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To learn how to mix colors, you can use any type of paint. But the most practical for color mixing practice will be acrylic paints. Here, you can get away with the standard set of colors: white, black, blue, red, cyan, yellow and magenta.
You can find these paints in our catalog!
Let's consider the simplest way to get started. To obtain new colors, the method of combining existing base paints is used. The basic paints for mixing are 3 colors: yellow, cyan and magenta. These colors are called primary colors. With their help, you can obtain secondary colors. For example:
- blue + yellow = green
- cyan + magenta = blue
- magenta + yellow = red
If you mix the 3 primary colors in a ratio of 1: 1: 1, you can obtain black.
At the same time, primary colors cannot be obtained by mixing paints. By varying the ratio of primary colors, you can obtain different shades of secondary. Note also that secondary color combinations can produce the same color variations as primary colors, but darker.
To make the resulting color lighter, you need to add a little white paint. Conversely, use a little black paint to darken.
Yes, of course, these examples are familiar to almost everyone. So let's take a look at the rules for more complex colors.
A tool such as the color wheel, which is a continuous transition of all the colors of the rainbow, can help novice artists.
For example, shading a selected color uses hues at opposite ends of the color wheel. For example, a little green is used to shade magenta. By mixing opposite colors in equal quantities, we obtain black.
Itten's color wheel
A total of 12 colors are shown here, but the main ones - the primaries - are 3 colors: yellow, red and blue.
Itten's color wheel
Next come the second-order colors: orange, violet and green. The rest of the colors are obtained by mixing the main ones. Here you can clearly see which colors contrast with each other, which are most compatible with each other. The Itten circle clearly shows which colors you need to mix to obtain the desired color.
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Classic triad
The classic triad is made up of three equidistant colors along the Itten color wheel. A composition written in these colors looks quite lively even when using pale, desaturated colors. To achieve harmony in a triad, take one color as the main color and use the other two as accents.
Analog triad
An analogous color scheme is formed by three adjacent colors in Itten's color wheel (12 colors in all). Used in soft, comfortable compositions. The analog circuit is most often found in nature, so it looks harmonious and pleasant. When using this scheme, it's possible to choose one color as the main, the second - supporting, and use the third for accentuation. This can be a smooth transition of shades from one quarter of the color wheel.
Contrast triad
A contrast triad is a variant of a complementary color combination, but instead of the opposite color, neighboring colors are used. This scheme looks almost as contrasty, but not as intense. If you're not sure you can use complementary colors properly, use a contrasting triad.