HOW TO mix Inks for Miniature Painting. 168 Colors using ONLY 5!

[@alexnieves]

I know this video is a year old but the amount of time dedicated to putting this together is IMPRESSIVE.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you. I mean, it didn’t take a year to make but I guess everything I learned prior must have led up to it. 😜🤣 Appreciate you noticing mate. Much appreciated

[@lemastji]

I've learned more in this 17 minute video than I have in hundreds of hours watching other miniature painters. Color theory is always talked about in elements but never fully described. Then you come along and do it with a medium pertaining directly to miniature painters,... along with mixture ratios! Saying well done does not do this justice.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Well thank you! Maybe I’ll get kicked out the club for giving away all the secrets. Time will tell! 🤣

[@lovemysi07]

I can't say enough how long I've been looking for this info. The work you did here is not only impressive, but easy to help someone replicate it. Thank you for dumbing it down to make it approachable. Great job, sir!

[@thestateofplay2023]

I know what you mean! In the end I’d waited long enough so just….did it. 🤣

[@lovemysi07]

@@thestateofplay2023 it's greatly appreciated. Way to find the niche things that others either haven't covered or haven't covered well enough.

[@Grimm.Wraven]

This video was brilliant. Since coming back to painting, 25 years and one wife later, I am thrilled to find the concise information I need. Thank you very much. Edit: number of wives, as opposed to the relative position of said wife.

[@thestateofplay2023]

@@Grimm.Wraven ah yes, you must have started before before KZbin videos. Wasn’t it a pain back then finding all the info. Mostly White Dwarf and Citadel guides! I remember fondly!

[@lousmith5031]

Omg ..totally best video I've watched since coming back to the hobby..citadel inks were superb...looks like I'm gonna be trying this ..don't suppose you got the charts on pdf have ya

[@stower5550]

Having an engineers heart I cry every time a KZbin video says "by feel and practice" blessed is the chart 🙏

[@thestateofplay2023]

🤣🤣 I’m a qualified Mechanical Engineer myself. I like measurable, quantifiable, replicable instructions, so I know what you mean. Imagine a cake recipe that said “feel the amount of flour and eggs you need!”. I wouldn’t eat that and neither would you. 🤣👍🏼

[@learntooilpaint]

I am with both of you, I was a chemistry graduate, and when kimera came out I took all the colours I need and created them using a dropper and micro scales, with matte medium@@thestateofplay2023

[@NameIsDoc]

As a artist with a engineer brain. If you are good with the dropper you can do a system based on droplets. 3m 4c 1y 0w 1b etc etc. Just remember yellow being a more transparent ink needs to be considered nearly double to be equal to the cyan and magenta

[@wombora]

i just wanted to save money and he sneakily taught me color theory - i feel forcefully teached

[@thestateofplay2023]

Next week: how to sneakily take apart your toaster and turn it into a robot vacuum cleaner!

[@1die204]

I am so grateful for my high school art teacher teaching me how to mix colors.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Yeah, it’s not a skill taught well thesedays!

[@funTimesInTheSun]

We need to teach color theory to every miniature painter.

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’d agree but it’s technically a “theory” still because one persons WOW is another person UGH!! 😜🤣

[@funTimesInTheSun]

@@thestateofplay2023 Of course, but contrast is very important in any form of art and until min painters grasp the concept of contrast and then secondly learn how to achieve it, their minis will be dull.

[@Miniac]

I need to know: how many text/image assets did you have to make for this video? Very well done. It was super satisfying to watch someone go through this whole process!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Hey Scott! Pleasure to see you here. Huge fan! 😳 Love the question. The kind you only get from other creators. 🤣 Ok, so there’s 133 image assets and 17 text. But once the chart was made, most of them were drag and drop to create the new ones!

[@jimwar1890]

This is great! I started painting plastic models as a kid…I’m now 74…with Testers enamel paints. Mixed everything using the primaries (red, blue, yellow, black and white). This is really good info and spot on. No need to have a gazillion individual paint bottles each with some bazaar name. Mix your own, make a record of composition, make a color marker and move on! Really, really good video!!! Thanks!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you! It’s nice to get praise from a veteran who knows more than me! 😀

[@jimwar1890]

You’re giving me more credit than I’m due, but thanks. Certainly enjoyed your video and content was very informative.

