Tools and Tips for mixing...

When working with color mixing it is important to have all the correct tools. This makes the process more efficient.

• Obtain a good palette knife and use a wax palette for your surface for mixing paint.
• Have paper towels handy and a damp cloth for clean up.
• Keep your palette knife clean at all times. Never to leave paint to dry on it.
• Do not leave the palette knife sitting in water.
• After mixing your colors, transfer the mixed paint to either your storage palette or place on a damp paper towel to maintain the hydration.
• If you are mixing Traditions for watercolors, place the mixed colors onto your watercolor tray or in your 'Global Palette'
• Check the back of your hands after mixing, it's very easy to transfer paint to unwanted areas of the painting and your home.

Color mixing for watercolors using Traditions

MIX and MIX and MIX...

 

The watercolor medium when mixed with the paint to a ratio of (1:1) will help with the even dispersion of the pigments and with reconstitution. It is IMPERATIVE that the two are mixed thoroughly on your wax palette before you place them onto your watercolor tray or into the Global Palette.  No cheating with the back of the brush handle giving them a quick twirl. This is not adequate mixing. You have to conscientiously mix both paint and medium together using the flat of your palette knife.   MIX and MIX and MIX.  Sing the 'Happy Birthday Song' while you do this so you will be sure you have accomplished this correctly. The mixing is important. Did we say that already?
 
Then...When you add water to dilute and create your watercolor washes etc. you will achieve even dispersion as the water when added to the prepared paint will 'tear' the mix apart giving you even washes and applications. This is the key to working with the new watercolor medium. Remember we are changing the 'working properties' of the paint... making it into a watercolor!

 

Reconstitution and fresh paint...

Regarding Traditions working as a watercolor, here are is what we need to think about.
 
We must mix the medium with the paint (1:1) and prepare the paint correctly; We store the 'wet' mixture in a container that restricts air flow. That way we will maintain even hydration.
Remember we are changing the working properties of Traditions.  The paint is still heavier than the medium, because of the solids in it. This applies to when you mix the 'Global paints' as well. The solids will over time eventually settle out of the 'new' mixture that's why we stir them well from time to time.
If we stir from time to time and maintain the hydration, we will keep the paint in great condition. If we allow the watercolors to dry out completely, we will only be able to remove the top layers of pigment, a little at a time, stirring keeps the medium and the paint evenly mixed and this is what allows us to reconstitute them.
 
Remember also there is no waiting time for the watercolor paint to be processed or 'cooked'. So you can also mix them up with the medium as you need, there is no extra waiting time for performance - so just mix fresh as you go.

The key to working with the new watercolor medium is to mix correctly
	The addition of the watercolor medium Changes the 'working properties' of Traditions paint... making it into a watercolor media! When you add water to dilute and create your watercolor washes you will achieve even dispersion as the water, when added to the prepared paint will 'tear' the mix apart giving you even washes and applications.
Visit The Art Apprentice Online Store for details

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to brush mix while working with traditions watercolors. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom to adjust their color palette. These lessons are e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

 

Brush mixing tips and how to 'Brush Mix'...

This is a simple technique and one of my favorite methods for mixing and blending color. When one uses the bristles of the brush to pick up two colors at the same time and blend them together on your blending palette. Instead of mixing one large puddle of paint with the palette knife, think of it as mixing tiny patches of color.
Follow this procedure when you need to use just a little at a time to adjust an area of an object or the painting. Brush mixing does not refer to using your brush as a tool to stir large amounts of paint together into one color. Students often misunderstand this term, 'brush mix' and end up ruining a perfectly good brush this way. Brush mixing is a gentle manipulation of two or more colors, blending them into the brush to create a third hue.
I prefer to brush mix almost all my colors, that is to say, instead of having huge puddles of pre-mixed colors on the palette, I like to have fresh paint sitting on my wet palette. I pick up a little at a time, selecting the particular hue to control the value and intensity of the color on my brush. I might load my brush with two or three colors and then blend on my palette before moving to back to the painting. This can give your work a more 'painterly appearance' as opposed to a stiffer look. It is easier for me to correct one single brush blend than a whole puddle of one mixture that has gone wrong! If you are new to color theory, brush mixing can teach you quite a lot as you make mini discoveries about each color that you create.

