Color Theory and Mixing with Artists Matt Fussell and Ashley Hurst

Learn the basics of color theory and mixing pigments in this full recorded broadcast. Create a color wheel with both warm and cool primaries and learn how to mix any color that you need. Color relationships and schemes are also discussed.
Check out the membership program: thevirtualinstructor.com/members
Free course videos and ebooks: thevirtualinstructor.com/memb...

[@BronsonLivesHere209]

Thanks for the clear easy to understand video. I love that you work with just primaries.

[@roxisone]

Best color mixing & theory video ever!! Thank you so much!

[@critbyte]

Real great video here guys. Loved the relaxed and friendly tonality that you both have, thanks for sharing the passion for art!

[@Linda-qq5mg]

This is an excellent video! There is so much to learn from it! Thank you so much for doing it. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening!

[@callmedeno]

Amazing, so much information I would watch endless videos like this on color mixing

[@marlisetp]

The light in my brain is starting to flicker. Thanks so much!

[@rajgaurivedpathak2945]

This is surely a goldmine of information about Colour theory and colour mixing which would seem too overwhelming to me before! Thanks Matt and Ashley 😊✌️

[@itsJuanita1]

Wow! Thank you so so much for this. I learned so much in the first 20mins alone. Really added to my knowledge of warm and cools. And the colour wheel now makes sense, YAY. Cheers guys, all the best

[@blueeyedbeauty2496]

Does anybody else think Ashley’s voice sounds like Matthew McConaughey?! This video was very helpful!

[@simonashingletonchaosandth4812]

Learned so much from this. Worth watching to the end and appreciate how they talked through why they chose the colours they did. And so inspired to see how a genius like Van Gogh even practised and experimented with different colour combinations. Really, really valuable lesson. Thanks guys!

[@shroukrashad6513]

The episode was really fun, and I benefited a lot from the episode, and I wish you success and wait for more

[@noel2034]

Also Loved the last 10 minutes of videos as it talked about the color schemes, SO SO helpful, Thank You Again!

[@noel2034]

Love this video. I have been thinking about limited palette for a while now and this has pushed me to do that. I love the idea of always having consistent colors. Thank You!

[@driesketels]

Some actual insights both in the art world and colour mixing... Not just the pure basics which you get on 99 percent of blogs and channels... Love it.

[@B3Kusa]

I love this video and wow, so informative and you Matt, so inspiriting and really get the pepper to get us going. So wonderful to have you❤

[@rozitasheilarahim8016]

This is a really great colour mixing lessons for me. Thank you to you both for this video. God bless you both always.

[@Merletth]

Wow, thanks for so much info on color mixing.

[@mailie6403]

Thank you for your videos. So brilliantly explained and so easy to undetstan

[@kateblasingame1224]

amazing in depth lesson. Thank you. I will have to watch over and over to gain all the knowledge... so I'll be here again!

[@dianecharest8365]

Thank you. I never touched on the color wheel. Found it very confusing. You both just made things very easy to understand. I have just learned so much. Thanks guys so much.

[@AmazinGraceXOXO1]

The most informative video i have watched on color mixing and color theory. Thank you so much

[@karenlavigne1108]

Such great information, thank you. Appreciate all your time making the videos.

[@BluJean55]

Excellent video for this beginner! I learned so much! Thank you!

[@simonhare2442]

I watched this in the future and DID absolutely love it! Thank you very much

[@julieclarkson3269]

Hi guys, this is the most informative mixing video ‼️loved it , Upto now I’ve just been wining it and have done quite well but, this is going to help me heaps. Thank you both ‼️👩🏻‍🎨 julie in Yorkshire

[@cactusbobaz]

I always enjoy you two, great show, thank you! Bob!

[@LIFESaWONDER]

Using a warm grey vs a cool grey makes a huge difference as well.

[@claragoh3895]

What a great lesson. Thank you both very much. :))

[@karenowens9717]

I loved this video, learned so much, thanks.