[@wardy940]

Bizarre

[@HacksawsHobbyBunker]

Brilliant. As a bonus, now I finally understand why my printer refuses to print black when its out of magenta. The best part is the explanation of how colours actually work, well worth it for anyone painting no matter what medium they are using. Developing a "colour eye" is incredibly useful and quite liberating when one does not happen to have a pot or bottle of (insert inane name not related to colour here) and you wish to do your own version of it. Cheers!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Aha! Yes, now you can paint Salamanders or Dark Angels without even owning a green paint! I just picked up the new speedpaints and was surprised to find they’d labelled the bottles with two names: an inane one and a real world colour name. Nice touch!

[@matthieukiriyama7219]

@@thestateofplay2023 It was Brent's (from Goobertown Hobby) suggestion to add colour names that people with a visual disability (say colourblindness) could actually understand when to use.

[@darthkek1953]

@@matthieukiriyama7219 actually that's fair, along with children etc.,

[@bretts2356]

My dude. I have watched thousands of miniature / miniature painting videos over the last decade. Probably well over 10k. This is the best "Mix your own paint" video out there. By far. Well done.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Well thank you kind sir! I guess I wasn’t convinced by all the “you’ve just got experiment” or “do your own research”. It had to be possible. 😜👍🏼

[@BaeBunni]

honestly finding this video is a huge godsend for me. I was really losing a desire to do an eldar army because they have so many paints and colors. I thought I might have to be buying at least 200 dollars worth of paints just to get them and the aspect warriors done, but watching this really giving the confidence to go ahead with it.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Glad I could help out. Yeah you don’t need that many paints for the Aeldari. I mean, you CAN (like me, addicted to paint) but best to buy less and mix!

[@scottlarmore5038]

For the free chart, you’ve earned my sub. Hats off to you!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re very welcome.

[@piratewhoisquiet]

I'VE WANTED TO DO THIS SO MANY TIMES FOR SO LONG Was met with frustration every time over not having THIS EXACT GUIDELINE TO WORK OFF OF!!! THANK YOU!!!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Enjoy, saves soooo much money to mix your own...

[@davidmacd2856]

This is so useful to actually have recipes for mixing Liquitex acrylic inks. It is very kind of you to do the research, format it so nicely and then just give it away. Thank you so much.

[@thestateofplay2023]

It’s my pleasure mate. Enjoy!

[@farpointgamingdirect]

As a retired printer, I've been using this method for decades. With the base mixing colors from the PMS guide, I had the potential to create thousands of colors. Using CMYK (4-color process) with Pantone Purple, you can simulate the Hexachrome printing process

[@thestateofplay2023]

As yes, but we’re both old(er) and still know how things used to work before the internet. 👍🏼😜 Many of the tried and tested ways have just been lost over time. Which is a shame, I think.

[@35milesoflead]

​@thestateofplay2023 Don't be too disappointed by that. Not only have you changed my views on painting minis, but you have changed my view on stuff NOT connected to minis. The whole colour space transformation from RGB to CMYK when considering what was shown on screen (with your handy spectrum guide) to what I want on paper is a proper eye opener for photography and RAW processing. Good information transcends time.

[@brianchurch]

As someone with past experience in paste-up and color separations for putting ink on paper, this video makes me so very happy. Thank you for coming along and telling me how many drops of each ink to combine to create the colors I want.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Ah paste up with the good old red litho tape! I remember spending hours doing that when I can now do it in seconds - in software! You’re welcome Brian. Glad to meet another experienced in the mystic ‘old ways”.

[@SanctifiedDevil]

I decided to try this out. I took the ratios from your recipe and piped it through an LLM to calculate measurements for the 24 base colors in 5ml batches. It worked very well and I'm ecstatic that I now have this much control over my paints. Thank you so much for this crash course and doing the work on figuring out the drops!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re very welcome.

