Favourite Watercolour Mixes: The Ones I Use Most Often

[@stephaniealex1852]

I love Naples yellow and cobalt violet- great peaches for florals. Loved seeing yours.

[@godzandheros]

I love Monte Amiata Natural Sienna too and it makes me happy to see other people who favour that colour over raw sienna/yellow ochre... it's just soooo good.

[@zerocalvin]

for me, I love mixing yellow orcher (PY42) with indanthrone blue (PB60) and phthalo turqoise (PB16) for my foliage, all my foliage look pretty realistic without much effort ever since I switch to yellow orcher as my mixing yellow. I also love mixing venetian red (PR101) with indanthrone blue and phthalo turqoise, depend on how dark I need... to my suprise, yellow orcher when mix with quin magenta (PR122) give a very beautiful orange...

[@ZovcDrafts]

I've been using a six-color palette for about a year now: Quinacridone Red, Phthalo Turquoise, and Nickel Azo Yellow as my Magenta, Cyan, and Yellow, plus Phthalo Green (YS), Phthalo Blue (RS), and Transparent Pyrol Orange. I tried really hard to pick lightfast, transparent, non-granulating colors and Daniel Smith was the most reputable brand I could find locally--and they even had their dot charts in stock. Quin Red + Phthalo Green (YS) can create an amazingly neutral, flat grey color. It's hard to mix enough together to get dark values but it's possible. Phthalo Blue (RS) + Transparent Pyrol Orange makes a very "brown" brown. Besides that, the normal mixtures you'd expect can all be done, usually with two colors. I'm happy with how vibrant the "fire truck red" between Quin. Rose and Transparent Pyrol Orange is. I have trouble mixing skin tones with this palette, and I also am not very good at mixing natural greens so I'm interested in trying some new colors. I like the idea of adding burnt sienna and maybe trying a new/second yellow. Like you mentioned, it's really hard to make a natural looking yellow with Azo Yellow. I was initially wowed by how vibrant it can be, or how mustard-y it can be when it's heavily pigmented, but the lightest/softest shades are not very pleasant. The other day I tried to mix the beige of a shirt my friend was wearing and it was way too yellow and muddy.

[@Veronicapainted]

Exactly the type of video I hope you will do more of ! I would take a class from you anyday !

[@Wildboy789789]

Quinacridone crimson and a touch of indian yellow makes a very vibrant red

[@theartisticactuary]

I just knew that this one would start with a long discussion about burnt sienna and French ultra. That granulating grey must be near the top of everyone's lists.

[@MedaHalmaciu]

So interesting! I'll go ahead and try some of the mixes suggested im the comments. Ome of my faves is PY 129 (green gold) and PG 7 (phtalo green). Makes the most beautiful sap green.

[@collapsev]

The paint squeezing part is the most satisfying few seconds of the entire video.

[@Fr4Fry88]

Ultramarine and burnt sienna is always my fav!

[@jlexiaon7494]

Mixing the colors rather then using the pre-mixes keeps your colors looking cleaner and brighter, I think, which is what I like about your art work. Great tips! I'm just starting out with watercolor so I don't have a favorite mix yet......I'm simply enjoying playing with all the colors 😊

[@ranias76]

Thank you Teoh ,very informative . So helpful the suggestions from other artists ,many thanks .Claire

[@x-skittles]

Really enjoyed seeing all these interesting mixes in action! For me - I love the soft greys I get from mixing cerulean blue (PB35) and burnt umber (PBr7). For an interesting purple, quin rose (PV19) and cobalt teal blue (PG50) make a beautiful mix. For greens - quin gold (PO48, PY150) and ultramarine blue (PB29) make a great, deep, and muted green.

