Colour has an influential effect on painting. Frequently, artists look for the best colour that conveys the idea or feeling they want to express.
Colour is one of the 7 elements of art and is a powerful way for an artist to convey their message and emotion. There are no universal rules about which colour conveys which emotion, so it is up to the individual artist to decide how they want their painting to express their feelings or ideas.
As a beginning artist, you probably don’t have a wide variety of colours in your paint box, so you try to mix the colour you need from what you have.
For most beginners, myself included, you end up with a lovely shade of “after-the-rain mud.” Don’t let it bother you; it’s part of the learning process.
The more you paint, the more comfortable you will become with your colour choices and how the colours interact.
The way colours are mixed together can also change the tone of a painting and how it is received by those viewing it.
The use of colour in your artwork works the same way as marketing a product. It takes a few seconds for people to decide if they like a product; that decision is mostly based on colour.
In a painting, people are attracted to the overall colours, how they work together, and how they express the piece’s emotion or mood.
Here are some of the basics of colour theory.
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Colour Theory Terms
There are a few basic colour theory terms that are helpful to understand before continuing to learn about colour theory.
Hue
Hue refers to pure colour or base colour. It is generally the first colour the human eye sees when looking at an object. The primary and secondary colours, red, yellow, blue, green, violet, and orange, are usually called hues. For example, a raspberry would have a red hue since its base colour is red.
Saturation or Chroma
Colour saturation or chroma is the intensity of a colour relative to its own brightness. It describes how vivid or bright a colour is. You can tone down a colour’s saturation by adding a little grey or a complementary colour. For example, you can tone down or desaturate a bright green by adding a little red, which is its complement. I explain more about complementary colours below.
Tonal Value
Tonal value refers to how light or dark a colour is. The value scale, sometimes referred to as a greyscale, ranges from white to black, with various strengths of grey in between. If you take a colour, say red, and add various amounts of black or white to it, you can create a red value scale. It should be noted that black and white are not always the best choices for lightening or darkening a colour. Sometimes yellow works better to lighten, and sometimes blue, purple, or raw umber works better to darken a colour.
Tint
In art, tint is a colour mixed with white to lighten it. A tint will always be lighter than the original colour.
Shade
A shade is a colour mixed with black to darken it.
For more information on tonal value, tints, and shades, see my post on Tints, Tones, and Shades.
Colour Mixing and The Colour Wheel
The colour wheel was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 and is still used today.
A colour wheel is basically a wheel divided into the primary colours, red, yellow, and blue, and their secondary and tertiary colours. It is used to show the relationship between colours. The colour wheel is a useful tool for understanding colour theory.
Studying the colour wheel and understanding how different colours mix is a must for an artist. Colour wheels are relatively inexpensive to buy and are a great tool to help with colour mixing. I use this one.
Don’t be afraid of colour. As an artist, you paint what you see or feel, not necessarily what others see. Learning to mix the right shade will give you much more freedom and flow in your artwork.
Below, I have outlined the basics of colour theory. You will learn more about technical theory as you progress, but this should give you a good start to expand your color pallet without creating mud.
Primary Colors
The primary colours are blue, red, and yellow. They cannot be made by mixing other colours; hence the term “primary”. From these three colours, all other colours are made.
Primary colours can be mixed to create secondary colours that can then be mixed again to make tertiary colours.
Primary colours are the original hues that make up all other colours in the world. These primary colours cannot be created by any other colour or combination of colours, nor can they be a mixture of two other colours.
Secondary Colors
Mixing any two of the primary colours together will give you a secondary colour. Mixing all three primary colours together will give you a muddy, murky grey. The chart below explains the primary colour mixes.
red + blue = violet red + yellow = orange
blue + yellow = green
So now you have six colours: red, blue, yellow, green, orange and violet.
Tertiary Colors
If you mix a primary colour with an equal amount of a secondary colour, you get a tertiary colour. There are six tertiary colours.
For example:
red + violet = red violet yellow + green = yellow green
blue + green = blue green red + orange = red orange
Color Schemes
Colour schemes are groups of colours or colour combinations that work well together. A colour scheme is typically composed of two or three colours, and their various tints and shades give an overall feel to a painting.
Using a particular colour scheme can provide colour harmony if you are unsure how best to combine your colours in a painting. The most popular colour schemes are listed below.
Complementary Colors
Complementary colours are opposite on the colour wheel and work well together. The three pairs of primary and secondary colours are called complementary because they produce a very strong contrast. They also have a high contrast when placed next to each other.
In art class, artists often combine these complementary pairs of colours to create different shades of the same secondary colour. In this way, an artist can create many different hues of a given colour using only two primaries and one secondary colour.
For a more in-depth look at complementary colours, read my post on Understanding Complementary Colours.
Analogous or Similar Colours
Analogous colours are similar colours that are next to each other on the wheel. This colour scheme produces a harmonious effect when used in a painting.
Monochromatic Colour Scheme
A monochromatic colour scheme uses variations of just one colour. A black-and-white drawing or painting is a monochromatic colour scheme. Using tints and shades of just red, or just blue, or any other colour would also be a monochromatic colour scheme.
Triadic Colour Scheme
The triadic colour scheme uses three colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. This combination of colours provides deep contrast in a painting and is a good choice for a vibrant effect.