[@andrewhudson5826]

I'm only just getting into this hobby - this video really massaged the amateur chemist parts of my brain, and I ended up buying myself the same 5 inks! Have you done any experimenting with different mediums in these inks? I don't want to end up with an absolute horde of paint colours and brands for different types of painting and I'd love to know if you think it would be possible to get these into a base coat consistency. It's really pleasing to me just to use exactly what I need, and mix it up on demand. Saves space, money AND is more enjoyable (I think) I bought myself some Liquitex matte medium and am still experimenting - I'm having fun anyway, but I'd definitely be interested in your thoughts! There just aren't enough videos out there on mixing your own paints for miniature painting, so please keep up the good work talking about the science and craft behind it all!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Hey! Yes I’ve mixed a ton of mediums with these inks to get different effects. Contrast medium and speedpaint medium to make contrast paint. Golden Airbrush medium for airbrush. Pro acryl glaze and wash medium to make well, glazes and washes, Newsh to make erasable oil type paints. Gesso and others to thicken the inks. There’s load you can play with. Best thing to do is think of what you’d like to do and grab a medium that might do it and then mix. Then test. Great fun!!

[@andrewhudson5826]

@@thestateofplay2023 very interesting, thanks! I didn't think of using gesso so I've ordered some Liquitex transparent gesso medium and we'll see what happens! To thicken them up for now I've been using a cheap £2 tube of Crawford & Black white acrylic paint. It seems to work quite well, and because the paint is so cheap the fact that it has barely any pigment in it actually works to my favour, even if it does make the colours a little lighter. But the inks are so pigment heavy that I end up getting pretty usable colours, I just have to account for it.

[@abcdodd]

I keep coming back to this video because of how "I wish I thought of that" CMYK inks for minis are, and then get the feels when you mention the Sparmax. I have one thanks to you. And SO MANY of those paint marker empty refills. The last cheap hobbying thing left.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Nice. You know Sparmax made the Flyer SR2 but when I spoke to them they have no intention of selling it outside of Japan. 😳

[@abcdodd]

@@thestateofplay2023 No problem. i have friends in Ja...NO! NOT AGAIN! You's be VERY good at sales.

[@sierraquebec1]

Thank you so very much for this information. I’m terrible with mixing paints and I’ve always wanted to learn more about how to do this correctly

[@thestateofplay2023]

Glad I could help.

[@jerrumonline6705]

You have just satisfied a very long-lasting thought I often fantasize about, which is to design and create my own paints dynamically based on the models I'm painting, from scratch or at least the basic foundations of paint and colour. Instead of relying on branded straight out the bottle.

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’m really glad it helped. 👍🏼

[@ItsDrMcQuack]

Your videos are SO good! I hope your channel grows quickly, you definitely deserve it.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you! Now if could get KZbin itself to think like you….🤣🤣🤣

[@biddybaxter]

What an excellent video!!! Please release the chart as a pdf, would love to print this off for the wall.

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’m working on way to get the digital files out!

[@joerie.houthuijsen]

That was exactly my thoughts. It’s so useful that even HD is limited to view 🤩

[@DoubLL]

​@@thestateofplay2023 is there an update on this? My first thought also was that I needed to get this chart printed and up on my wall 😅

[@frankodonnell5247]

Genius, & an added bonus to this is you won't have to worry about GW or whoever's paints you use changing when you want to paint more models the same colour as the ones you've already painted. Well done sir :)

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you Frank. I can always rely on you to make me feel better!! 👍🏼

[@FizzleStudiosLtd]

what a fantastic list of products for a hobby painter... woooooo weee!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Enjoy!

[@FarawayPictures]

Haha! I was a paste up artist in 92 and then spent 25 years in reprographics, sounds like we have some shared history. Regarding inks, I was given a set of tattoo inks, and I've never seen pigment like them. I'm still experimenting with them but I like them a lot.

[@thestateofplay2023]

🤣🤣 OMG! Paste up. I’d blocked that from my memory. All that Rubylith tape and hours in a dark room. That’s how I started.

[@ransomsregret]

I have spent 2 years trying to figure this out. Thank you so much for actually revealing the answer. The headaches this will prevent...

[@thestateofplay2023]

If it makes you feel better it’s probably taken me 30 years on and off. So you were much quicker!

[@Gregatron13]

This is one of those rare videos that changes how i do things and I have to share with everyone!! Thank you!!!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you! Oh and thanks for your Patreon too! Always on both of you need a hand.

