Someone once said, “All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction and a vision in your mind.”
Remember this technique that we learnt right from our childhood days? Yes, watercolours are one stream of creativity that never gets old. But the set of watercolours always offers you the clichéd 12 or 24 colours and leaves our hearts wanting so much more every time. So why wait? Let’s just mix and match these shades using careful Watercolor Techniques for Testing Color Mixing and create a whole new bunch of hues to suit your paintings.
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Watercolours help you give your painting a unique and flawless touch which rarely comes into being when colour pencils or wax crayons are used. With the immense amount of practice, they help you create the perfect pictures or portraits that you might have dreamt off for a very long time.
Watercolor Techniques for Testing Color Mixing
Mixing on the Palette
The easiest and most used technique is taking two colours and mixing it over the artist’s palette. A palette is a wooden or plastic plate-like structure that gives enough room for the mixing of these colours. Special care has to be taken regarding the amount of water mixed with the watercolours in order to create the exact shade required. These will help minimize the effort and maximize the outcome. Also, if a larger background has to be painted the shade should be made in more quantities as getting the original shade is near to impossible.
Wet in the Wet Mixing
This technique is applied directly on the paper. The only trick to get this perfectly done is the time precision. The colours should be mixed well within range and at the correct time, it is mixed while the other colour is still wet. This has a very different effect than when the colours are pre-mixed in the palette.
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Wet in Dry Mixing
This technique, also known as glazing, is applied on the paper too. The only difference is the fact that the first colour is allowed to dry completely and then the second shade is applied over it. This gives an extremely different shade when compared to the above-mentioned Watercolor Techniques for Testing Color Mixing. This is also easier but may take away a larger chunk of time.
Directly From the Tube
This is another mixing technique wherein the colour is directly taken from the tube and mixed with the other shade, this gives a stronger hue than when the colours are mixed with water. This technique is most commonly used in canvas paintings.
Multiple Shades
These colour-mixing techniques are used for multiple shades as well. But the challenge that arises is the fact that to mix more than two shades a deeper knowledge is required in order to know the resultant colour that will be formed. Nevertheless, this can be used to create unique shades.
Things To Remember While Watercolor Mixing
- Color Wheel– A deep knowledge of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours are required in order to foresee the end results of the colour mixing. Every student must keep in mind the warm and cool colours and mix them accordingly.
WHY? – This is useful as it will help produce the exact shades required by the artist. - Types of Colors– There are a variety of colours to choose from but watercolours comprise two basic types- poster colours and oil paints. These should be chosen accordingly.
WHY? – Every piece of creativity differs in term of needs of the type of colours and hence, this selection should be perfectly executed in order to fulfil the needs of the painting. - Understanding Shades and Proportions– The fine knowledge of the different shade that can be created with different proportions of watercolours is extremely important. This will come through only with experience and practice.
WHY? – This eliminates the wastage of paints that may occur due to lack of knowledge of the shades. - Types of Brushes– There are a variety of brushes that are available in the market, these include- flat brushes, rounded brushes and fan brushes. Along with this, spatulas are used for canvas paintings where direct colour is applied and different shades are mixed with greater ease.
WHY? – This equipment helps create the perfect shades as well as ensures proper mixing. Also, the perfect texture of the painting is created. - Confidence– Watercolor mixing is an art that may take months or even years to master, but the creation and use of different shades require a certain amount of confidence which will boost your creativity and enhance your skills over time.
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Getting the correct shade may be difficult but it is never impossible, however, what will set you apart from other artists is your ability to remain patient even when the colours don’t produce a shade. Who knows, while experimenting with these Watercolor Techniques for Testing Color Mixing you may develop a new and beautiful colour.