Split-Complementary Colour Scheme
A split complementary colour scheme is a type of colour scheme that uses one main colour and two colours next to its complement. This colour combination will give you the same contrast as a complementary colour scheme, but with additional colour options.
Warm and Cool Colours
Colour temperature is the quality of a colour based on its relationship to cool and warm colours. A colour can be described as “warm,” “cool,” or “neutral” based on which side of a particular point on the colour wheel it appears.
A warm colour is an amber, peach, or any other analogous colour that is located near the “warm” side of the spectrum.
A cool colour is one that is bluish, purple, or any other analogous colour that is located near the “cool” side of the spectrum.
When you think of colours, what comes to mind? Many people may associate warm colours with summertime, the sun, and heat. Cool colours often invoke feelings of winter and coldness.
Warm colours include yellows, oranges, and reds. Cool colours include blues, purples, and greens.
The different variations of these two types of colour are often used in artwork to create different moods or feelings.
If you draw a line through the center of the colour wheel, you will separate the warm colours from the cool colours.
Learn more about warm and cool colours in this post: Warm and Cool Colours.
Neutral Colors
Neutral colours are any tones created by mixing two complementary colours.
Neutral colours serve as the bridge between warm and cool colours, offering a balanced visual effect. In colour theory, neutral colours include shades of black, white, and grey, as well as brown and beige. These colours are considered ‘neutral’ because they lack the distinct characteristics of being either warm (like red, orange, and yellow) or cool (like blue, green, and purple).
Neutral colours can be created by mixing complementary colours (opposite each other on the colour wheel) together and adding some white to adjust the value. For example, mixing red and green or blue and orange in equal amounts often results in a brown or gray hue. The resulting shade’s warmth or coolness will depend on the ratio of the original colours.
How to Mix Specific Colours
Below are links to in-depth posts about how to mix specific colours. I will update it whenever I write about another colour.
How to Mix Different Shades of Blue Paint Color
The Essential Guide To Mixing Shades Of Red Paint
Color Mixing: How to Mix Brown Acrylic Paint
How to Mix Purple Acrylic Paint
How to Mix Orange Acrylic Paint
NOTES
Since the colour tints and pigment concentrations can vary by brand and medium, you may get slightly different colours when mixing them.
The best way to be certain of the colour you will get is to make yourself a basic colour wheel using your own paints and experiment with the colours you have.
Make a note of the colours you used and the paint ratio. Keep the sheet for reference and add to it as you learn more about colour. I keep them in a watercolour sketchbook I call my “Paint Recipe Book” so I can refer back to them later.
Making colour swatches of the paint you have is also a good idea. Acrylic paint usually dries slightly darker and does not always match the colour on the tube.
Having a colour chart that shows what the colour looks like when dry can help you decide what colours to use. You can add to the sheet whenever you buy a new tube of paint.
I like using acrylic paper to make swatches since it holds the paint better.
If you have questions, you can leave them in the comments below. You can also join our free Facebook group, Trembeling Art Creative Corner, where you can ask questions, post your work and get to know some fantastic artists from all genres and skill levels. 😊
Thanks for reading.
I really enjoyed this post! The explanations of color theory are so clear and easy to understand. I especially loved the examples you provided. Can’t wait to apply these concepts to my artwork! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your advice. You are very painstaking. God bless you
Hi Marlyn. This has been the best article I have read regarding colour mixing. I understood everything you said, and you clarified many questions I had. But, I got lost with the neutral colours definition. What did you mean by “on either side of the spectrum”?
p.s. I have been quietly following you for over a year now, and love your articles. 🙂
Hi Marie: Thank you for your comment and question. I looked at the post and realized I did a very poor job of explaining neutral colors. I have edited the post and given neutral colors its own section. I hope that explains it better. Thank you for being a loyal reader and for your kind comments. It means a lot to me. 😊
If i look at a colour on a piece of art i want o paint, i have difficulty getting the correct colour when mixing, plus I never seem to have enough or too much on my brush🙄
Hi Suzanne. Getting the right color comes with practice and learning about color theory. Sometimes it helps to isolate the color in your reference photo. I use an index card with a hole punched in the center and then hold it over the area I am concentrating on. this helps me to see the color, shape, and value without the influence of the other elements in the picture. Remember too, value is more important than the actual color. 😊
I absolutely love how clear you make the cool Bs warm colors, but I get confused with landscapes where you are trying to demonstrate depth and perspective. The trees and grasses are green. The greens in the distance will be less saturated and lighter in color due to atmosphere. The greens in the front are bolder and brighter.. it’s the cool and warm that messes me up. Yellow and red are warm. Blue and purple are cool, but I end up with a mess when I try to make greens cooler or warmer without changing saturation or tint.
Wonderful article and tips!
Thank you. 😊
thank you so much, very interesting .
I purchased Barn Red premixed paint. It’s a bit too orange for me. How can I turn it a little more burgundy?
Hi Linda: You can try adding a deeper red to the color to move the bias away from yellow and make it more red. If that doesn’t give you the color you want try adding a very tiny amount of Dioxazine Purple to tone down the color slightly and give it that earthier burgundy color. If you don’t have purple, try using a blue that has a purple bias such as Ultramarine Blue. Experiment on some scrap paper until you get the color you are looking for. Hope this helps. 🙂
Good advice for this beginner. Thank you. Can’t wait for more.