Color

Mixing and Blending Color

To create a special signature color or just a new shade of a tone you already use, color blending and mixing is required.  Even if the tone demands only simple softening with a lighter color, mixing is part of the process.  Mixing can be done on a palette, on the support surface itself or in separate containers (useful for large quantity mixing).

On-palette blending of colors is the most frequently used by artists; it’s the easiest and affords the highest degree of success.  Mixing on a surface separate from the support itself allows multiple alterations and mixings to attain the precise color wanted.  You don’t apply the paint until the color is exactly what you want, and this eliminates the need for color correction or mishap.

Palettes vary and can be anything from an old plate to a disposable tear-off pad or an easy-clean lidded polymer paint-holding tray.  Butcher trays with their slick porcelain finish make great watercolor mixing surfaces.  They clean easily and are large so you have lots of room to create multiple colors.  The wooden palettes that were popular years ago have, by and large, been abandoned in favor of less absorbent, easier to clean surfaces such as Paragona Glass Palettes from AMACO, which are made of 100% tempered safety glass and are perfect for use with any paint.  The smooth, pristine surface is ideal for paint mixing and color control.  They won’t absorb pigments, allowing the artist to see true colors each and every time. See your retailer for the several sizes and shapes from which to choose and visit www.amaco.com/srch.php?terms=paragona.

The tool that you choose to mix colors with presents another avenue of experimentation.  Most artists prefer to use a palette knife with a very flexible blade to do their mixing.  The blade slashes through the paint colors and is flexed or “spatulated” to combine colors into a homogeneous color.  And the knife can be used to deliver heavy applications of paint to more quickly cover large areas.

Some artists use the very brush with which they will apply the paint for mixing.  However, this mixing technique often leaves traces of both (or more) colors when the stroke is applied to the support.  Rather than resulting in a totally combined new color, the essence of both tones is the result; and separate colors are often visible upon close inspection.

Plastic putty knives work very well to combine large quantities of paint both on palette surfaces and in tubs or jars and, therefore, are an indispensable tool for the art box.  You can scrape fresh paint away from the support, add texture with the edge of such a tool and mix on or off a palette.  Not bad for an inexpensive yet readily available hardware find!

Glazing is a little different application but can be mixed on or off a palette.  For small areas of glaze color, a palette is perfect.  Clear medium is pooled and then combined with small amounts of pigmented paint.  The result is worked into a well mixed transparent tone for use over other tones or to use as build-up of color.  Glazes are very popular in home décor and are achieved in very much the same way as on canvas: Super-smooth transparent paint is laid over a foundation tone to create an aged or weathered look.

The mention of glazing also brings up the option of combining pigments with medium to make paint more fluid for ease of application on the support—not thinned to the extent of a glaze, but still softened and more brushable.  Oils and acrylics can be softened by adding medium solutions to the tube color, and watercolor can be thinned with water in much the same way.  Again, the use of a palette knife or plastic knife speeds the mixing process and makes the blending very easy.

Mixing can become a signature quality of your work.  It’s fun and will reward you with limitless hues.  Rather than using a tube color, try blending a color with its complement, an analogous color, white or black; you’ll develop a new palette of colors in no time.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 18 No. 3 — January 2008