[@TsukabuNosoratori2]

One of my favorite mixes is Nickel Titanite Yellow and Cobalt Teal. It makes such a bright green when I want something for rolling green hills, or characters wearing spring green shirts. Then for a lovely amaranth pink color, I like Holbein’s Shell Pink mixed with Titanium White gouache and a touch of Daniel Smith Ultramarine Rose. I tend to use bright colors in my watercolor pieces these days. XD

[@lightwavz]

I absolutely love the paintings in that sketchbook. Some of my favorites of yours, especially the Indian Grocery! And the street scene where you lost your yellow down the sewer. ;)

[@un_coeur_creatif]

I’m so pleased to have found this video. I’m a beginner watercolour sketcher and didn’t know about the problems with cadmium colours not mixing well.

[@LunaBianca1805]

I like your mixes far better than the readily made ones, they look so much more lively and vivid. Plus, unlike with the ready made grey, you can still use the individual mixing colours. With those premixed ones, you'll only have the one colour :)

[@AlexYorim]

My favorite mixes so far in watercolors and colored pencils: 1. A hue similar to Cobalt blue and Cadmium orange for versatile blacks and browns. 2. Crimson red and viridian for cool blacls and neutrals. 3. Ultramarine and Burnt Umber for lovely blacks. 4. A yellow green and yellow orange for muted yellows. 5. Cool bright violet and turquoise for a beautiful blue. 6. Warm purple and bright red for magentas and pinks. 7. A crimson and a cobalt or Prussian blue for a royal purple. 8. Phthalo blue and yellow for versatile greens. 9. Bright opera pink and a yellow to make vibrant oranges. 10. A modified Zorn trio of red, yellow ochre, and Payne's gray. 11. (poster color) A cool red and white for pink.

[@conniebigelow8732]

I like holbein royal blue and pyroll orange makes beautiful green.

[@cindyhorton6980]

Very educational, thank you! I agree in that mixing your own colors looks more interesting. And that's one of the things I love about your paintings, seeing the different colors mixing on the paper. You do a beautiful job! ❤️❤️❤️

[@godzandheros]

Some of my favourite mixes and my go to for skin tones is quin coral/quin magenta (pr122 variation) and DS green gold, it's fantastic for lighter skin tones and darker ones i usually add some perylene maroon and green to the above mix to deepen or just stick to the classic zorn palette (m.a.n. sienna, vermilion or pyrrol scarlet, and neutral tint). my favourite limited palette of all time prob has to be phthalo turquoise, green gold (py129), quin gold, transparent, pyrrol orange, quin magenta (pr122), and dioxazine violet. with those 6 colours i can pretty much get every colour i need for the type of paintings i do, it's wonderful.

[@stephanie.kilgast]

I can't go without a very bright magenta (PR122) + ultramarine blue = very vibrant purple. Though PR122 will make great violets with any blue. For the shadows and a muted violet: PB29 + Perylene maroon. (Perylene maroon is interesting in mixes generally) Also shadows: PB29 + sepia. (sepia is also something I love in mixes, darkens everything in an elegant way :D) For green mixes I recently discovered Azo green (which looks like a dirty greenish yellow) and I love using that with any kind of blue or bright green (PG7 or PG36), though I also often add some warm yellow to it. I find that greens are best when they are very diverse. I have some convenience greens, but I realize I always mix them further. As you say in your video, it's nice when the color mixes.

[@mald379]

perylene maroon is such amazing colour, i love mixing it too ♥ as well az azo green :)

[@FileAssassin]

Very instructive, as i'm a that beginner's point where i got some fundamentals down like edges and water control and the next logical step i really wanna tackle is having a few reliable color mixes. Thanks a lot.

[@greybrush]

I love making dark colors with Perylene Green (PBk31) + Quin. Violet (PV19), and also Cobalt Teal (PB28 or PG50) + Caput Mortum/English Red (PR101)

[@kryingkrisna]

These have been my go-to mixtures since I’ve been following my channel!! Also, this video is really soothing!

