A tint is created when a small amount of color is added to a base color, usually white or neutral gray. The addition of color “tints” the original base color, creating a slightly darker, muted version of the color that was added. Understanding tinting and how to create tinted colors is important for artists, designers, and anyone who wants to experiment with custom color mixing.
What is a Tint?
A tint is made when a small amount of pure color pigment is added to a larger amount of white pigment. For example, adding a little bit of red pigment to white paint creates a pink tint. The more color pigment added, the darker and more saturated the tint becomes. Adding just a tiny bit of color will create a very pale, delicate tint.
Tints are the opposite of shades. A shade is created when black is added to a pure color, making it darker. Tinting makes a color lighter, muted, and less saturated. This is because white reflects light while black absorbs light.
The addition of white also subtly changes the hue and temperature of a color. For example, tinting a warm yellow with white will make it cooler, creating an ivory tint. Tinting a cool blue with white will warm it up slightly into a pale sky blue.
Why Create Tints?
There are several reasons an artist might want to make and use tints:
– To lighten and soften colors without losing their character completely. Tinting allows more subtle variations in hue, value, and temperature.
– To extend expensive pigments and paints. By tinting with white, less pigment is needed to cover a surface.
– To create highlight and shadow colors conveniently from the same tube of paint. For example, tinting ultramarine blue makes a range of related blues for painting sky and water.
– To paint in layers, starting with delicate tints in the background and slowly building up to darker shades in front. This creates depth and atmosphere in a painting.
– To mix custom pastel and neutral colors. Tinting complements like red and green makes soft neutrals. Tinting primary colors together makes pastels.
– To subtly change temperature, value, and intensity of a color without switching pigments completely. Tinting is an easy way to tweak a color mix.
So in summary, tinting allows more flexibility and range when mixing colors without having to start from scratch with a new pigment each time. Tinting expands the possibilities from even a limited palette of paints.
How to Create Tints
The basic process for making a tint is straightforward:
1. Start with a base of white paint, ink, dye, or other pigment. The white base should be thicker and greater in quantity than the color to be added.
2. Choose the color you want to tint the white with. Typically artist quality paints, inks, and dyes will tint more cleanly and vividly. Avoid student grade paints with cheap filler.
3. Add a very small amount of color to the white base, and thoroughly mix it together. Start with only a dab of color.
4. Evaluate the tinted color. If it is too light, continue gradually adding more color pigment and mixing until the desired strength of tint is reached.
5. Optional: You can also create tints by adding white to an existing color. In this case, start with color and slowly mix in white until lightened as desired.
6. When mixing tints, it helps to have a sample of the finished color you are aiming for to match.
7. Store leftover tinted paints so they can be reused again later for consistency. Be sure to label each one.
Tinting chalk pastels and oil pastels works the same way – lay down a base layer of white, then lightly stroke or blend other colors over the top. With watercolor, you can wet the paper first with clean water, then touch a wet brush to pigment and gently bloom the color outward.
Tinting Different Mediums
Nearly any paint, pigment, dye, or ink can be tinted by adding white. Here are some of the most common:
Watercolor: Dilute the concentrated watercolor paint with lots of clean water first. Then add drops of different colors into white paint for soft, luminous tints.
Acrylic: Mixing fluid can help acrylics tint smoothly. Be careful not to over-thin the paint, as it may lose adhesion and crack when dry.
Oil paint: The thick texture of oils makes blending tints easy. Use a palette knife to mix the color into white paint.
Gouache: This opaque water-based paint is excellent for creating solid, vibrant tints. Remember to reconstitute gouache with water when it dries out.
Ink: add a couple drops of colored ink into white acrylic paint or gouache to make ink tints. These will sink and spread in water.
Dye: Fabric dye, food coloring, and other liquid dyes can tint a white base very evenly. The results are transparent and layerable.
Chalk pastel: Draw white pastel first, then lightly stroke or blend other colors on top to make soft tints.
Colored pencil: Layer lighter pencil colors over white to slowly build up tints. Burnishing will even and darken the tint.
| Medium | Tinting Method |
|---|---|
| Watercolor | Dilute and mix colors into wet white paint |
| Acrylic | Mix with fluid to improve blending |
| Oil paint | Mix on palette with knife into white paint |
| Gouache | Reconstitute dried gouache, mix colors into white |
| Ink | Add ink drops into white gouache or acrylic |
| Dye | Mix liquid dye into a white base |
| Pastel | Layer colors lightly over white pastel |
| Colored pencil | Build up layers of colors over white |
This table summarizes how to tint different types of paints, pigments, and drawing media using the same basic technique of adding colors to white.
Tinting Tips and Tricks
– Always add color slowly into white rather than adding white into color for the cleanest tints.
– Use higher quality, artist grade paints and pigments whenever possible for mixing tints.
– Opaque paints like gouache and acrylic make the most vivid, solid tints. Watercolor and ink are more transparent.
– Thick paint sticks to itself better than thin paint – if tints are too pale, let them dry before adding more layers.
– Warm colors tend to dominate in mixes – add more white to cool down strong warm pigments like cadmium orange.
– Mixing opposite colors together (like purple and yellow) will quickly neutralize both into a tint – great for subtle neutrals.
– When mixing custom tints, keep notes on exact pigment ratios to help recreate your color mixes later.
– Protect eyes, skin, and clothes when handling concentrated liquid dyes – work carefully and clean up spills fast.
– Pastel tints blend most easily on a smoother paper surface. Use fixative sparingly to avoid darkening.
– Avoid overblending colored pencil tints – it can create a muddy look. Better to lightly layer colors.
Using Tints in Design and Art
Tints are very useful for creating depth, light, and atmosphere in all kinds of art and design work. Here are some of the most common ways tints are used:
– As subtle background colors behind brighter focal points
– To paint highlights on curved surfaces and fabrics, giving form to objects
– As gradations from light to shadow – try skies, water, and glass
– For softening intense colors and making them more neutral
– To make colors look faded, whitewashed, or weathered
– Mixed as custom pastel shades for paintings, textiles, interior design
– For cloud shapes, flower petals, and other organic subjects in nature
– To add liveliness and variety within an area of shading
– As a way to unify a color scheme through light tints of the same hue
– For glazing over darker colors to create ethereal, multidimensional effects
Tinting also comes in handy when painting portraits – lightly tinting skin tones, lip colors, and rosy cheeks makes figures look luminous and lifelike. Tints help capture the softness, light, and subtle color gradients of living subjects.
So in summary, don’t be afraid to experiment with diluting colors and embracing lighter tints in your artwork. Tinting can capture glows, highlights, light textures, softness, atmosphere and much more. Tints bring vibrancy and contrast to color schemes in unique ways.
Conclusion
Tinting is an essential skill for mixing and lightening colors that opens up many possibilities for shading, highlighting, and unifying themes across a body of work. By understanding how to add a color to white to make a tint, artists gain flexibility in modulating color temperature, value, and intensity. Tinting allows access to a whole new range within a single hue for more natural, nuanced painting. With the techniques outlined here, anyone can begin experimenting with making their own custom tints in any medium.
