Category: Classes

Mixing Orange Demo

When it comes to mixing oil colors for orange, there are so many beautiful combinations of reds and yellows. It is pretty hard to go wrong. Here is a quick one-minute demo showing the combinations you can get with Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Red, and Rose Red.

The Alizarin Red and Rose Red combinations look pretty similar. Where you will see the difference is later on if you add white to the mix. Enjoy the Demo and when you are done, try it! You will have the perfect palette for a gorgeous sunset painting.

Colors Lean

Leaning colors was really important when mixing purples. However, with oranges, you really can’t go wrong. If you do end up with too bright or “loud” of an orange, you can always dip into the complementary color which would be cerulean blue to dull it a bit. Cerulean is going to grey down your orange, but in the mixing greens demo, it is a star!

The Color Wheel

For more posts about classes or how to create art click the Classes tab at the top of the page. Be sure to subscribe and follow for more color-mixing demos coming soon!

Mixing Purples Demo

Red and Blue make purple….or do they? Do they always? Check out this quick one-minute demo below to find out. It shows the vivid purples resulting from mixing Ultramarine Blue with either Alizarine Crimson or Rose Red. And, (spoiler alert) it also shows the dull muddy color that results from combining Cadmium Red with Cerulean Blue.

Colors Lean

Ultramarine leans toward red on the color wheel and Cerulean leans closer to green. Alizarin Crimson leans toward blue and Cadmium Red leans away toward orange. Both Cadmium Red and Cerulean have a bit of yellow in them. On the color wheel below, it shows that yellow is complementary (or opposite) to Purple or Violet. Complementary colors tend to subdue or dull the mix. There are times in a painting this is needed, but if you are trying to get a vivid, deep, vibrant purple, you are better off with Alizarin and Ultramarine.

If you liked this, check out How to Mix A Variety of Greens.

It’s a great question: How important are drawing skills anyway?

Many artists new to painting can find enjoyment in mixing colors, art journaling, experimenting with different mediums, and splashing around a canvas with a bit of color without learning how to draw. There are many ways to get your image onto the canvas first before starting a painting without drawing, so why should artists bother to learn to draw?

Benefits of learning to draw

My opinion is that yes, drawing is definitely a valuable skill for artists no matter what type of art they prefer to do. Drawing helps with so many of the important aspects of art such as form, detail, light and shadow, composition, perspective, and more. I think working with as many mediums as possible can only help improve art skills in all areas and across all mediums.

Resources for learning to draw

This is something I missed in school. Being involved in band forced me to make a choice about electives and art simply would not fit in, but all through school I was drawn to it. That pun was not on purpose, but I’ll leave it be. My option instead was to learn to draw as an adult. There are so many books on how to draw filling the shelves of bookstores and I have invested in many of them as well as participated in community workshops and followed along on youtube videos on how to draw.

Can I save you some time? The best online course for the money I have found so far is Draw Awesome by Phil Davies. The course is a comprehensive drawing curriculum that builds on your skills as you go and covers multiple drawing mediums and styles. One of the best books on drawing does not tell you how to draw, it shows you. It’s called Noah’s Ark by Rien Poortvliet and I still refer to it often. A great resource to inspire you if you feel blocked as an artist is a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I’d love to hear more in the comments if you know of super good resources as well.

Drawing with Graphite

The drawings below were done with graphite pencils as part of the Draw Awesome course mentioned above.

Drawing with Charcoal

These are some examples of charcoal drawings from the coarse as well. It is a dreamy medium and very easy to correct mistakes so I highly recommend this at the beginning.

Drawing with Ink

These were done with Sakura Pigma Micron pens sizes 005 through 08 and were alao part of the Draw Awesome course.

Drawing with Pastels

The pastels I used for these were Pitt Pastel Pencils from Faber-Castell.

Drawing is a process to be enjoyed

I have experienced such relaxation and calm while drawing by embracing it as a process to be enjoyed instead of focusing on ending up with a perfect result. Expectations are pre meditated disapointments, so let’s just leave those at the door when you sit down to create. Viewing each drawing session as a learning opportunity leaves room for growth and gradual improvement. I know I am not done learning how to draw, but that is a reason to keep drawing, not a reason to give up. Ever notice how many children enjoy art but how few adults do? I think one reason this is true is that the creativity in humans is there when we are born, but it has to be fed, nurtured and encouraged. Whenever I meet a child who tells me they love art or love to draw, my advice to them is to never stop doing it no matter how old they get.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

Pablo Picaso

The power of having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset makes all the difference between an adult who thinks they are not capable of drawing and an adult who will keep trying until they can. Instead of believing only some people can draw, I choose to believe everybody could draw if given the right materials, instruction and time to practice. By believing that, I am part of those with the potential. If you have read this far, maybe you want to believe that too or are at least a bit curious.

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at huge waves of the sea, at the long course of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars… and they pass by themselves without wondering.

St. Augustine, Confessions

I say, embrace that curiosity and see where it leads you. For more inspiration check out my post about Creating Something New.

Mixing Oil Paint colors begins with a small blob about the size of a nickel of each paint color, blue, red, and yellow. To start I recommend just working with the colors listed on the Palette Knife Oil Paint Supplies post here. A general rule is to section off a portion of the light color and move it to the center or clear space in the palette and then add a very small bit of the darker color to it. Mix in a circular motion staying in the smallest space possible with your palette knife.

The color maps below are tools I created for my art students to help them find or get as close as possible to the desired color. Each row has 5 dots showing the two starting colors and the combinations made. The far left and the far right dot on each row are the two hues being used to mix and the middle dot shows a 50/50 mix of the colors. Adding a little more of the right color gets the 4th dot and a little more of the left color gets the 2nd dot.

Mixing Primary Oil Paint Colors – Red, Yellow, and Blue

We start with two yellows, two reds, and two blues at the beginning. Two of each, because one will be a warmer hue and the other, will be cooler.

More about warm and cool colors and how to mix them can be found in this excellent article on the Golden Artist Colors, Inc. site.

Mixing Green Oil Paint Colors

Cadmium Yellow Hue is a warmer Yellow and Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue is cooler. The warmer yellow leans more toward red in the color wheel and therefore makes either a more olive green or forest green when mixed with the blues. The Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue is cooler, and when mixed with the blues, makes a brighter more vivid green like spring green.

Mixing Orange Oil Paint Colors

There are two reds here. The warmer red is Cadmium Red Hue because it leans more toward orange and when mixed with the yellow, makes a bright hot orange. The cooler red is Alzarin Crimson and it leans toward blue in the color wheel. It is going to make duller oranges more like rust for that reason.

Mixing Purple Oil Paint Colors

This is when Alizarin Crimson gets to really show off. Since it already is a cool red, it makes vivid bright purples when mixed with the blues. The warmer red, Cadmium Red Hue makes more reddish purples.

Mixing White

Mixing a color with white will lighten it. A big mistake beginning painters make is starting with a dark color first and then adding the white in. This will waste a lot of paint. Instead, add the amount you need of white on the palette first and take a very small amount of pigment, just enough to fit on the end of a toothpick, and mix it in. You can always make it darker if needed, but once it is too dark, it is hard to add enough white to make it lighter.

Mixing Greys

From the Alizarin Crimson and Cerulean blue mixture above which was made with a cool red and a cool blue, I added a warm blue, French Ultramarine. Mixing that with white made some beautiful greys with a purple tint. Starting with Black and white made more bluish greys.

Mixing Skin Tones and Browns

Starting with colors already mixed and adding cadmium yellow pale hue or white produced the shades below.