SUPPLIES
- Acrylic paints (red, yellow, blue, white, gray and brown)
- Small and medium and paint brushes
- Palette
- Canvas, canvas board or other painting surface
Overview
You can mix acrylic paints to create richer, more natural looking colors than those found in tubes. With just five basic colors, it is easy to create a natural looking palette to complement any subject matter. Creating all the colors of nature and the man-made world requires simply learning a few mixing tips. Acrylic paints come in a wide variety of hues, tints and tones. Use the suggested basic colors and techniques below to create a very realistic palette.
Step 1
Purchase basic acrylic paint colors of as high a quality as you can afford. Student or discount paints do not produce the rich colors and do not retain their consistency over time. Opinions vary over which basic colors to purchase but some variety of red, yellow, blue, black and white appear on all lists of must-have colors. These colors cannot be created by mixing any other colors.
Step 2
Know that wide varieties of these basic colors exist. Generally, the majority of artists suggest cadmium red and yellow, thalo blue, titanium white, mars or ivory black, burnt umber and Payne's grey. A variety of suggested other colors exist, such as yellow ochre and a tube of buff color, for creating skin tones. These basic colors contain the best mixing qualities.
Step 3
Acquire a palette on which to mix acrylic colors. Many artists prefer a traditional wood palette that helps the paint retain some moisture. A plastic palette with recesses for the paint cleans up easier but does not help the paint retain any moisture and so paint may dry out faster. Purchase disposable palettes if you do not wish to wash palettes. Be sure to purchase a disposable palette with a waxy coating. This helps the paint retain moisture.
Step 4
Purchase a small and a medium brush to begin learning to mix acrylic paints. Pointed sable or sable blend brushes retain their shape well. They also create both thin lines and thick lines consistently and with relative ease.
Step 5
Study a color wheel and which colors to use in creating other colors before beginning to mix acrylic paints. Red, blue and yellow make up the primary colors. All other colors can be made from these three. Do not mix the paint too much. Your painting looks more natural when you stop mixing before the colors are completely blended.
Step 6
When creating tints, lighter colors, tones or darker colors, always mix a small amount of the dark color into the light color. Trying to lighten a color by mixing the light into the dark uses too much paint in most cases. Use Titanium white to lighten colors and either Payne's grey or burnt umber to darken them. Using black to darken the tone of a color might be overpowering.
Step 7
Create perfect browns for your palette by using complementary colors from the paint you have mixed rather than from tubes. Complementary colors are those opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green. The browns created with this method give a natural feeling to the palette and painting.
Step 8
Use acrylic paint mediums when mixing acrylic paint to add more effects. Use a glaze medium rather than water so that paint has a different sheen or texture and does not dry out as quickly. Use a gel medium to thicken the paint and add texture to your project. A retarder medium helps to slow the drying time and give you more time to work with the paint.
Resources