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to brush mix from a limited palette. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom. These lessons are e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

$9.95

 

Mixing and learning about color go hand in hand...

As we learn and teach more about mixing color there are a few things to try to remember.  Here are a few tips that will make it fun to learn.
One of the observations that I make as a teacher, is that many students are really afraid of color, let alone mix it, “what if I get it wrong?’ they ask. Well, the worst part of that is you will know not to do that again! Mixing color is all about making discoveries and making them your friends.  Seeing the color and learning to ‘read’ what the color really is and how it behaves.  By that I mean learning how to judge the color, the hue the value and the intensity? How do you know if it is the correct mix? How do you recognize if it is right?

The only answer to that is to get acquainted with color. Get to know color intimately, just like making a new friend.  You start slow and with caution, when you become comfortable with them you relax and have fun.  Knowing color is like hanging out with good friends, but first you must spend time with them, getting used to their personalities and their most important, their quirks!

Red & Green Mix	Yellow & Blue Mix
Look at the result of the mix, what hue is the new color?	Yellow and Blue result in what hue?

So let’s make friends with color The first exercise to do is to test the color and see what happens when you mix it. Get introduced to color Shake hands with it.
Let’s begin….. Mix a couple of colors together, with the palette knife drag some of the color across the wax palette, and see what happens when you do this.  What is the result? – take a look at the standard color wheel and try to determine the new hue (color family) Which one of the 12 hues does the new hue belong to? Is it Red, Blue, Red Orange, Yellow Green?

Now add a little Titanium White to it, this will reveal its personality.  Take your palette knife and ‘flash it’ or ‘drag it’ out across the wax palette – this will spread the color out on the white paper and allows the hue to show. Record your findings on white poster paper. Make notes – is it dull, brilliant or in between maybe? Mix some different values of this color by adding more white each time. Now record what you see, is the new color getting lighter? Yes of course – you are adding a lightening agent to it – Titanium White will make the value lighter. That is for sure!

How much paint do I need to put out? 

Well we need paint to be able to paint! It’s that simple.  That is, put out enough paint on your palette to work with.  You can’t do anything with little pea sized puddles. In order to mix color correctly, you need to have paint on your brush.  Not gobs of paint, but pick up enough paint so when you move to the canvas or the surface you have something to leave behind.  I notice that many new painters as well as those making the shift from oils to Traditions use too little paint.  Then when they try to brush mix, blend or deposit paint there is nothing there to work with other than making a mark on the surface.

Also by using a wet palette to keep your paints hydrated will help you with keeping interesting colors for use when you brush mix your colors When I brush mix, I adjust the edge of the puddle, not the whole puddle.  Remember you need to test the color for the result. Either take some from the main puddle and place it somewhere else, or spread some of the color out from your main puddle, now by mixing on the edge of the puddle, you can see what will happen to the color If you are working on a wet palette you can keep this color for another area of your painting.  Then if you have to adjust the color once again (i.e. make it brighter or lighter) you can spread out a little more and add another color to another side of the puddle.  Never adjust by dropping color straight into the center of a puddle, or you will end up with too much of the color and if the hue isn't’t quite right will it be too hard to correct. Whatever adjustments you make, do them slowly, and remember these are POWERFUL artist grade pigments – they will react very quickly so take your time and familiarize yourself with them. 

On a closing note, spend the time getting to know each pigment and learn the properties of each.  Like personalities, they are all different and unique.  Look at the inside cover of the Traditions Artist Technical Guide Book; it will give you the important personality traits of each pigment in the Traditions line. 