[@applecorc]

I just started getting into painting miniatures for my board games. Doing the math I would go broke buying specialized miniature paint. I knew there had to be a way to use acrylic paint/ink to make your own mini paint. After a week of searching, your video finally had the info I needed. THANK YOU!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re welcome! Now stop writing to me and get painting those bad boys!!

[@Aeolite]

Thank you for putting this together. I’m a gunpla (Gundam plastic model) builder and mainly use an airbrush to paint my kits. I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to mix paints for specific colours without success. Having this chart will make mixing custom colours so much easier!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Glad it helped

[@LazorzPewPew]

This is the single greatest video on color for the hobby I have ever seen. THANK YOU!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Wow! Thank you. I only wish KZbin thought the same. 🤣🤣

[@roberthowie]

Thanks for this awesome community resource! 🥳

[@thestateofplay2023]

…and thank you for your support!! 👍🏼

[@VariousIdeas-f2q]

Incredibly informative, concise, and put together.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you!

[@saraf.4376]

For once in my life I thank the algorith to lead my way here. The info you give us is priceless. Neat and clean. Thank you very much!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks for the compliment. I only wish I’d like the algorithm! 🤣instead, I find it a fickle mistress who blames you for something you never did….😜👍🏼

[@chadsylvain]

Funny that it counts as bravery in this topic area to provide ... measurements. Well done sir. Tried this with Golden High Flow acrylics, with the following report from the lab. They are handily named Process Magenta, Process Cyan, and Process Yellow, so there's no mistaking which colors to use. However, ALL 3 required thinning to get a decent match to the original 24 CHART. Used Layman's Medium (75mL water 5 mL matte medium + few drops flow improver -- minute 6:00) as the thinner. 3:1 thinner-magenta; 2:1 thinner-cyan and thinner-yellow. Matched the chart well, but with all the thinning, these act like pre-mixed glazes out of an airbrush and a heavy glaze off a brush. A bit of letdown until I realized the airbrush glaze effect was better than anything I've achieved trying to thin down paint for airbrush glazing. You don't know until you try.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Man that’s cool. Someone in my Patreon tried it with dipping inks and made 24 colours of contrast type paint. And I’ve done it with liquitex acrylic gouache so I reckon we could all save a load of money. But I’m addicted to buying paint so there’s no hope for me. 🤣

[@anthonyd.1428]

This is much like how all the companies make the paints they have. It's all based on ratio per color. In my work I use CYMK, Pantone and painters color books depending on what the client brings. It's always a challenge to match one color system with another color system. This system you made, helps people make colors rather easy. It's just like a paint store. You bring them a paint chip from the stores inventory, that store can look at the recipe of what color is needed to mix this paint chip color. They will always get the same results as long as they follow the ratios as listed. We are doing the exact same thing if we follow the chart you presented.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Very well put!! 😀 Thank you!

[@adamholt5395]

11:17 As an American, I have no idea what you are talking about. 14:28 "Why would you do this?" Because it's fun to mix and match colors! It's a fun experiment and can be just the palette cleanser that you need in between projects. People forget that miniature painting is art, and art is suppose to be a conduit for creativity and fun. This is definitely a creative way to make your own colors. So thank you for the video! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[@thestateofplay2023]

It’s not that you’re American. Nobody knows what I talk about. 🤣 And you’re right. Colour (I mean color) IS fun!! Thanks for watching!

[@Drakelis]

I just found this… and … absolutely wonderful guide. Thank you

[@thestateofplay2023]

Glad you found it!! 👍🏼

[@Drakelis]

@@thestateofplay2023 Haven't been able to use them as proper paints, but they are great as customized washes and glazes!

[@b.angellanderson5848]

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. Information I have been struggling to understand for YEARS! “But how do I know how much of what makes what?” Is suddenly so clear. ❤❤❤

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’m so glad it helped! 👍🏼

[@acosteira]

Thank you so much. I paint miniatures since 2020 and this is the best video about color mixing that I ever watched.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you for saying that!

[@richardTyler92]

thanks heaps ,man, you've saved me so much work here as someone who just got into using liquitex inks to mix colours for airbrushing

[@thestateofplay2023]

Not a problem mate! Glad it helped. Should certainly save you a chunk of money!!