[@evasmartt1254]

Great insight for me on the cool and warm colors.

[@abigailhumes4608]

Wow! My brain is bursting with new facts. Thank you.

[@brendamuiru1014]

soap maker here, I just want to say thank you............. this is so helpful to me when i'm trying to match my micas (shiny sparkly soap coloring pigments) to a specific color scheme

[@helenhill9482]

Many artists do not darken colours using black. It makes colours (especially yellows and oranges) too muddy. You wouldn’t add black to yellow to darken it. You’d add a touch of red or blue (depending on which direction you want it to go in), or its complimentary colour.

[@thunderriser]

As to using black, I agree. But personally I would use raw umber to darken yellow, not red or blue. Raw umber is a kind of dark, greenish yellow.

[@helenhill9482]

@@thunderriser yes, you’re correct. I’ve recently learned that myself. Thanks for clarifying Ellen.

[@kateblasingame1224]

Well , to each their own. I find that i can almost get that fabulous green gold when I mix black and cad yellow or lemony yellow. There is more than one way. I've tried your mixture and yours works too. ..... as does...black and yellow.

[@blackreazor]

Here as a professional color matcher i can say that depending on the composition of your black it can affect color in a blue to green direction and greys are mostly blue in nature so thats why ppl go against using black but it can be further balanced by using red as toner

[@stewste4316]

good to know

[@rainskitchenandgarden]

Thank you so much! Learned so much that I didn't know before! :)

[@jasminelane79]

Great video! Thank you both so much!

[@padmajaandal2299]

Excellent and very informative video that I have been through.

[@kenharrison440]

Great work guys!

[@elisenispee7450]

Very good demo on color theory, thanks so much!!

[@barbaraguttman7422]

absolutely an amaising video! Thank you for making it

[@scuzzparkour]

Really helpful! Thank you both so much

[@Lorens-art]

wow guys wow....color mixing and theory has been a huge struggle for me and you two not only made it easier to understand but it was fun to watch which always makes the ability to remember what you've learnt soooo much better. Thank you from Loren Melbourne Down Under xx

[@julieallbright5002]

This was so fun and so cool! I love the color wheel and learned so much in hair school. I loved how y'all talked about an artist that didn't have the color blue around and how he used yellow and red to make black appear blue. Or was it yellow and orange, hmm, lol. Also y'all taught me something new about greys and how to make them other than just black and white! Makes so much sense now. Love all your videos and am so grateful to KZbin and art teachers like you sharing your talent. I just turned 40 and have wanted to get into an art class of some sort for so long, as I dropped out of 10th grade. Art was my favorite time in school, and I have really missed that direction and form that comes with having a teacher. I'm probably going to subscribe to your classes soon. Thank you really, it means so much to me and many others.

[@LearnerChess]

Mr. Hurst mentioned Diego Velázquez, who used a mixture of red and yellow as a substitute for blue. I intend to look at some of DV's paintings to check it out.

[@amandahopkins3842]

I love the detail that you go into, I am learning new things and I have a B.F.A!

[@liqinzhu]

I'm still a beginner. So this is confusing to me, but fascinating at the same time! This video is definitely worth watching a few more times. Thanks!

[@c.catlover4080]

I feel the same way.

[@sternits]

Same. This is almost scary. 😂

[@monicacampins7351]

great video. I wish they taught me that in school.

[@arriluce09]

I've enjoyed so much!! Thank you from Spain

[@maryannbrown2170]

great job! loved your interaction!

[@powermom74]

Great video. Very helpful

[@deaniegraves1784]

Could you direct me to handout you mentioned about color theory?