From Opacity to transparency, from temperature to value and intensity, from this you will develop lasting friendships and some will become your best friends and others, well, somewhat like people you will learn to keep them at arms distance because of their overbearing nature! 

Mixing with Ultramarine Blue PB29

This is a favorite of many artists because it adds a balance to the palette. First let’s look at the properties of this pigment, so I will introduce you to it, just like meeting someone for the first time.
...Ultramarine Blue is a value 2/3 so, relative to all the other values ranging between 1-10 we can call this pigment a dark value color It sits at the lower end of the value scale; never forget this because it will affect the value of whatever it is added to.
Next, let’s look at the intensity of this pigment – is it bright or dull? Well Ultramarine Blue PB29 is a bright color or considered an intense hue.

Whenever we first approach mixing, it’s a good idea to take out all the bottles of the same hue and become familiar with them. It’s time to make friends with your paint. For example, you’ll notice that there are sometimes 2 or more of the different colors, for example there are 7 different blues in the Traditions line, but only 3 are pure pigments, the others are simply there for convenience.
In this article, we are referring to Ultramarine Blue PB29 we will concentrate on the two blues in the Traditions starter set – look at the two blues, you’ll see each one has a particular color bias- look at the pigment wheel on page 52 of the Artist Technical Guide Book and locate the position of each of these.  Because of where they sit, we can see that they are different. Ultramarine Blue PB29 sits closer to Violet and Phthalo Blue PB15:3 sits closer to green.

Put some out on your wax palette and smear them or flash them across the white paper to ‘read’ the difference.
………Right away you will know that they will react differently in a ‘mix’ because even though they are both blue – like people they have different PERSONALITIES.

Now let’s talk about actually mixing two or more colors together to create a third, but how much of each do we add?  Well…….. this is just experience, but if you ‘know’ and understand that each pigment has a particular ‘strength’ you will be able to control the mix better. It’s like knowing how hot the hot sauce really is!!! Is it Mild or do you ……run for the garden hose!
In the same way, certain pigments are so powerful that they can overtake the desired mix – so you need to use caution until you become best friends with that color and understand its personality.  So let’s look at what this is power is called - it is referred to as ‘tinting’ strength.  David referred to this last weekend in the previous color discussions.  Phthalo Blue PB15:3 is a VERY POWERFUL PIGMENT!!! one drop of this pigment will paint the town!  How do we know this – experience and by working with it.

Ultramarine Blue PB 29 on the other hand (compared to Phthalo Blue PB15:3) has a much weaker tinting strength.  Even though both of these colors are ‘pure’ pigments they have different ‘tinting’ strength and they have the ability to hue shift because of where they sit on the pigment wheel.

EXERCISE

Use Ultramarine Blue PB 29 to mix a toned semi-transparent green.

Ultramarine Blue PB29 + Indian Yellow PY139

If you paint a lot of landscapes and foliage on trees, use greens that have certain qualities to them and use layering techniques to build depth.  The mix of Ultramarine Blue and Indian Yellow gives lends a wonderful glazing color for lush green foliage. Glazes are always applied in a transparent manner.
Sometimes when I paint the more transparent edges of the foliage on trees (especially to create contrast in temperature) I need a yellow green that is much toned (dull) and quite transparent so it lets light pass through it and will also allow whatever is below to show through.
We know that blue and yellow make green - correct? But I need a much toned transparent ‘yellow’ green. Ultramarine is a weaker semi transparent blue (it won’t affect the Indian Yellow too much) Indian Yellow is a pure pigment and a transparent yellow that is used for glazing and for hue shifting. When these two are mixed, the result is very ‘toned’ some might even say ugly on the palette, but is marvelous on foliage.  The goal is achieved.  So the rule to remember is no color is wrong – it is only wrong if it doesn't’t work in the place you put it!