[@swaslaukinonome]

This is brilliant, thank you! When you're just getting started like me, all these details and demonstrating every step with full illustration/demonstration gives me a real "recipe" I can follow until I know what I'm actually doing!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re very welcome!

[@willswasteland]

You should do a video on the different mediums that can be used to make the inks act more like paints. Things like matte medium and flow inprover. Also, you should do a video on Payne's Grey. To many model painters don't know about the magic of this color as a wash. Love your videos, but this one is my favorite so far. Keep at it.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks! Yeah, paynes grey is an awesome colour! Over white as a wash it makes vampire skin look great!

[@cs319103]

I love this. I can see myself coming back to this video over and over in the future.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Good job it’s digital. If it was VHS, that tape would be ruined!!

[@philgee486]

This is quality work going where others fear to tread and amazingly we have it from a true subject matter expert Share folks, less than a thousand views in 2 days which represents about 100,000th of the folks who'd love this understanding One day soon this channel will break out and honestly, 100% this should have been the vid I'd even suggest a rerelease with a new "Warhammer" related title and a space marine thumbnail in a couple of weeks, none of us real enthusiasts would bat an eye. REALLY great work that merits fabulous acclaim and reward.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks Phil. And that’s great advice. Brings another tear to my eye! 😜👍🏼

[@MorganScott82]

Another thing I love about artists inks and paints (though I don't use artists paints as they have other issues making them less suited to the mini painting I do) is that they list the actual pigments used. Titanium White is titanium white, phalo blue is phalo blue, whether its Daler Rowney, Liquitex, or someone else. And when they've used multiple pigments they're all listed.

[@thestateofplay2023]

You should try the liquitex arcylic gouache for mini painting. Exactly as you describe with pigments but work well on minis.

[@cwj138]

This is a fantastic learning tool to understand what is happening, you explain tones, tinting and shading really well what to mix. For me having a recipe is not so important though, always just mix to get to the colour needed even if doing more of the same scheme later and have to mix all over again. Learned a lot from painting purely with the Zorn palette of black, white, yellow ochre and vermillion when trying to paint Blanchitsu style grimdark minis and really wish I had started with just these 4 colours a long time ago because it taught me so much. Can get some cracking skin tones too.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Nice! I haven’t tried the Zorn palette yet 🤔

[@amitacharya8167]

What a fantastic video... Learned more about paints and colours in this video and learned that I was lied to at school ... Primary colours bah!

[@thestateofplay2023]

🤣🤣 never trust a word you learn at school.

[@zyos11]

Loved your video, you just saved a lot of people a ton of money in contrasts and washes, I just made 20 bottles today, half of them by following your guide and the rest by experimenting.

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’m so glad it helped!

[@precioushobbytime]

quick, safe that video before the big companies take it down and the state of play misteriously vanishes!!!

[@thestateofplay2023]

No danger there. Pretty sure KZbin is doing a great job of burying my videos all by itself! 🤣🤣 You caught me on a “down on KZbin day”. 👍🏼

[@craigjones7343]

Liquitex sales on 5 colours go through the roof.

[@thestateofplay2023]

@@craigjones7343 oh don’t. I CAN’T go through that again….🤣🤣

[@unodemuchos4570]

Impresive.

[@thestateofplay2023]

If only my A level Art teacher thought the same! 😜

[@ronsone8373]

Wanted to start this hobby but was overwhelmed by the amount of inks paints washes etc ... This might be the way to go and get a relatively cheap start thanks!

[@thestateofplay2023]

It is but inks are a specific use case for different painting purposes. They’ll work but as a new starter I’d always recommend picking up a starter set from a good brand.