[@jennw6809]

While watching I decided to mix out a chart of all my orange/earth tones mixed with most all my blues. It's so interesting the different shades of grey and black I got (and sometimes green and purple!) I love mixing Transparent Pyrrol Orange and Ultramarine or Indanthrone to make the most amazing blacks.

[@FranciscaPires]

I love to mix potter's pink (PR233) with cerulean blue (PB28) for a very granulating soft grey that shifts and separates into both blue and pink in different spots. I also love to mix nickel azo yellow (PY150) with perylene maroon for a burnt orange similar to PO48. And dioxazine violet (i think it's PV23) with perylene green (PBk31) makes a beautiful inky dark that leans a bit blue 😍

[@waymire01]

A good way to get an idea of what your palette can do is a modified mixing chart. Line up the cool tones on the left and the warms across the top.. mix. It will give you all those interesting neutrals. Be sure to tint them out sometimes they look very different diluted. I find these are the most useful colors when painting.. the primaries are usually highlights.

[@annettefournier9655]

Thanks Teoh. That phthalo blue and burnt sienna for dark dark I didn't know and will use it now. Thanks.

[@FifteenMPH]

I love how you mix on the page. The colors are so beautiful!

[@FayeWulf]

Love it! My favourite mix is also blue and brown - I tend to like a redder cooler brown since its so moody!!

[@edzejandehaan9265]

I like ultramarine and burnt umber for grey, works well with the paints in my set. Also like ultramarine and magenta (pr 122), for pretty nice violets (the 2 violets in my set have lousy lightfasness). Phtalo green (pg7) and English red( pr 102) makes a beautiful muted dark green. As a beginner I am working on simplifying the endless mixing possibilities by selecting a collection of "favorites" and try to restrict myself to using those. It's a work in progress 😉.

[@Donna_G]

I like to mix Phthalo Blue (GS) with Hansa Yellow Medium to make a vibrant green. Then I can mix a bit of that mix with Quinacridone Rose or Quinacridone Red to make a nice soft grey. I actually like to mix any of the primary colors with its complement to get a variety of neutrals.

[@WildPortraitArtist]

looking at such well-loved palettes is always super satisfying for some reason, I love it. My most frequent mixes are: burnt sienna/burnt umber plus ultramarine (the grey they produce is just gorgeous) opera rose and phthlalo blue (red shade) - super vibrant purples hansa yellow plus opera rose makes a really bright and cheerful orange

[@soon_to_emerge]

For some reason my comment was deleted :( Short version bc I’m lazy: 1. Phthalo green and quinacridone red for greys (also cerulean blue or chrome cobalt turquoise with warm reds and red oranges for softer greys). 2. PV55 and PY150, nice rusty colour with soft yellow glow. 3. Sepia with reds and pinks for cool muted colours; also, raw sienna with the same reds and pinks for softly muted warm colours. 4. Turquoise (either phthalo turquoise or mix of PG7 and PB15:3) and quinacridone magenta for deep blues. 5. I have a pan where I mixed PW4, Prussian blue and a bit of burnt sienna, makes pretty misty green colour.

[@soon_to_emerge]

I think algorithm didn’t like h00kers green. I mistakingly typed it instead of burnt sienna in the last mix.

[@MedaHalmaciu]

@@soon_to_emerge Haha. They are getting real crazy with their algorithms.

[@valasafantastic1055]

