Acrylic paint is a popular medium used by artists of all skill levels. Unlike oil paints, acrylics are water-soluble and fast-drying, making them versatile and easy to use. One of the great things about acrylics is the ability to mix colors to create new shades and hues. By understanding color theory and the properties of paint, you can learn to mix acrylics to produce any color you want.
Primary Colors
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. These are the core pigments that can’t be created by mixing other colors. All other shades are derived from combinations of the primaries. When working with acrylics, it’s best to start with a basic palette of quality red, yellow, and blue paints. This provides the maximum flexibility and control over color mixing.
Secondary Colors
When you mix two primary colors together, you get the secondary colors:
| Red + Yellow = Orange |
| Yellow + Blue = Green |
| Blue + Red = Violet |
These new hues create additional dimensions to your palette. Mixing blue and red makes violet, which has a richness that pure blue or red lacks. Combining all three primaries results in neutral browns or blacks. Understanding the basics of color theory helps inform more advanced mixing.
Tertiary Colors
By mixing a primary color with its adjacent secondary color, you create the tertiary colors. For example:
| Red + Orange = Red-Orange |
| Yellow + Green = Yellow-Green |
| Blue + Violet = Blue-Violet |
Tertiaries allow for even finer distinctions between hues. You can modify them further by adjusting the ratios of each component color. Adding more red to red-orange shifts it closer to a pure red. Increasing the blue makes it lean towards violet. Subtle variations produce the wide spectrum of colors we perceive.
Warm and Cool Colors
Colors can also be categorized by temperature as either warm or cool. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow. They evoke heat, fire, and sunlight. Cool colors are blue, green, and violet. They remind us of water, ice, and the night sky.
When mixing colors, staying within warm or cool families results in cohesive, harmonious hues. Combining warm and cool colors together creates visual vibrancy and contrast. But moving too far between temperature extremes can also muddy your mixes. Be aware of temperature as you blend colors.
Tinting
One method for lightening acrylic paint is by tinting it with white. Adding white to a color produces a softer, paler tint of the original pigment. The more white mixed in, the lighter the tint becomes. For example:
| Red + White = Pink |
| Yellow + White = Cream |
| Green + White = Mint |
Tinting allows you to modify colors while maintaining their essential characteristics. It’s useful for painting highlights, light-struck surfaces, or softer pastel shades.
Toning
Toning is the opposite of tinting. Instead of lightening with white, you darken a color by adding its complement. The complement of a color is directly across from it on the color wheel. For example:
| Red + Green = Maroon |
| Orange + Blue = Brown |
| Yellow + Violet = Olive |
When mixed with complements, colors become richer and more muted. Toning allows you to subtly augment a color while keeping it recognizable. It’s ideal for painting shadows and shaded areas.
Shades
Another darkening method is mixing a color with black or grey to create a shade. Adding black produces deeper, gloomier shades. Mixing with grey makes softer, muted shades. For example:
| Red + Black = Maroon |
| Yellow + Grey = Mustard |
| Green + Black = Forest |
Shades create somber variations that still read as the original color. Use sparingly when you want deep, gloomy colors. Adding too much black can deaden a mix.
Saturation and Value
Two important color attributes to understand are saturation and value. Saturation refers to the intensity or vividness of a color. A highly saturated color is pure and bright. Desaturating a color mutes it by adding grey or its complement. Value indicates how light or dark a color is. Changes in value are responsible for lights, midtones, and shadows. When mixing colors, consider adjusting both saturation and value to achieve the exact hue you want.
Layering and Glazing
Since acrylics are opaque, colors mixed together combine physically on the surface. This can make it difficult to achieve luminous blends. Instead, try layering separate brushstrokes of different colors. Allow each layer to dry before the next application. You can also glaze transparent acrylic mediums over the top to tint underlying layers. Layering and glazing produce depth and luminosity beyond simple mixing.
Mixing Tips
– Use a palette for mixing to keep your colors clean and consistent
– Mix with a palette knife for more control over blending
– Add colors sparingly so you don’t overshoot the desired hue
– Start with small mixed amounts – you can always add more if needed
– Stir thoroughly to integrate colors, avoiding streakiness
– Allow test swatches to dry to accurately judge dried color
– Clean your palette and tools promptly to avoid cross-contaminating mixes
Basic Color Mixing Guide
Refer to this handy guide to see how mixing primary colors produces new hues:
| Mixture | Resulting Color |
|---|---|
| Red + Yellow | Orange |
| Red + Blue | Violet |
| Yellow + Blue | Green |
| Red + Yellow + Blue | Brown |
| Red + White | Pink |
| Yellow + White | Cream |
| Green + White | Mint |
| Red + Green | Maroon |
| Orange + Blue | Brown |
| Yellow + Violet | Olive |
| Red + Black | Maroon |
| Yellow + Grey | Mustard |
| Green + Black | Forest |
Follow these mixing guidelines to obtain any acrylic color for your painting projects. Don’t be afraid to experiment – that’s part of the fun and learning! With practice, you’ll gain an intuitive understanding of color relationships.
Intermediate and Advanced Techniques
Once you master basic mixing methods, try some of these more advanced techniques:
– Split complementary colors – Mix a color with the two colors adjacent to its complement for subtle, complex hues.
– Neutralizing – Adding complementary colors together in various ratios neutralizes their intensity, producing greys and browns.
– Color temperature – Shift colors warmer with reds/oranges or cooler with blues/greens to dynamically affect mood and light.
– Analogous colors – Mix hues adjacent on the color wheel for harmonious color schemes.
– Color bias – Skew mixes towards one dominant hue for bolder color statements.
– Neutral mixing – Combine all three primaries equally to achieve various neutrals and earth tones.
– Local color mixing – Optically mix colors by applying small brushstrokes rather than physically blending pigments.
Don’t limit yourself to the techniques here. Let curiosity guide your color experiments. Learn from experience what happens when you combine colors in different ways. Mastering color mixing opens up a world of limitless, vibrant color.
Conclusion
Learning to mix acrylic paints to produce any color you desire just takes a bit of color theory knowledge and practice. Start with the primary colors and experiment mixing secondaries, tertiaries, tints, tones, and shades. Pay attention to color properties like temperature, saturation, and value. Employ layering and glazing for luminous effects. Follow basic color guidelines and tips, then expand into more advanced techniques as you gain experience. With an understanding of how pigments interact, you’ll be able to mix acrylics to create any color for your artistic visions.
