A lot of beginners find it hard to mix watercolor. Without understanding the watercolor paints and how they work together, you may not get the colors you want or you may create muddy colors.
In this blog post, I will share with you 8 essential tips to help you get better at watercolor mixing.
Color theory is the art of combining different colors. Every artist needs to learn color theory by heart if they want to advance in their career. It is fundamental for color mixing. If you want to learn how to mix watercolor but don’t know where to start, start first with color theory.
In color theory, you will learn about primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors, as well as how to create secondary and tertiary colors from primary colors. In my blog post about color theory, I shared a lot of details about color schemes listed below:
- Three elements of color: hue, saturation, and value.
- Color tints, color shades, color tones, and how to create them.
- The anatomy of a color wheel
In addition, you will also learn about color temperature and color bias which are super important in mixing watercolor paints. Cool hues and warm hues when mixed will result in different colors.
If you haven’t heard of some color schemes mentioned above or want to review them, I highly recommend reading the blog post first before you start mixing colors.
Use a Color Wheel as a Guide to Color Mixing
A color wheel is a great tool for color mixing. It shows you primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, complementary colors, and triadic colors. You can see clearly the relationships between different colors and how to mix watercolor paints to get your desired color.
For example, mixing two primary colors at a ratio of 1:1 (or 50%:50%) to get a secondary color:
- Mixing yellow with red to create orange
- Mixing red with blue to create purple
- Mixing blue with yellow to create a green
To create tertiary colors, mix one primary and one secondary color next to it:
- Yellow + orange = yellow-orange
- Red + orange = red-orange
- Red + purple = red-purple
- Blue + purple = blue-purple
- Blue + green = blue-green
- Yellow + green = yellow-green
Because of color bias, when we mix cool colors together, we will get different results from when we mix warm colors together. You can follow my steps to create watercolor wheels and use them as guidelines for mixing watercolor paints.
Use a Limited Color Palette
Using a limited color palette gives you an opportunity to practice mixing colors. It might take more time to mix watercolor paints to get what you want, but it is good practice. You will realize that you can create any colors with just primary colors. Combining two or even three primary colors at different ratios will create a huge variety of colors.
In addition, using a limited color palette helps you reach color harmony for your artwork because the new colors you mix will relate to each other as they have the same pigments from primary colors. For example, my painting of a Tibetan grandma below was created with just primary colors.
To keep my color palette simple, I use six primary colors below:
Warm hues:
- Gamboge Hue (yellow)
- Cadmium Red Deep Hue
- Ultramarine (blue)
Cool hues:
- Lemon yellow
- Crimson (red)
- Prussian Blue
You can have different primary colors than mine, as long as you have three warm primary colors and three cool primary colors.
Mix Complementary Colors to Generate Desaturated and Neutralized Colors
Complementary colors are the colors that stay opposite to each other on a color wheel. There are three pairs of complementary colors:
- Red and green
- Yellow and purple
- Orange and blue
Complementary colors when stay next to each other will intensify each other. However, when you mix two complementary colors, you will get a neutralized and earthy color. They are different variants of brown or grey.
Experiment and Create Your Color Mixing Charts
Watercolor paints from different brands will work differently. That is why you should create your own color mixing charts. This is also a good practice to learn more about the paints you have and how to mix watercolor paints. Color mixing charts will become your reference for coloring and color mixing later on when you paint.
There are different types of color mixing charts. The watercolor wheel is one of them. You can also create the following color mixing charts:
- Traditional color mixing chart or a grid chart. To create this mixing chart, list the colors you have on the top row and the left column of the grid. Each cell contains the new color mixed from one color on the same row and one in the same column.
- Glazing chart. This chart shows you what new colors look like when you use the glazing technique.
- Dual color mixing chart. This chart shows you how to mix two colors in different ratios.
- Watercolor swatches. These charts show you the characteristics of each paint such as if it is transparent and how it looks like when it’s diluted.
You can also create your own color mixing charts that work best for you. For example, I created a color mixing chart that shows different variants of orange, purple, and green from my six primary colors. It helps me choose the right paints to mix the secondary colors I want for my next painting.
Test New Colors on Scrap Paper Before Using It for Your Painting
If you are testing new colors and you are not sure how they look on watercolor paper, test the new colors on scrap paper first. Scrap paper can be a new watercolor paper sheet or the back of a failed artwork you have done.
Testing new colors on scrap paper before applying them to your painting will help you avoid unexpected mistakes that may ruin your artwork.
Avoid Using Black or White to Adjust the Color Tone
Color tone in this case refers to the relative darkness and lightness of color. It’s also known as the value of color. Different hues, for example, red and green, can have the same tone.
Beginners usually add black or white to adjust the color tone, which causes muddy or less vibrant colors.
The watercolor tone can be lightened by adding more water to the paint. This is because sunlight reaches the surface of watercolor paper and is reflected to our eyes. The fewer pigments that cover the paper, the more light we can see, and therefore, the color has a lighter tone.
A saturated color has the highest tone as less light is reflected to the audience’s eyes. To get the highest tone of a color, do not dilute it with water.
Try to Mix Watercolor on Paper Rather Than on a Palette
Because watercolor is transparent and unpredictable, you can create a unique painting when you let the paints work on their own. Try to mix watercolor on paper rather than on a palette and let the pigments blend naturally on wet paper. Use the wet-on-wet technique in this case to allow the colors to mingle.
You can also try the glazing technique to create a new color by painting two layers of colors on top of each other. Remember to wait for the first layer to dry completely before painting the second layer.
Watercolor Mixing Step-by-Step
We have gone through 8 essential tips for mixing watercolors but we haven’t learned about the steps for mixing colors. You can follow my step-by-step tutorial below and start mixing colors on your palette.
Step 1 - Prepare Your Palette
Start with a clean palette. Squirt out some paints if you use tube paints or moist the watercolor pans with sprayed water.
Step 2 - Get 1st Color Paint with a Wet Brush
Dip your brush in clean water, then absorb some water from it by tapping your brush on a cloth or tissue paper. Adding too much water when mixing colors is a common mistake in watercolor painting that many beginners make.
Load your wet brush with some moist paint. If you mix a light color with a dark color, for example, yellow and blue, start with a lighter color first.
Step 3 - Clean Your Brush Thoroughly before Getting 2nd Color Paint
To keep the pure paint for mixing more colors, remember to rinse your brush with clean water completely, and dry it with a cloth or tissue paper, before loading the second color. Put the second color next to the first color on the palette. Think of what color you want to mix to adjust the ratio of the paints.
Step 4 - Mix Watercolor Paints on the Palette
Use your brush to give it a swirl and pull the two colors together. You can drag the new color along the white palette to see how it looks or test it on scrap paper.
Bonus Tips for Mixing Watercolor
Below are bonus tips that help you mix watercolor paints better:
- Use a clean palette to mix watercolor to avoid muddy colors.
- Start with less water in your brush, then dilute it with more water when you want to lighten the color tone.
- Don’t over-mix watercolor. Instead, allow some pigments from the original colors to show on your painting. This will make your artwork more colorful and vibrant.
- Use two watercolor jars. The first one is to rinse your brush when you mix watercolor on a palette. The second one is to dilute the colors when you paint. The first jar will get dirty quickly but the second jar will stay clean longer. This prevents the colors you mix later on from turning muddy or dirty.
- Don’t mix too many colors to avoid creating a gray or muddy color. Mixing two to three colors at different ratios will help you create many vibrant colors.
The Takeaway
Learning how to mix watercolor is necessary for anyone who is getting started with watercolor painting. Understanding your color paints and applying the tips when you mix colors will help you become a better artist and save you time.
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