Mixing Colors

How do I get all the different colors in my paintings? I must have each individual color I use, right? Nope! While I occasionally add in a new color to play around, I primarily paint with the 9 colors you see here. That’s right, only 9 colors to get all the different colors in my paintings.

I bet we all remember art class and the basics, like blue and red mixed equals purple. Blue and yellow mixed equals green. Yellow and Red mixed equals orange. But there is so much more to it!

I took a course where the teacher used these 9 colors and taught us all about color mixing. For some reason, my brain previously thought I needed a bunch of different colors to paint, even though I knew the basics above. Turns out you can mix so many different colors with just these few bottles. You just have to use them enough to understand how they work together and how you can get different hues.

Color mixing is now one of my favorite things. I enjoy seeing what colors I can create. I’ve learned I can apply this to so many of my other art endeavors, like screen-printing ink, and it’s been invaluable.

If you want to learn about color mixing, I first recommend a color wheel to help you understand complementary colors and values and how the colors work together. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to experiment. Mix the different colors together and see what you come up with. Eventually, it becomes second nature and an easy part of your process.