Let’s look at how this works again. Indian Yellow PY139 has an orange bias – meaning its personality leans to orange AND it is a transparent pigment which I want and need for glazing. So I need to select a blue that has a semi- transparent property plus a transparent (yellow) to make a ………..transparent result.  Especially as I only use a little of the Ultramarine blue to control and dull the Indian Yellow which is a little too bright.
 
Blue and orange are compliments, even though the Indian Yellow is not a true orange, it still has a little orange bias, so by reaching across the wheel to Ultramarine Blue, the two are able to pull each other deeper into the center of the pigment wheel resulting in a very toned yellow green.
Draw a line between the two and you will see where the result falls.  If I had used Phthalo Blue 15:3 the transparency factor would have been ok, but the intensity would be different as we know how POWERFUL Phthalo blue 15:3 is (tinting strength), the result would have been a brighter green that would not work for me in that situation.

This is just the way I think about pigments when I reach to create a mix, I first define the ‘goal’ of the mix – does the result have to be toned? Bright? Opaque? Transparent? What am I doing or trying to achieve?  By becoming familiar with the pigments personalities I am able to judge or make a selection based on this pigment familiarity.

What will Ultramarine Blue PB29 do to other colors when added to them?

Look at a few of the mixing capabilities …It’s a very bright or intense blue but at the same time a dark value blue. It sits almost opposite to the earth colors on the pigment wheel which provides balance. This tells us it can add a lot of variety to our palette because as a color it has room for movement, it will do many things. 

• It can darken (lower the value) of other colors
• It can be used to hue shift (move from one hue to another) from blue to violet.
• It can be used to create many degrees of violet when mixed with Red Violet (depending on the mixing ratios)
• It will make several soft tints when mixed with white (depending on the mixing ratios)
• It's weaker tinting strength makes it easy to control (compared to Phthalo Blue PB15:13 that is so powerful) 
• Because of its position in the outer ring of the pigment wheel (high intensity) it provides a lot of opportunity to be pulled into the wheel for intensity control.
• Because it sits close to the outer edge of the pigment wheel it has a long way to travel before it looses its saturation to gray (offering several variances) 
• It is semi-transparent so offers great glazing possibilities (over other colors) 
• It makes excellent toned greens (when combined with yellows, the violet bias helps to tone) 

These are just a few, there are so many more... as you discover them keep a record of your findings.

................................................................

EXERCISE

If you were working on flowers for example, with Red Violet PV19 as your dominant color, put out a puddle of Ultramarine Blue PB29 on one side, and a puddle of Naphthol Red PR170 on the other. Also put out a puddle of Titanium White PW6 as your lightening agent (to lighten the values) Now think of all the possibilities as you begin to move between these pigments, vary the degrees of violets, red violets, and blue violets – beautiful results.

 

Enjoy your mixing!

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to brush mix from a limited palette. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom. This lesson is an e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

 

Tips for mixing Greens...

No green hue is wrong.  All green hues have possibilities; however they are only wrong if they don't work within the 'context ' of the painting we are currently working on.

Greens are the most difficult hues for the artist to control. There are such a wide variety of possibilities for us to work with that sometimes the choices can be overwhelming. Just take a look at the photographs offered for you to see the huge range of greens that Mother Nature has given us. They come in light and darks, cools and warms, bright and dull and everything in between.
 

Mother Nature provides us with endless possibilities for greens

First - We must decide what our needs are regarding the situation at hand. Are we adjusting an existing green hue or are we mixing one from scratch for a new object in a new composition? Yes...We have to think...and thinking makes us learn, even if by the mistakes we make. Remember we learn more when we have to fix or correct something as we have to think about why it didn't work and what we could change the next time we try.

Let's begin with 'adjusting' a mixed green - this is an important question. Start out by thinking about the 'context' of the painting, there are several questions I must ask myself - relative to where I am painting this green color Does it have to be darker or lighter? brighter or duller? Remember everything is ALWAYS relative to the area around it. These answers will give me some direction to start with.  A road map so to speak, as to where I will go when adjusting the greens on my palette.
If we are only adjusting we have several options - for both value and intensity as well as temperature. This is a complex subject and one that we can touch on later. visit the short articles written in the rest of the color theory section of this web site.
 

