Alchemy on the Palette: How to Mix Colors
Color mixing is a nightmare for some and the best part of painting for others. Here are my tips, from one artist to another :)
1. Forget Pure White: Try Titanium Buff
Classic Titanium White is a staple, but it has one downside—it cools colors down and makes them look "chalky." Anything you mix with white instantly turns pastel.
My trick: If you want to mix a lighter but warm and natural shade, get Titanium Buff. It's a beige-toned white. When you add it to blue, instead of a cold sky blue, you get a beautiful, warm summer sky color.
2. The Technique of Mixing
It might seem obvious, but there is a technique to the physical act of mixing:
Picking up paint: Never dip the whole brush into a pile of paint! Take paint only with the tip of the brush and bring it into the color you want to mix with.
The "Adding-in" Process: Always start with the lighter color and add the darker one bit by bit. Dark paint is aggressive.
Brush Motion: Some people mix in a circular motion, but I prefer going back and forth with the brush. I just scrub the two colors into each other in a "zig-zag" motion until they merge into the right shade. Circles are fine for large amounts of paint, but for "economical" painting, scrubbing back and forth works better! :)
3. Getting Lighter and Darker (Without the "Black Mud")
To lighten: Use white (for cool tones) or Titanium Buff (for warm ones).
To darken: Be careful here! Most people instinctively reach for black, but that often just "dirties" the color and takes the life out of it.
Pro Tip: Complementary Colors. Do you know what happens when you add a bit of red to green? The green "dims down," loses its artificial "neon" look, and starts looking natural—like forest leaves. The red neutralizes the green. If you mix them in equal parts, you get a deep, vibrant dark brown that looks a thousand times better than black from a tube.
4. How to Avoid "Mud"
A common mistake? Mixing too many colors together. Once you mix more than three different tubes, you start getting that sad grayish-brown.
The Rule: Try to achieve a shade by combining a maximum of two or three colors. Less is definitely more. Just think of RGB! ;) You can mix the whole world using just three colors.
5. Mixing "By Eye" vs. Pre-mixed Shades
Mixing is a great school of art; you learn to truly see colors. But remember—if you're painting a large area and you know you won't finish it today, it's safer to buy a pre-mixed tube. Matching the exact ratio of five colors you had on your palette the next day is quite difficult—especially since acrylic paint changes its shade after drying.