[@ChrisR_68]

Thanks so much for this Matt Ashley, I'm really wanting to do coloured pencil drawings after I've completed my pen & ink course and apart from one coloured pencil turtle lesson from Matt's secrets to drawing which I enjoyed as before this I wanted to do only black n white drawings, which I still want to but also colour. But I've been like how do you get colours mixed to colour you want,I see Matt's list of colours but what if I want to do it all by myself, where do I start and I actually was going to send you this question on members minute !! So this will be great. As always thank you Matt and on this occasion Ashley 😁

[@annonomysperson9664]

Second half of video is very good !

[@IshaDrawingAcademy]

Great and you do wonderful work. I have subscribed your channel. I have seen full time enjoyd.

[@Fred-ov5vb]

Very informative video. Thank you for sharing.

[@zoridahall4732]

Your tutorial was awesome thank you ,,,I enjoyed it,,, hilarious in somewhat, artistry just took place,,,,,,

[@luciademiguel4818]

Really enjoyed the video, thanks

[@michaelmacdonald2907]

divide the color spectrum into two parts and you have warm and cool. Arbitrarily divide those further and you have the common hues. Some people make fewer cuts than others.

[@SJ-wm8et]

Learned a lot. Thanks!

[@LearnerChess]

Excellent presentation. I found it very informative.

[@fayito9970]

Just discovered you. Great fun! Thank you!

[@suel4269]

I learned a lot from this. Thank you!

[@thomasburnley3810]

SO helpful. Thank you!

[@danieljohnadriel]

Thank you so much! Love it!

[@justicenoapart]

amazing lessons on such an important topic. Thanks

[@artplussk_222]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing the video

[@beemcquinn4270]

I took art in college, and I wish they'd taught this.

[@oldlady1946]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@paintingsbyl.a.k.403]

Very helpful! Excellent!

[@nicolettenieuwoudt4012]

This was excellent!

[@ArtistRebeccaLS]

Such a great video 😍

[@zohayazdani00]

Wow amazing content! 👌💜

[@julioalarcon7092]

Superb lesson!!!!!

[@rosetorres7031]

Awesome video guys, you both make learning so much fun. Thank you 😊

[@Ruthy714]

Thank you I learned a lot will apply

[@1sacoyle]

The one thing that seems to get glossed over or neglected which every artist needs to know is that every tube of color has a bias meaning there are no true colors in paint. Cad. yellow med. is an orange yellow. When mixed with Ultra marine blue , a red blue, you get brown because these two colors are made up of complements to each other. Years ago I came across a book that explained this and what a difference is made in my paintings once I understood the true nature of paints when mixing colors.

[@richiejourney1840]

Absolutely true. I don’t like anyone using “temperature” as “bias”. “Temperature” is a psychological aspect of color and is WAY to relative to many things. This is why the “temperature” aspect for “bias” is so confusing and actually misunderstood. If you ARE gonna use “temperature” as “bias” then one really should use the Spectrum Layout (V-R, RV being the “Luke warm” transitional area between them) which actually makes Violet the coolest and Ultra Marine as the coolest “blue” which is why it seems “out of place” as a sky blue. A much greener blue would be the “normal daylight” sky. Ultra Marine does have it’s place in cooler times of day and nocturnes. Also, in terms of “temperature”, we most often relate day/night, sun/shade, values, making the “intrinsic values” of color as being “warm & cool” as they go from light to dark. So, many points in this video are wrong and when they degrade legitimate, factual arguments of color-that’s pretty sad. I don’t teach a limited 3 color “primitive” color theory model and wheel. I teach an all “primitive” model and wheel and which paints are currently “top dogs” and which ones have to be currently mixed and which “convenience” paints should be focused on and why. Many Hues and many colors can be mixed but this is also true in the opposite way. And cost is a huge factor for most of us so why keep mixing a color you use a lot of with those expensive paints when a cheaper and just as sufficient mixed one is out there for you-unless it does not have the properties you may desire e.g transparency. The only definition I use for “primary” on my wheel is: those paints I CHOOSE to be so as a starting ingredient to my mix which cannot be mixed back to from any of the mixes made from it. 3 “primitives” are the minimum of a limited system wishing to simplify the explanation and or usage of an rather infinity model complexity of color. It is always insufficient in many regards and is only sufficient for children first learning as a pre-schooler, not to even forget that it leads to false theory and arguments over THE PRIMARIES. “Primaries”-as I use it-is a paradox wherein, they are not real and yet real at the same time and all are necessary at the same time. Newton did not define 3 primitives as THE primitives as the Traditionalists came to teach and currently the CYMer’s are doing the same for theirs. Newton taught that they were all present and when the waves difference balanced to 0 you get white (black also in subtractive) and when the difference was an imbalance then you perceive a “color” that is not white or black. Human Vision Newtonian Physics validates Newtons actual theory. A standard observing human in natural surroundings (even in the more controlled lab) has all 3 cones exited to varying degrees at all times-all of the spectrum is present and is actually why “mixes” of light or material matter always results in a lower chroma heading either white or black. No matter how you look at it, there are always more than 3 “primitives” involved in “color”-not just 3 “color” filters/emitters or 3 materials/chemicals “mixed” together. For I contend that NONE of us nor even other creatures that live, even can see THE EXACT SAME resultant “color”.

