Color Mixing Basics for Painters

How can I make my colors more vibrant? How can I mute them? Why should I use a limited palette? Is there such a thing as a muddy color? These and other burning questions will be answered as we talk about COLOR!

Nancy Lane will lead this class. We'll cover basic theory, important terms you must know, and color schemes with some hands-on color mixing to practice it all.

We will:

 Paint a color wheel to increase your understanding of how color works

 Paint a personal Palette Map to help you with mixing colors

 Paint some color schemes you can use in future paintings

 Watch Nancy demonstrate mixing techniques and share her color tools.

 There will be handouts.

Half hour lunch break – bring a bag lunch or buy lunch downstairs at The Company Store deli.

This class is designed for watercolor, gouache, acrylic and oil painters. 

Basic experience using your preferred paint and brushes is helpful!

Painting paper for all media will be supplied. 

Supplies to bring:

o Paints (see list below for specifics)

o Palette to squeeze your paint onto

o Mixing surface to mix on (this could be your palette)

o White scrap paper to test colors on

o Pencil or pen to label your guides

o Paper towels

o Masking tape

o Medium for oil painters such as walnut or linseed oil

o Palette mixing knife for oil and acrylic painters

o Bag lunch or buy lunch downstairs at The Company Store deli.

Paint colors: Below are my suggested/preferred hues for three primary and three secondary

colors. If you are unsure which of your colors will work, bring all your paint colors and we will

figure it out. If you don’t have these hues, I will give you some of my paint to work with.

Watercolor/Gouache/Acrylic color hue suggestions:

Yellow - Cadmium yellow light/pale, Hansa yellow, Azo yellow

Orange – Cadmium scarlet or red-orange

Red – Quinacridone rose/red/crimson, Crimson, Permanent Alizarin

Violet – Ultramarine violet ( Blockx or Schminke watercolor),

Dioxazine purple (acrylic)

Blue – Phthalocyanine(“Thalo”) blue or Winsor blue

Green – Viridian (Winsor Newton wc) or Permanent green deep (M. Graham or Qor wc)

Permanent green deep (acrylic)

White – Chinese white (wc) or titanium white (acrylic)

Oil paint color hue suggestions:

Yellow - Cadmium yellow light or pale, chrome yellow, Hansa or Azo yellow

Orange - Cadmium scarlet/red-orange

Red – Quinacridone rose/red/crimson, Crimson, Permanent Alizarin

Violet - Ultramarine violet

Blue – Phthalocyanine (“Thalo”) blue or Winsor blue

Green – Viridian, Permanent green deep

White – Titanium white

About the instructor:

Professional artist, Nancy Lane, has been painting for almost 50 years. Her classes are popular

for the depth of information she provides and her relaxed and fun approach to teaching. She is

comfortable with watercolor, acrylic and oil paints, studio and plein air painting. Check out her

work at: www.nancylanestudio.com.