Blog

Early 2023

My latest round of color charts.
Exploring how colors influence each other, and how strong their tinting power is.

I used a warm and cool of each primary:

Yellow
YL: Hansa Yellow Light - cool, transparent (yellow)
YM: Cad Yellow Medium - warm, opaque (yellow-orange)

Red
RL: Cad Red Light - warm, opaque (red-orange)
VQ: Quinacridone Violet - cool, transparent (red-violet)

Blue
BU: Ultramarine Blue - warm, transparent (blue-violet)
BC: Cerulean Blue - cool, opaque (blue),  or  BC Hue: Cerulean Blue Hue - cool, semi-transparent (blue)

The top row of every chart is full strength from the tube.
The bottom row is the color mixed with Titanium White, as light as possible without disappearing.
The middle rows are steps between the top and bottom.

Secondaries

The first three charts shows the Oranges, Violets and Greens that I get by mixing each combination of two primaries.
I used the purest combination for the rest of the charts - made by mixing cool/cool or warm/warm.
The ochre and brown colors created by mixing cool/warm may look muddy here, but they can be beautiful and harmonious in paintings.

Main Colors

Primaries and mixed secondaries:

Color Dominant

Mixing the featured color with every other color, but keeping the featured color dominant.
The method is described in detail in Richard Schmid's book "Alla Prima II".
I kept the dominant color in it's original column, rather than moving it to the left, so I can compare the charts to each other.

Cerulean Blue has the weakest tinting power, and is the most expensive paint on my palette. It makes some lovely, subtle colors.  Cerulean Blue Hue is much stronger and less expensive. But it can quickly take over the painting if not used sparingly.  The last chart helped me feel more comfortable with it.