[@black02z]

And yet you did not mention the name of this book. Name Please?

[@stewste4316]

very informative video, thank you

[@m-k-g-w]

wish I would have found this in 2019 I 've been following Matt since Feb 2019]. I Love this and well I suppose better late than never, aay. Thank you both this is so informative and Helpful...and I just have to say that listening to Ashley's voice and not seeing him - I would almost swear you were with Matthew McConaughey, great bonus :)

[@thevirtualinstructor]

Thank you for your viewership! Please tune in this evening, October 20th, at 6:30 pm EDT as Ashley and I go live with our next episode of Gettin' Sketchy. I'll be sure to pass along your compliment to Ashley!

[@m-k-g-w]

@@thevirtualinstructor sounds good I'll be there & thanks Matt. 😊

[@julieglenn2456]

Where is the handout for the video? I looked on TVI under live lessons acd could not find this video. Loved the presentation.

[@Luvin_it]

Hi, can you please direct me to where the link is for the handout you spoke of on the video? Thank you.

[@leslieladyhawke]

Thx! That was awesome!

[@gariworley4345]

Thank you, thank you, again thank you! I have been in the science of the medical field for the last 30+ years and was never able to take a formal art class other than art history. I have recently decided to teach myself to draw and paint. This one hour of instruction has already started to reduce the frustration that has built up because of self mixed up mixing errors in the last few months. I am so grateful to you both, Ashley and Matt. Your 2 Primary color wheels have provided me with what I have been needing all along. A Warmer and a Cooler Structured approach towards gaining much more success in my new found expression of life!! So, again, may THANKS AND PEACE be with the both of you!! GLWorley.

[@user-id5bp3qc3i]

don't screw up

[@user-id5bp3qc3i]

nezezai, I know my stuff and you blabla yours sit 1.

[@RosalieKerr-xb2vh]

very clear information thanks

[@alexnaildesign3598]

Awesome video!! Thank you for sharing you knowledge 🖤 Is the PDF mentioned at the beginning of the video still available somewhere?

[@korneliaboros7716]

Hi, Im looking for the same. Let me know please if you find it somewhere. Tnx

[@yp935]

Really helpful ❤

[@godknows4454]

This was helpful thank u

[@robloxiconone5566]

Thank you for the lesson. Beats worrying about coronavirus. Now, back to my easel.

[@ZiggyLu-og3zp]

Amen to that! 👍🏽🙌🏽💜

[@ernestvenn8291]

Ashley gold is also used in the making of gold. The powder glass is known as frit pixie dust.

[@marypartridge5154]

Thanking you very informative

[@melanieturturici1855]

In a portrait, can the Zorn palette be used for the skin tones and your warm & cool palette be used for clothing, etc? Thank you. Really enjoyed this very informative video!