When mixing from 'scratch' - the possibilities are endless. BUT! We still have to consider the 'context' of the painting.  Where does the green element or object sit in relationship to the rest of the painting?  Let's say we are painting a landscape - In that case a very intense or brilliant green will not always work in the background of the painting as the color will be too strong or powerful for the illusion of distance. But a toned or dull green may be more appreciate. Knowing where the green will sit is a good starting point.  So we then must decide on a few simple pigments that will give us some basic green hues that can then be adjusted to suit the painting. In landscape painting, we usually want to think of duller greens that are 'toned' or less saturated.

This photograph shows the similarities between greens. The frog and the cactus are almost the same hue, value, intensity, and temperature of green.	We see two different greens in this photograph, the frog has more yellow in it and is warmer relative to the leaf, this is where 'relative to' another, comes into play and we can see the difference.

'Problems' you may encounter when mixing greens...

Mixing greens also becomes quite a difficult task when using only yellows and blues or strong green pigments such as Phthalo Blue Green as they have the ability to hue shift quite dramatically towards blue green and they are usually too intense to control easily.  So a good habit to get into is to think of pulling most green colors towards the inside of the color wheel right from the start, which will result in many more toned or gentler greens that are more easily workable. In many cases the earth colors will help us do this quite easily.

Take baby steps...

The easiest way to avoid problems while mixing greens is to take little ‘baby steps’ with mixing.  Never add a huge amount of pigment to another and immediately mix these together.  It is better to add very tiny amounts slowly and test the waters to see if the resulting hue will work for where you need to place it.  I add little amounts to the very edge of my puddle.  It’s like adding salt to your pot of soup - add then taste to see if the right amount has been added. (PLEASE DON'T TASTE THE PAINT!) In mixing you add a little of one pigment then test on the desired surface to read the color first!
 
Deciding - do I need a yellow green or a blue green? 

This information alone will direct you to a more successful mix. - Look at the pigment wheel in the Artist Technical Guide and see if the color you want to mix is closer to blue or to yellow.  This will then tell you which pigments might give you a faster mix.  Also look to see if the desired green you wish to mix sits in the outside ring, the middle ring or the center core ring.  Remember the brightest colors sit in the outside ring so as you move inwards towards the core or center the color will become less saturated and duller.  
This is just a start, a few things to think about when mixing greens.

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to brush mix from a limited palette. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom. These lessons are e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

$12.95

 

Mixing with Traditions Global Paint method...

Feel free to download this article, see the link below. To learn more about Global Blending techniques, please visit the Multi Media lessons under the Art Studies section in the menu of this website.

This method for setting up the paint and palette changes the working properties of Traditions paint into a paint which provides longer blending time and emulates the blending properties of oils.

Process the Traditions paints using the 'Global Method'

Visit the Art Apprentice Online store for the details about the Global Palette

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to brush mix and work with the global palette of colors. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom. These lessons are e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

$9.95

 

PRINT HERE

• Global Blending Article

Pigment undertones don’t always reveal themselves to us when we look at the mass tone  (that’s the co lor of the paint puddle when it comes right out of the bottle) when you look at the puddles sitting side by side on your palette they may just look like puddles of paint, they sometimes don’t tell you very much do they other than they belong in a blue or a red family? For the artist just starting out with pure pigments and learning to mix, it can be intimidating, so it’s a good exercise to experiment with each and EVERY pigment to discover the undertone or bias. Knowing about the undertone is one of the secrets – like getting inside someone’s head; you have to get inside the paint co lour to understand how it will perform for you.  We pre-screen our colors for the hidden undertones and it lets us make educated choices when we go to mix. This is a real bonus.