[@voodooloukerensky3884]

Ive got the same GW Citadel Inks from the same period! I have very little Black Brown and Chestnut left and yes theyre still viable. I also have the Ral Partha Dragonscale wax rub on that was bundled with the inks and the 1st paint pots from GW and Ral Partha's leathers and skins paint (that didnt even come in a box and at the time you couldnt buy individual Citadel Colours paint or inks, or Ral Parthas for that matter) but they had flimsy cardboard trays wrapped in cellophane that were themed. Grasses and plants would get you 4 shades of green, 2 basic sets got you white,red,orange,yellow,green,blue,sky blue,purple,brown,tan,black,silver,gold and that weird pink they called Flesh. The paints are 50/50 surviving, but the inks still work, like you mention. This is the 1st time Ive heard them referenced. I had gotten out of the hobby after I lost all my RPG stuff I had gathered when I was in the US Navy (89-93) with the exception of the GW and RP paints the inks and the waxes, that I had taken with me to my parents house while they spent a month in Europe. Just with in the last couple years Ive gotten back into table top BattleTech, so painting minis is encouraged. Great tips and the break down charts are brilliant!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Oh man, you’re references REALLY take me back. I still have a bunch of unpainted Ral Partha minis in a box. Dude, we’re OLD! 🤣🤣

[@antoniocastillo2397]

Awesome. I always wanted this chart explained with drops. Thank you and excellent job

[@thestateofplay2023]

🤣 yeah, so did I. I searched for years then gave up and did one. 👍🏼

[@TheMasterLynx]

One of the greatest video on "making color theory". Amazing, thanks!

[@thestateofplay2023]

A pleasure!

[@barnyoh]

This is absolutely brilliant. Not all heroes wear capes 😁. Thank you for teaching me of a new skill i can develop ans implement in my painting journey

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks! I’m off to buy a cape. As you say, I don’t need it, but it’ll go great with my red pants. 😜👍🏼

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Great help. Clarifies a lot of thing I knew at a gut level into a measurable and henceforth repeatable mixing for painting a model.

[@thestateofplay2023]

If an inanimate plastic object like a printer can do it - then we humans can do it too!

[@JoeFarish]

Absolutely class video mate, great production quality as always. 👍

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks!

[@rburry01]

Thank you so much for this video! I use liquitex ink to paint my handmade dice and this is such an amazing resource!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You are so welcome!

[@supaflysit553]

Probably the best and most useful painting video that I have ever watched.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks for that. Made my day!! 😀

[@kentmckernan5719]

Excellent Video, thanks for the comprehensive analysis. In my experience the Process Magenta from FW series Daler Rowney does not need dilution prior to mixing. I live in the US and this I found all the inks I needed at Michael's craft store.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Cool. Yes I’d heard Michaels was a good store. I’ve never been to one though. 😜

[@mikaelfarstrand5382]

So. This was just awesome. And I have three of the inks. Think it is time to shop for empty dropper bottles and a few more things. Thanks a lot!

[@thestateofplay2023]

I’m glad it helped out. Saves a ton of cash too!! 👍🏼😜

[@thevuntzer]

Such a great video. I recently just got into using inks and just learned about Pro Acryl wash and glaze medium. Going to have to try some of this. I really appreciate your technical background informing how all this works. I'll have to get my hands on one of those fancy dropper bottle spray guns.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks for the compliment. I just explain how I want stuff explained to me. 👍🏼

[@nikroth]

This was mind blowing and fascinating at the same time !

[@thestateofplay2023]

You should see me make a sandwich and watch Netflix at the same time!! 🤣

[@TheRoamingbison]

I sure wish I had discovered this before I spent the last few years buying and hoarding hundreds of miniature paints like a greedy paint dragon.😅 This is a great demonstration of color theory that should help make it click for a lot of people.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Oh, even with this video you’ll still hoard paint. Sadly that’s the addiction with this hobby. 🤣

[@bushdog]

saved to favorites! thank you so much for explaining this the way you did and i look forward to messing around with the colors/charts!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Enjoy! But we don’t mess, we painters ‘test’. 👍🏼😜

[@8-7-styx94]

Those images are now the background for my laptop. Finally knowing how much of each ink to use will save me soooooooo much time. The only hang up with this is they don't have a straight magenta, there is a pink and red is available both are magenta adjacent, I'd say go with another brand for pure magenta though.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Another ink brand for magenta would work. You might have to figure out new thinning ratios for it or even not if the new brand does t need it.

[@Descent9]

Awesome video. I need to do something like this myself to help me understand color better.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Yeah, I highly recommend mixing just to see what happens. 👍🏼😀

[@handsofrhythm3415]

Thank you for all the work you put into this. It is truly appreciated.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you very much. Seriously!