[@lynefontaine1363]

Is it important which paint you had in? Does it change the outcome of the color that comes out?

[@artaddict2313]

i always have seen ultramarine as cool and phthalo blue as warm!

[@passage2enBleu]

I have art books that cannot agree on which is the cooler or warmer blue. For me ultramarine is warmer. It's very much a 'which context' question and thus a personal interpretation.

[@richiejourney1840]

And is why “temperature” is a personal psychological character of “color” and should not be used as “bias” of color. However, if we ARE to relate “temperature” as “bias” direction or even as actual temperature, we are forced to go by what is most relatable to Humans and science. Would that not actually be fire/ice, spectrum, day/night and seasons and simple value? For most of humanity the Sun is the hottest thing to them. And properly speaking, your art books should also tell you from whence “warm and cool” came from in art first-and that would actually make orange the hottest and blue the coolest and all else simply transitional in both directions which means ultra marine is both a warm and cool. If we go by what is most commonly relatable we actually have what matches basic spectral science as well…Violet is coolest and Red is hottest where RV is the transitional Luke warm/cool area alone-where the iceberg meets the warm oceans and we could just divide RV in the middle to simplify things. But we are always left with yellow as the sun and the highest intrinsic valued color, so maybe we should divide yellow in half and end up with a divided color wheel going from yellow and encompassing RV and have arrows going in toward the Neutral position and out to the edge of the wheel. Temperature as a bias character is so prevalent and confusing to my students that this is the system I use if I must. I much rather use temperature characteristic as a separate thing from bias and instead use the teaching of chroma as a color moves from light to shadow, the intrinsic Value of color as light to dark and the Sun heating the day showing the cooling of the sun as a beautiful sunset and the warming of the sun at a sunrise. Even the normal association of a normal camp fire colors remind us of the Sunsets and Sunrises and ignoring the science of actual higher temps in blue and white when most don’t even relate to that. Temperature has been pre-decided in compositional construction. If I need to talk about temperature in my students compositional construction or finished composition THEN I will talk of it in the PSYCHOLOGICAL terms of it THEN my “temperature” wheel comes out…again… And white is the coolest color is pure BS. In science, outside of actual spectrum measurements, white is very hot and blue the hottest in fire and black body radiation. White is neutral and defined in it’s environmental usage-yes? Not to mention the fact that white will bias with the medium used and thus in oil it will go a YR-Will it not? Thus maybe another reason White in oils should be thought of as a “warm” color actually. White in a winter scene is cold but neutrally so…add ultra marine or violet and it becomes colder and anything else would make it warmer except adding black or any other direct complement which makes it cooler as it moves into a cooler shadow. Color is just way to relative to use as bias determination unless everyone in the art group is speaking and using the same definition. So I agree…temperature is way to personal to use it as a bias definition property-unless VERY carefully defined and why.

[@essejd]

That was really great and learned heaps, Thanks so very much for a fantastic lesson ✅💐👍🎉

[@thevirtualinstructor]

I'm so glad that you found it helpful!

[@lakendralandon7239]

I need I warm blue! To get the green I want. Oh my goodness! 🤯🤯🤯 I’ve been getting the cool green every time and I didn’t know why!!! Awesome. I’m here because I do nails.

[@happydays1336]

Ultramarine Blue is cold and Cobalt Blue is warm. Hope this helps.

[@happydays1336]

Sorry about this--ultramarine blue is warm and cobalt blue is cold. There are differing opinion about this, though. I have to disagree a little bit with what is said in this video. All paints aren't equal. A "cobalt blue" of one brand and quality can be quite different from another "cobalt blue" of a different quality and brand. It's why I buy high quality oil and watercolor paints. There's a huge difference between good quality acrylic paints and cheap ones. They don't even compare. Watercolors aren't quite as distinctive, but quality still matters. Good quality watercolor paints won't fade as quickly--especially Alizarin Crimson which is quite a "fugitive" color: it fades easily. (I have a BFA in Painting which is a professional degree for full-time studio artists.) Here are some of my paintings using excellent quality paints. You'll see how vibrant they are. barbaralyman.com You'll also see how much I love complimentary colors (opposite on the color wheel).