M. Graham nickle quinacridone gold + turner artists watercolours Pthalo green a mix of both Y.S ( pg36)AND B.S. (pg 7)after many tests based on the tubes (I owned a the time) it makes the ultimate mother green for plants. More Quin gold is more yellow/golden glow. I have multiple convenience mixes of two variants a ‘more gold’ and a ‘more green’ I use the ‘more green’ most often but both a lot when painting plants! Add in touches of any appropriate colour in your pallet to adjust the green to match the real world, photo reference or imagined plant! The most real and useful base mix I have yet devised. And I make and research mixes often (continuing to do so). Can’t recommend it highly enough particularly for plein air as it’s super fast. If you don’t mix it ‘all the way it adds more realistic variation as well. Ot really is amazing! I tried a few other options and the others were not as amazing (Van Gogh pthalo, Daniel smith quinacridone gold, and just the BS and just the YS… it was the mix that sang. Overall the m.graham nickle quinacridone gold is really important and the second best result (in my opinion) was the Van Gogh Pthalo green with the m. graham nickle quin gold. (Po 48+ PY 150) This is the amazing mix I share often to help others as prepping and using the convince mixes makes it way faster for me personally to paint plants and more enjoyable. I paint more plants, faster and better and even more often too! However I recently heard po 48 may be discontinued… uh oh. I’ll share another that is really beautiful but less ‘useful’ as often. ‘True rose mix’ Daniel Smith Quin coral (pr 209) and Van Gogh quinacridone rose (PV 19) makes a really perfect, vibrant and beautiful rose colour I think is super nice.

[@teohyc]

Thanks. I need to use Quin Gold more after reading this :-D

[@annadownya]

Permanent alizaren crimson and cascade green make an interesting purple grey (almost like a bruise color!) And burnt sienna with lunar blue can make a soft grey I love. Love all your mixes, your colors are always perfect!

[@mariapage4753]

Lovely video thank you ! It's easy to follow you with your visuals and your explanations!

[@brigitteitg]

I love using Schmincke’s Phthalo Sapphire Blue (I think it’s like Phthalo Blue Red Shade) with their Transparent Brown for a dark grey to almost black - I might have gotten the idea from your channel?! I also mix a cool blue-grey from Phthalo Green and Quinacridone Violet - both probably my least favourite colours but together creating a lovely one 😊

[@teohyc]

PBr25 is great for mixing really dark colours

[@colorsmith659]

The Schmincke combination i really love, too. Even darker is the mix of perylene green and perylene violet.

[@brigitteitg]

@@colorsmith659 Oh I like that combination too! I use it with my Winsor & Newton palette. My Schmincke’s are only transparent colours so I‘m pushing how dark I can get 😎

[@andreaharutunian3838]

You always share great info !

[@writeasrainy]

I was wondering if you could make a video on your entire watercolor collection? Just curious to see. 😬 Thank you so much for your videos, I just recently started exploring watercolors and I consider your channel a great resource. I also really like your art style. I subscribed to you almost immediately.

[@MadebyDawn23]

My favorite mix I viridian green and violet

[@ishanshah7521]

Thank you for another great video Teoh!

[@phyllisd3705]

Thank you! Color mixing is an area of watercolor I’m trying to learn more about.

[@peacefultahitti379]

So helpful. I just love you!!!

[@LynnetteLiLX]

Could you share what brush you’re using in this video? I love how it comes to a point so quickly

[@therestlessknitter4290]

Looks like a silver black velvet brush

[@MoondragonsEyrie]

This was SO helpful, thank you.

[@monica-NJ-123]

Hello , I recently bought Cotman Gamboge Hue and was disappointed with the color so I went and bought Danielle Smith New Gamboge and I just love this color , one of my favorite 😍 , love all your colors TY

[@DAYbreaking_Ideas]

Love the information. Your style is so wonderful and your mixing is very evident. I enjoy to learn sketching from you. I’ve be adding buff titanium in my washes to help with shadow. I’m not sure if it is a true mix or a cheat, but I like the colors it creates.

[@Testudio]

thanks for sharing your drawing details🙏

[@arifadu5273]

Invaluable tips!!

[@kindle7191]

Amazing lesson today Teoh. I was surprised by lack of green paint tube! However, your greens are always so good with your mixing. I learned some tips today. Thanks from B.C.

[@teohyc]

I use a lot of Sap Green

[@tombryan720]

Excellent

[@PaulaBean]

A nice warm concrete gray is W&Npro Sepia + W&Npro Payne's Gray.

