This is part 5 of a simple series - my GUIDE: Getting Started With Watercolour
READ Part 1 | Supplies
READ Part 2 | Activation
READ Part 3 | Wet-On-Wet
READ Part 4 | Mark Making
Don't be intimidated by colour mixing. Use it as a way to explore the exciting possibilities of having a handful of colours! The best way to learn how to mix different colours is by learning the colour wheel. The colour wheel is a great starting point to understand the different colours you have and what they look like on the page once you've mixed two (or more) colours together in different ratios. Let’s keep it simple so that you understand the basics, and then experiment with different combinations.
Create your own colour wheel with these three primary colours - blue, yellow and red. Now, some may have different names for these, and there is a wide spectrum of colours available but if there’s any tip you take away from this is use and play with the colours you have on hand that are the closest to these three. This is why I encourage you to have a small set of watercolour colours. A cake pan set of 10 to 12 colours that include at least one of each primary colour and then play around with your colours.
These are the primary colours I have in my watercolour set that I created a colour wheel
+ Prussian Blue
+ Yellow Ochre (one of my absolute favourite colours)
+ Alizarin Crimson
STEPS TO CREATING YOUR COLOUR WHEEL
1. Lightly draw a circular shape on your watercolour paper with a pencil and create a simple wheel with 12 equal spaces. I draw an inner circle that I don't paint, but this is more for aesthetic purposes - you could paint full wedges for your colour wheel.
2. Start with your yellow and paint it in its purest form in one space.
3. Count three spaces clockwise and paint the fourth space with your red.
4. Count three spaces clockwise and paint the fourth space with your blue.
5. The second space between your primaries, you will paint an equal mixture of the primaries that sit on either side of it. These colours are called secondary colours.
Blue + Yellow = Green
Yellow + Red = Orange
Blue + Red = Violet
6. The spaces between your primary and secondary colours are tertiary colours. Paint these spaces with a little more of the primary colour closest to it with the secondary colour.
Blue + Green = Blue-Green
Yellow + Green = Yellow-Green
Yellow + Orange = Yellow-Orange
Red + Orange = Red-Orange
Red + Violet = Red-Violet
Blue + Violet = Blue-Violet
7. Once you’ve completed your wheel, let it dry and use it as a reference of the colours you can mix from just three primary colours from your set.
Here's a simple formula to remember:
Primary + Primary = Secondary
Primary + Secondary = Tertiary
If you change out one of the primaries to say, a different shade of blue, you’ll get a new wheel of colours. You can create many different colour wheels by changing just one primary colour. Go explore and play with the colours you have to create lovely colourful spectrums from a handful of primaries. Figure out which colour wheel you like and then start painting using those colours as a starting point.
Hope you have fun discovering new, beautiful colours from learning these simple steps of painting your own colour wheel!
DOWNLOAD Getting Started With Watercolour Checklist from The Artful Library
READ this journal post for 30 fun warm-up exercises when you want to get creative