[@kaminos]

excellent work! This video is pure value, thank you for sharing it :)

[@thestateofplay2023]

My pleasure

[@giantninja9173]

I just got 2 sets of liquitex professional acrylic inks and I’ve been dabbling in mixing them but also mixing them with paints because it works to thin the paint while brightening the color. Like adding the yellow to a green to lighten it, tint it more towards yellow, and thin the paint simultaneously.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Yes, that’s brilliant! White ink also makes most bad white paints work much better!

[@Aztechnology.]

I started doing this on my own before I found you, due to trying to make chromatic blacks and whites to make my models with whites or black armor/tones more interesting. This has greatly simplified the whole process for me and was just incredibly thorough. Thank you!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Yeah I started the same way. Then I figured there had to be a ratio of drops to make this easier. If a printer can do it, I guessed I could do it. I won’t be beaten by an inanimate piece of plastic with a plug socket!! 🤣🤣

[@Aztechnology.]

@@thestateofplay2023 haha, hear hear. I’m digging into your videos now. I have an Iwata Airbrush and have ordered some different nozzle’s already. But when I saw the Sparmax video I knew I had to have that too. Ordered it the only place I can even find one in stock (in the states) off Ebay from Japan! Would have loved to give you some affiliate revenue there, but it’s slim pickings!

[@thestateofplay2023]

@@Aztechnology. nah don’t worry. I do this for fun. If affiliate some comes, great but who cares! I’m already responsible for a U.K. wide sell out of the Flyer! Japan next!! 😳

[@Aztechnology.]

@@thestateofplay2023 I love that the Sparmax will be my quick access varnish, primer etc. Then I can switch my main airbrush to a smaller needle to use the airbrush for the fine brushwork stages instead on a more permanent basis. I already have a ton of extra dropper bottles I was moving my citadel paints and such over to. So I’ll be spending a day this weekend working through the inks and kind of setting up a new workflow. I’m just getting into this hobby, with Leviathan as my first box but I’m already quickly picking up confidence. Thanks again. These videos really are a welcome find. It was also cool to hear you make reference to Marco Frisoni in another video as he’s how I ended up finding you. Although indirectly, as I was learning to paint with chromatic black through his videos!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Yeah that’s what I do with my Flyer. Varnish, chipping medium, prime and lighter zenithal before a more precise zenithal with the airbrush. Sparmax slapchop!! An Marco is my go to star! Even KZbinrs have KZbinrs!

[@S.A.S.H.]

Quite likely the best discussion of color theory I've stumbled upon on KZbin!

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re lucky. YT buried this video on release. Showed it to only 300 people, not even my subs. I have no idea why so glad you found it!!

[@deltapi8859]

This is such an amazing video. I'm watching it for the third time. One of the few videos I don't play at 1,5x speed and don't click through, even after the third time. One small addition to this through and through amazing video is the following: In art classes they talk about "biased colors" and show that even though some "magentas" are called "pure/true magenta" they can still be "biased" towards another color adjacent on the color wheel. Like blue biased magenta or red biased magenta. If you use them to mix the colors you get a more murky color than you expected and have trouble mixing them. This counts for cyan and yellow as well. A yellow that is only slightly biased towards either green or red will give you issues when mixing. Also a chart of the RGB color wheel (or CMYK) could have been helpful. Ok, back to watching this video a forth time :D

[@thestateofplay2023]

You have some good points. Generally with inks they’re pretty vibrant anyway so many will stay vibrant unless you desaturate with black grey and white. Which is done to create different tones and shades anyway. In hindsight a CMYK colour wheel may have been helpful but I figured there so many free on the web and an RGB one would have confused the issue as that really only works with light (on screens) and not pigment. 👍🏼

[@westwoodsidestudios7551]

Thanks for your hard work in this. I’ve been a long time user of liquitex inks and usually rely on gut feeling and a little colour theory to mix colours. This may well save wastage in mixing colours until it is “right”. Brilliant!

