secondary colour, having been mixed from two of the primary colours, is usually referred to as the complementary colour of the other primary. Thus the complementary colour of red is green (a mixture of the other two primaries), the complementary colour of yellow is violet and the complementary colour of blue is orange. So what, I hear you ask? The useful point to remember is that placing complementary colours next to each other makes each of them stand out vividly. On the other hand, mixing all three primary colours together in roughly equal amounts results in dark grey or muddy colours and should be avoided.
Even when you know how to mix these combinations of primary colours, you may still find it difficult to make a particular hue. You would be right in thinking that a few more colours might be useful. But what colours should you choose and in any case why select particular primaries instead of alternative reds, blues or yellows, and what difference will choosing different ones make? Read on!
The standard colour wheel, showing six colours. These are the three primaries – red, yellow and blue – and the three secondary mixes – orange, green and violet.
Warm and cool colours
When we look at colours they have an obvious warm or cool appearance. In fact, we tend to think of violet/blue/green colours as cool and red/orange/yellow colours as warm. This warm or cool look can be used to create a mood or seasonal influence.
If your selected colours include a cool and a warm version of each primary this gives you the flexibility to mix almost any colour you wish. Manufacturers have different names for similar colours, so choose them visually. For example, Lemon Yellow and Aureolin have the greenish yellow appearance of real lemons whereas Cadmium Yellow Deep and Gamboge will both lean towards orange and look like strong custard. Do not buy ready-mixed greens, oranges or violets – these can be mixed from the primaries.
| Warm colours | Cool colours |
THE VALLEY
34 × 57 cm (13½ × 22½ in)
The warm colours of the foreground grasses and mountains on the right are in stark contrast to the cool blue/green slopes of the other mountains in shadow. Using a juxtaposition of warm and cool colours is an effective way of giving the impression of depth.
Laying out the palette
You may prefer different primaries to the ones I use, but make sure you include warm and cool versions of each and judge their suitability for yourself by eye. My usual primaries are Cadmium Yellow (warm) and Lemon Yellow (cool), Cadmium Red (warm) and Alizarin Crimson (cool), French Ultramarine (warm) and Cobalt Blue (cool). Useful additional colours are Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. These nine colours are sufficient to get you started and you can add to them later if you wish.
If you place your colours on the palette to roughly match the colour wheel, you can find them easily without having to think. I like to arrange the three pairs of warm and cool primaries first, leaving a good thumb’s width between each primary and leaving an equal gap around the perimeter between the pairs. Squeeze out generous helpings of paint– if you use a tiny squirt it will be difficult to load the brush properly.
Once the primaries are in place, the other colours can be slotted in between. I usually place Burnt Umber to the right of the Alizarin Crimson. This mixes with the neighbouring French Ultramarine to produce a good dark blue/grey close to black, so there is no need to buy black paint. Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna are both useful earth colours and can be placed between Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red because they are both on the warm side of yellow.
Keeping colours fresh
Watercolour is a transparent medium, so white paint is not mixed with it to make it lighter. Instead, the paint is diluted with clean water to make it paler and for white areas the paper is left unpainted. So you do not need white paint.
When your blobs of paint run low, top them up with fresh paint. If the paint blobs dry out or become muddied, freshen them up with a little clean water under the tap. I usually tape or clip a second palette over mine and this keeps the palette free of dust and dirt.
Position the three pairs of primaries first, spacing them equally around the edge. Clockwise, the colours here are Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine and Cobalt Blue.
Placing the colours in set positions will make selecting the right colour easier. Here I have placed Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna between the yellows and reds and Burnt Umber between Crimson and French Ultramarine.
Basic colour mixing
When beginners mix colours in a conventional palette, they usually use huge amounts of water and touch small dabs of colour into it. Not only is this wasteful, but the mixture is bound to look weak and watery. The great advantage of using a large round palette is the ample mixing area that is left in the centre. However, because there is no restraining lip between this area and the colours, you need to use less water. By pulling colours across the centre of the palette in bands – overlapping in places, keeping them separate in others – you have a choice of colours plus extra ones where they blend together and you avoid the inevitability of having a central pool of watery colour. This method also discourages you from making weak mixtures and helps you avoid insipid or muddy colours. It allows you to use stronger paint mixes, giving you more control.
When you mix colours always start by damping the brush, then pulling a little water into the centre of the palette and blending in the lighter colour first. The colours are pulled across the palette in bands. Here, Cadmium Red has been pulled into Lemon Yellow to produce orange – no surprise here. If it is too yellow more red can be added, and if it is too red more yellow can be added. If it is too dark a touch more water can be added, and if it is too weak more of each colour can be added. It is useful to practise these simple mixes.
Try some simple combinations with three primary colours to get used to mixing colours on a round palette. Each time, start with the lighter of the two colours and then add the darker. This way you will use less paint.
Cadmium Yellow is pulled into a little clean water, then Cobalt Blue added to make green. Of course, this is not the only green possible. By adding more of one primary than the other or adding more or less water, many shades of green can be produced just from these two colours alone. This saves buying ready-mixed greens.
Here, Cobalt Blue has been pulled into Alizarin Crimson to make violet or purple. Mixing a different blue primary into a different red primary will produce an alternative shade of violet. Experiment with your colours.