[@rutheproppi6265]

Hello: Will you please tell me how to get the Handout of the this wonderful Color Theory. I thank you very much indeed. Your gift is surpassed by your generosity in sharing this. Please inform me about the hand out. R

[@INKsanity83]

Where's the link to the cheat sheet you mentioned at the beginning? I'd love to check it out

[@fabiuccio_artist7659]

Thank you ❤️

[@Qooartz]

Where can I find Mr. Ashley?

[@Catherine-rt9un]

All of my instructors said NOT to use black and instead use the opposite color to darken the color. We weren’t even allowed to being black to class.

[@richiejourney1840]

Yep…very wrong. In college you should be exploring everything

[@darekart997]

What about dark paintings by Whistler? In what spaces of the color wheel do they stand? greetings

[@augustasilvis297]

Thank u so much

[@colincannings7946]

Hello, I'm a Vehicle Painter by trade, ie auto repairs! When the topic came to colour matchng, it was mentioned that, three Primary colours, produced seondary colours, and so on. When it came to Black and White, the explanation was, White is the absence of all colour. Black is the addition of all colour.

[@richiejourney1840]

That is entirely dependent on the system and how black and white are defined. In Object Possessive Ownership i.e. “that object is white or black”, they are colors belonging to those objects. In Conceptual Philosophical Theory both W and Bk can be defined as the summation of all colors wherein light intensity can also play a part which is true in our “natural” world or stand alone as individual colors like all other colors. In light “mixing” theory, W is the summation of combining all colors and producing white light, whereas, black is the absence of light. In artists color mixing theory, the light is held constant and again white is a pigment color and we mix to white by adding white paint and we can mix to black by adding black paint or by combing “colored-as in spectrum Hues” paints in such a way until they combine an equal amount of color such that the difference is balanced and tends to absorb most “color”. One does not need to combine ALL paints on one’s palette to achieve this. Neither do they have to do it in light either. What IS true is the differential summation of light energy waves to a balance of near 0 for black and white colors (and colors they are) to be perceived and an imbalance will produce a spectral hue of some color depending on the person and the difference summation result. So…in your line of color application white is a white pigment that tends to reflect away most light waves and is cooler to the touch, where as black is a black pigment (or combination of pigments) in which they tend to absorb most light energy waves and turn them into infra red heat a hotter and sometimes unpleasant heat. Both are actual physical materials with a reflectance index value as do artists pigments and all other mfg pigments-all are “colors” with names and biased in some way, so neither white or black is Conceptual in this case. Your world is one of mixing recipe’s of colored paints in which common practical mixing is way precedent to theory crap. Every paint you use is simply a colored paint that stands alone or is combined to make another. So unless you’re trying to paint the perfect invisible car…don’t see how the theory of light concerns you…because in usage practicality for you…white is a colored paint and so is black. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way to you. I just find that teaching someone the theory of light when their profession is application of subtractive material mixing and a different theory in practice just confuses them. That’s why we have a raging war with many different theories being combined and causing conflict. Yes people should know the theories-especially those artists who tend to dabble between Theoretical Application’s, but in the same breath they should also know better and how to apply them and most You tubers tell really bad theories. Although I do enjoy this Chanel, they do promote incorrect Traditional Theory.

[@mimiporter9316]

I’m a new abstract acrylic painter. Need to learn about color mixing big-time. I’ve looked into classes but they’re HUNDREDS of dollars, so I’m hesitant to invest without feedback. I’ve looked into Jodi King and Pamela Caughey. Any classes y’all recommend?