I wanted to share how I tested to see which colours I could mix using a limited colour pallet. I use 14 colours (although some are not used very often). I use Winsor and Newton professional tube paints. The current election of colours in my pallet are:
- Winsor Lemon (722)
- Winsor Yellow Deep (731)
- Raw Umber (554)
- Burnt Sienna (074)
- Scarlet Lake (603)
- Permanent Rose (592)
- Winsor Violet (Dioxazine) (733)
- Winsor Orange (724)
- French Ultramarine (263)
- Winsor Blue (Green Shade) (707)
- Winsor Green (Blue Shade) (719)
- Perm Sap Green (503)
- Payne’s Grey (465)
- Titanium White (644)
Mixing Table
Below is a table showing each of the colours mixed. Iy shows a strong mix and a more watered down mix of each combination of two colours.
Swatch Book
Although the mixing table is handy as a starting point I do not think it shows all the combinations possible. So I created a Swatch Book to keep a record of a greater range of colour mixes. Below are photograph of some of the pages from my swatch book.
Pallet Colours
The first page shows my pallet colours. The swatches show how opaque the colours are and how easy they are to lift.
Primary Colour Mixes
The next two pages show the colour range that can be mixed useing the 6 primary colours.
- Primary Colour Mixes – Various combination of mixing two primary colours
- Three Primary Mixes – Various combinations of mixing three primary colours
- Complementary Mixes – Mixing the primary colours with their complementary colour
Mixing The Colour Wheel
The next few pages record various ways of mixing colours (Yellows, Oranges, Reds, Purples, Blues, Greens, Earth/Browns and Greys).
Glazing Chart
The next few pages show the results of glazing one colour over another. I painted squares of each of my pallet colours, allowed them to dry and then painted a triangle of paint over the top. The idea was to see the effect if I every over painted colours in ah painting.
Watercolour Pencils
I have a page with swatches of my water colour pencils. I use a brush just to wet the pencil marks on the paper to see how they spread. I also paint underneath each one by taking the paint off the pencil with a brush.
Pen and Pencil
The last section has my various pencils and ink pens.
- Pencil – Showing the different strengths of the pencil leads (from 2H to 6B). I also test to see which are water-soluable and which do not bleed
- Ink – I test a range of inks (either from fine liner pens or dip inks). Again to see which can be used for watercolour sketching
- Nibs – I have acquired a range of pen nibs over time. So have a section to show the marks that can be made with each one.
