.
Updated on 02/07/20
In color mixing for painting, the fundamental rule is that three colors cannot be made by mixing other colors. These three (red, blue, and yellow) are known as the primary colors.
Mixing Primary Colors
If you mix two primaries, you create what is called a secondary color. Mixing blue and red creates purple, red and yellow make orange, and yellow and blue make green. The exact hue of the secondary color you’ve mixed depends on which red, blue, or yellow you use and the proportions in which you mix them. If you mix three primary colors, you get a tertiary color.
Black and white can also not be made by mixing other colors, but as they aren’t used in color mixing to create colors, they get excluded from color mixing theory. If you add white to a color you lighten it and if you add black you darken it (though some painters don’t use black at all).
Different Blues, Reds, and Yellows
Yes, you can buy various blues, reds, and yellows. For example, blues include cobalt blue, cerulean blue, ultramarine, monestial blue, and Prussian blue. Reds include alizarin crimson or cadmium red, and yellows have cadmium yellow medium, cadmium yellow light, or lemon yellow. These are all primary colors, just different versions.
It’s not a question of there being a right or wrong primary to use, but rather that each blue, red, and yellow is different and produces a different result when mixed. Each pair of primaries will produce something different, sometimes only subtly different.
Oil paint colors
Let’s start by getting to know the colors that oil paints provide us. Indeed, today various paint manufacturers offer a fairly extensive palette of colors. But are they all really necessary?
In fact, many shades and colors can be achieved by mixing paints yourself. But there are those that you certainly can’t do without. They are called primary colors, which are impossible to achieve by mixing. These include blue, red and yellow. Armed with these three primary colors, you can create different shades of orange by mixing red and yellow in different proportions. Also, you can achieve different shades of green by mixing blue and yellow. And of course, by combining red with blue, you can achieve various purple hues.
If the resulting colors seem too dark, which often happens when mixing red with blue, a little white will correct the situation. Moreover, each resulting shade of a particular color can be lightened using whitewash. Thus, using only three primary colors and white, you can create a fairly wide palette of colors yourself.
The colors obtained as a result of such mixing are called secondary. Among them, there are already combinations that cannot be mixed, since they result in a dirty gray-brown color. These include pairs of colors located opposite the primary ones in the color wheel: blue and orange; red and green; purple and yellow. At the same time, these combinations look very impressive sitting side by side. They create the most striking contrasts together after black and white.
Methods of mixing colors
Mixing paints and mixing colors are not always the same. After mixing paints we mechanically mix them until a homogeneous mass is obtained. With colors, we have other options that do not involve mechanical mixing of the paint. At the same time, each type of color mixing creates a special effect on the canvas and is not interchangeable with other types.
Let’s define what types of color mixing are and what is the peculiarity of each of them.
- Mechanical mixing of colors — is the mixing of paints on the palette to obtain the desired color or shade. This type is the most common and helps the artist to feel the necessary proportions of colors to obtain the desired shades.
- Optical (additive) color mixing — represents the intersection of different color rays and is most often used in the field of optical processes (image on a computer monitor, TV screen, gadget display). This method, in contrast to the mechanical one, has a slightly different palette of primary colors, namely: red, blue, green. With their help, you can create almost all shades of the visible spectrum. A kind of analogue of this type of color mixing in painting is the imposition of one paint on another, also known as the glaze technique. The bottom line is to apply a more transparent layer of paint over a dried smear of a different color. Thus, the effect obtained is different from mixing paints on a palette.
- Spatial (subtractive) mixing of colors is formed when paints are placed very close, due to which they merge into one generalized color. Its essence lies in the fact that light rays are partially absorbed, reflected and refracted, falling on the surface of the object. Due to this, very closely spaced colors are perceived by our eye as a separate, intermediate between them color. This type of color mixing was especially widespread in the works of the impressionists and pointillism.
However, each of the methods of color mixing presented above has a place in the world of painting. After all, owning their principles, the artist significantly expands the possibilities and creates truly unique works of art. And to simplify the process, there are special color mixing tables that will help you save time and materials in finding the right shade. They will be discussed below.
Paint color mixing table
The process of mixing paints is, first of all, an experiment. Anyway, each artist will take time to understand and feel what, how and in what proportions must be mixed to obtain the desired color. But working with oil paints, you can turn to the special color mixing tables for help. They do not guarantee one hundred percent match of the shades, but they will definitely make the process of finding them easier.
Below we have presented the most popular color mixing combinations:
- Pink = White + some Red
- Chestnut = Red + Black / Brown
- Orange = Red + Yellow
- Green = Yellow + Blue
- Turquoise = Green + Blue
- Olive = Green + Yellow
- Gray = White + a little Black
- Mustard = Yellow + Red + Black + a little Green
- Beige = Brown + White + Yellow
- Lemon Yellow = Yellow + White + some Green
- Emerald Green = Yellow + Green + White
- Royal Magenta = Red + Blue + Yellow
- Plum = Red + White + Blue + Black
- Crimson = Blue + White + Red + Brown
- Eggshell = White + Yellow + a little Brown
Of course, this is not a complete list of all the options for mixing oil paints, but it can serve as a base for you on the way of learning all the intricacies of color mixing.
Video: How to get the color you want? Color circle
You can clearly consider the issue of mixing oil paints in the video, where the principle of mechanical mixing of basic colors is easily explained using the example of oil paints.
Summary
The world of colors and paints has certain basic elements, the combinations of which already lead to a further variety of the palette. Knowing the principles of color mixing helps the artist not only enrich his/her palette of colors, but also resort to various artistic techniques. Thus, the paintings become special, and the master has a certain unique style.
But no matter how familiar you are with the theory, it doesn’t matter without practice. Only by feeling the colors and their features at work, you will learn how to easily combine and mix colors to get the desired result. And our article will allow you to always return to theory if you have any questions during the workflow.
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Ask Your Young Scientists
- Where else do we see subtractive or additive color mixing?
- Can we make new colors by mixing paints or colored light together?
- If I mix two different paint or food colors, will it make the same color as if I mixed the same colors of light?
We encourage you to experiment with color mixing at home. If you try any of these experiments, we want to see them. Share your pictures and videos with us by using the #ScienceAtPlay and tagging @CTScienceCenter.
This content was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Aoife Ryle is a STEM Educator at the Connecticut Science Center. In addition to working with school groups, she works with our Teen Program, Overnights department, and shoots weekly science segments for WFSB. She has a degree in Bioengineering from the University of Maine and has a personal interest in the life sciences and engineering which makes bioengineering a perfect crossover.
Justin Riley is the Teen Programs Coordinator and STEM Educator at the Connecticut Science Center, where he works closely with high school students giving them access to STEM and leadership programming. Justin graduated from the University of Hartford with his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering Technology and a Masters degree in Counselor Education and Student Development. Justin has worked several years with a wide range of students from pre-k to college. His love of engineering and mentoring led him to the Connecticut Science Center where he gets to use his many talents to work and connect with the students in the Greater Hartford area. When he is not helping to run the teen program, he spends his time traveling and spending close time with family and friends.
