03-31-2017, 10:42 AM
Somethings to think about when mixing traditional paints:
Mixing complementary colours will reduce the saturation of the mix.
You'll probably find that your paints, straight from the tube, will lean slightly warmer, or slightly cooler.
For example, Cadmium Yellow is a warm pigment, and you can think of it as having a little bit of red in it. Lemon Yellow on the other hand, is cooler, and more suited to mixing greens. This is important, when aiming for a specific colour. If you mix French Ultramarine and Cadmium yellow, both of which are warm variations of their hue, the red (or warmth) will act as a complementary to the green mixed, reducing it's saturation and resulting in a duller, muddier mix. If you use a cool blue, like Phthalo Blue, and a cool yellow such as Lemon Yellow, the mix will be much more saturated.
This is where the idea of a warm cool pallet comes in.
Another thing to think about is the quality of your paints. The difference between student quality and artist quality paints is the pigment density. Cheaper paints will have less of pigment, whereas the more expensive paints will have a much greater pigment load. With more expensive paints, you tend to use less paint when mixing, and you can achieve more saturated mixes.
Also on the price of paints, is series. You'll probably find on your tubes a series number, be it 1, 2 3 up to 5, sometimes even 7. Series number denotes how expensive the pigment is. Series 1 pigments, like Ultramarine will be much cheaper than a series 4 pigment like Cerulean blue, or Cadmium blue.
You can get away with a cheap blue, but I'd highly recommend spending a little bit more and getting a higher quality Cadmium Yellow.
Some paints are more transparent than others, and may require multiple layers on the canvas to match what's on your pallet.
Most paint drys to be a different colour than wet. Acrylics typically dry mat, and slightly lighter or darker. A black will dry to be a bit lighter, whereas blue's will often dry to be slightly darker. The same happens with oils, but much less.
If you're drawing on your surface with graphite, you can give it a quick spray with mat fixative to stop it mixing into your paint layers.
If you're having difficulty mixing the right colour before it dries on your pallet, you might have a bit more success with oils. They introduce a number of other things to consider, but leaves you with much more time to mix. Alternatively, you can get some slow drying acrylic medium, although I can't comment, having not used them.
Hope that helps
Mixing complementary colours will reduce the saturation of the mix.
You'll probably find that your paints, straight from the tube, will lean slightly warmer, or slightly cooler.
For example, Cadmium Yellow is a warm pigment, and you can think of it as having a little bit of red in it. Lemon Yellow on the other hand, is cooler, and more suited to mixing greens. This is important, when aiming for a specific colour. If you mix French Ultramarine and Cadmium yellow, both of which are warm variations of their hue, the red (or warmth) will act as a complementary to the green mixed, reducing it's saturation and resulting in a duller, muddier mix. If you use a cool blue, like Phthalo Blue, and a cool yellow such as Lemon Yellow, the mix will be much more saturated.
This is where the idea of a warm cool pallet comes in.
Another thing to think about is the quality of your paints. The difference between student quality and artist quality paints is the pigment density. Cheaper paints will have less of pigment, whereas the more expensive paints will have a much greater pigment load. With more expensive paints, you tend to use less paint when mixing, and you can achieve more saturated mixes.
Also on the price of paints, is series. You'll probably find on your tubes a series number, be it 1, 2 3 up to 5, sometimes even 7. Series number denotes how expensive the pigment is. Series 1 pigments, like Ultramarine will be much cheaper than a series 4 pigment like Cerulean blue, or Cadmium blue.
You can get away with a cheap blue, but I'd highly recommend spending a little bit more and getting a higher quality Cadmium Yellow.
Some paints are more transparent than others, and may require multiple layers on the canvas to match what's on your pallet.
Most paint drys to be a different colour than wet. Acrylics typically dry mat, and slightly lighter or darker. A black will dry to be a bit lighter, whereas blue's will often dry to be slightly darker. The same happens with oils, but much less.
If you're drawing on your surface with graphite, you can give it a quick spray with mat fixative to stop it mixing into your paint layers.
If you're having difficulty mixing the right colour before it dries on your pallet, you might have a bit more success with oils. They introduce a number of other things to consider, but leaves you with much more time to mix. Alternatively, you can get some slow drying acrylic medium, although I can't comment, having not used them.
Hope that helps