How to Avoid Dirty Colour Mixes in Oil Painting
Achieve Clean and Vibrant Colours with Artists' Oil Paints
Apr 5, 2009
The causes of muddy colour mixes in oils are easy to tackle if one understands a little about how colours work and making a few adjustments in practice.
Mixing Clean Colour Hues for Vibrant Paintings
There is a universal misconception that red, yellow and blue are primary colours. However, not any red, yellow and blue will do, for they may contain impurities that will contribute to a dirty colour mix. The true primary colours, therefore, are hues known in printing ink as yellow, magenta and cyan. These are the true primary colours and will provide clean mixes. Unfortunately the primary colours in oils are not similarly labelled, but pthalo blue, permanent rose and cadmium yellow (pale), are close to the mark.
What are the Complementary Colours in Oils?
Complementary colours are the two opposing colours in the colour wheel. Green is complementary to magenta (or in the case of oils, permanent rose); violet is complementary to yellow, and so forth.
The Causes of Muddy Colour Mixes in Oil Colour
There is a misconception that many tubes of different colours are needed for oil painting. This is untrue. In fact, any colour can be achieved by a mere nine colours, which must include the primaries as described. Too many colours, particularly earths, greys and neutrals will merely kill the life out of any colour mix and ultimately the painting.
The Recommended Pigments Needed for Oil Painting
These are Titanium white, pthalo blue, permanent rose, cadmium yellow (pale), ultramarine, cadmium red, Viridian, burn sienna and burnt umber
Why do Muddy Colour Mixes Happen?
Dirty dead colours mixes can be avoided by the following:
- Never add black or grey to a colour to darken it.
- Avoid the inclusion of many earths, greys and neutrals in the palette.
- Never mix more than three colours to achieve a colour. This will deaden the mix.
- Try not to over-mix a colour. Leaving a few streaks of colour on the brush will add life to the painting.
- Let brush marks remain on the painting, unless a smooth finish is desired.
How to Darken a Colour in Shadows
Darkening a colour can be a problem when trying to avoid a dirty mix. However, a colour will retain its sparkle with the introduction of its complimentary. This will keep the life in the colour mix. For instance, yellow can be darkened by introducing a little violet; green by a little magenta (permanent rose), and so on. Interesting increments of colour tone can be achieved by the gradual introduction of its complimentary.
How to Avoid Dirty Colours
Dark areas represented, for instance, by shadow are rarely merely black. In fact, shadows can be many colours. Look carefully and shadows can be violet, blue or crimson. Dark areas of skin tone can appear green, orange or mauve. Using such colours within shadows may seem rather unorthodox at first, but it adds excitement and life to a painting.
Vibrant Colour Mixing Made Simple
Avoid including lots of greys, earth colours and blacks in the palette. Keep the palette to a minimum including the true primaries. Don’t mix more than three colours to achieve a mix. Darken a colour by introducing its complementary, not black, and use colours within shadows. The rest is down to finding inspiration.
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