[@PaulaBean]

Oh wait, I'll call it "Paula's Gray" ;-)

[@creationslandscapedesigns]

My favourite 2 colours to mix is cobalt blue and quin... red.

[@Slotzzzz]

Teoh.. thanks..

[@LibbyRal]

I love the road at 4:31 - it looks purple-ish. Completely different from the other mixes. I'm going to try to achieve that. I'm guessing there's more burnt sienna than ultramarine

[@nazarius6547]

Idk but I love one mix made with neon strawberry pink(etsy shop) and gorgeous cadmium yellow(Sennelier). It’s like a light Orange neon peach or neon pink salmon

[@chelsee6453]

Have you a video on mixing cool and warm green's and browns ?

[@annelogged]

Such a wonderful topic! I am currently loving DS French Ultramarine (or even WN FrUm) and DS Van Dyck Brown for greys. How about Burnt Sienna, washed out, for skin tones? And MANS mixed with WN Potter's Pink for light skins? 😍 Thank you for this video, it's a great topic!!

[@srabastibasu2]

Loved the video as usual. My favourite mix for dark is often transparent red oxide and phthalo blue from DS. Which brown did you use use in the small palette?

[@teohyc]

Burnt Sienna

[@blubberdust]

hi teoh! I ses that you favor more muted greens but more vibrant oranges, I'm curious as to whether you know why :) does it have to do with their frequency in nature?

[@teohyc]

Not sure. I just like them. And I seldom use purple or violets.

[@elle325]

Hi Teoh, thank you for this video! Is there a particular Cerulean blue you’d recommend? I’ve bought a couple and found them really slimy, hard to lay down on the paper and they won’t set in my palette (I buy tubes). Or is that just typical of the pigment?

[@teohyc]

Cerulean Blue PB35 and Cerulean Blue Chromium PB36 both have tendency for binder to separate from the pigment. You may want to use a tooth pick to mix them completely and pour them into pans to dry.

[@elle325]

@@teohyc Thank you :)

[@BeckyTregear]

Those are some very well loved palettes! 💜

[@LibbyRal]

The mix under the truck that you say isn't a very intense gray, is that ultramarine, cobalt AND burnt sienna. You just mentioned to two blues? Thank you

[@teohyc]

Mid grays are Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, darks are Phthalo Blue + warm red.

[@moma-b]

Thank you so much for sharing! This was very useful for me. 😊 In the very beginning you have just poured clean paint on top of dirty ones and I was wondering why didn't you clean them first? I have also heard that if you have air in the poured paint it can get mold. Have you ever experienced such thing happen?

[@teohyc]

The paint is concentrated enough that a bit of dirty will not matter, unless it's a yellow which is very easy to dirty. Whether mold will grow will depend on humidity around your area. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKaYon6moLWVi9E

[@t.t.maverick1366]

What brand did he use in his set here?

[@kuraicraft]

I was about to buy this paper when u said that it was bad XD are there any sketchbooks/paper pads you'd recommend that aren't 100% cotton?

[@ariafelis6062]

I actually like this paper, and when friends have borrowed it they like it, too, but it doesn't hold up to wet-in-wet so well. It's good for lighter washes such as glazing illustrations, and scans well. The texture is very smooth, so painting can feel a little slippery.

[@anattynook]

Hi!! Fellow Singaporean KZbinr here heheheh I was wondering where you normally get your art supplies from! Is artfriend usually enough? Thank youuuu

[@teohyc]

ArtFriend, Straits Art, Overjoyed

[@avashevlin1758]

Teoh you should check out Roman Smzal paints!

[@teohyc]

I have them but not used them yet

[@christinebrown781]

Really interesting mixes. Thanks for the demo and explanations. I'm interested in the brush too...seems to hold quite a lot and have a very good point. Is it synthetic or ???? THANKS AGAIN Chris Ps my Ben Pen arrived safely thank you Teoh

[@teohyc]

That’s Silver Black Velvet watercolour brush