[@thestateofplay2023]

No problem! I know exactly how you feel. So much waste mixing randomly. I figured if a Computer Printer can do it, then so could I…🤣

[@westwoodsidestudios7551]

@@thestateofplay2023 thanks again got your tenacity. Is that liquitex medium you are using to thin the cyan? I’m off work for a week or two at the moment (hospital thing) - I’m going start mixing tomorrow! 😊👍🏻

[@andybillco2424]

@@westwoodsidestudios7551 yes Liquitex matte medium thinned out with water so it looks more like Citadels Lahmium Medium. P.S. It’s the magenta that’s thinned. Not the cyan. 👍🏼

[@Two-Square]

Love the Video! Very good introduced, explained ❤❤❤

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you very much! 👍🏼

[@nparsona]

Brain hurts. Will pop over to Element games tomorrow and pick up all the inks I need. Please forgive me my collection of Vallejo paints - I loved you. Great video, subbed.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Oh I wish I was near an Element Games store. 😭

[@18vix87]

This video is incredibly helpful for me to understand the colour theory and also save some money! Thanks a lot! You got a subscriber!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks Vikas. Glad it helped

[@dmcf1975]

Fantastic video - very educational and really wants me to experiment now with inks and airbrushing.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Cool! Time to experiment! 👍🏼😜

[@jakelilevjen9766]

This may be one of my new favorite videos. Thank you for all your hard work!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Not a problem!

[@travelminipainter]

Excellent video! Congratulations. Saved in my personal playlist.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank You! Very appreciated! Indeed!

[@eugenb.8448]

This may be the best video on paints, inks, and mixing them that I’ve ever seen. No. Correct that. This definitely is! Subscribed.

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re welcome!

[@ikkiiiieee]

As someone who is quite adept about art paint knowledge; I highly applaud you for this video. This is an INCREDIBLE video for the community and it is FREE. It will help people understand mixing better and implore them to use other products than they're used to, get creative, make their own stuff. Like a true artist. One point of criticism though: there is absolutely a reason to choose additional inks rather than stick to those you mentioned, simply because of the transparancy, inherent pigment properties like strength, lightfastness, finish, ... Though for a regular hobby-ist this is an overcomplication, I still feel like it should be mentioned. For example, Phthalo blue would give you much richer mixtures than the blue you have there, drops would be harder to calculate though, because it is VERY strong. With the blue you have there, it would also be impossible to mix a very dark chromatic black. Because it contains opacifiers/white.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Correct, Pthalo blue would do as you say but you’d need to use way more ink of the other colours to balance out. This making it no more cost effective than just buying other inks. On the chromatic black. I agree, but 99% of the time in miniature paint people just want black. So they’d just use the K. Black. 🤣👍🏼 But for art in general I wholeheartedly agree with you. In fact I still have a huge variety of inks I use even though I can mix them. Sometimes, as you say, grabbing say, Paynes Grey, will always be easier.

[@marksahlgreen9584]

What a fantastic video, I really wish you made these charts available to download however, being in a video they suffer from KZbins compression

[@thestateofplay2023]

They’re on my Patreon.

[@davidhills7986]

This mixing chart system is actually helpful for anyone using kimera kolors paints as well.

[@thestateofplay2023]

After making this video I discovered it applies to quite a number of paint lines. If they have anything close to CMYK. 👍🏼

[@davidhills7986]

@@thestateofplay2023 the kimera kolors are great for mixing your own paints. A little colour theory goes a long way. Consider me subscribed

[@fitz394]

What an absolutely legendary video. Thanks mate

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you. Thought I share some wisdom from an older geezer!! 🤣

[@cblack47]

Oh I was doing this or ordered some stuff to get started but holy cow this is way better

[@thestateofplay2023]

Glad I could help!!

[@pugnpom]

This is just an excellent video. You have made something that seems overwhelming and simplified it for everyone to understand. So many people keep their knowledge about things a big secret. You went above and beyond. Thank you for your time and effort. I've subscribed

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks very much! It’s appreciated

[@the_cogito]

Very professional, informative and well done! Keep up the good work, super helpful.

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re very welcome!

[@chrisdane.7170]

What an amazing video. Its clear that you know your color theory very well.

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thank you Chris! Very appreciated! Most colour theory just comes with time. Over 33 years making movie posters and computer game art it just sinks in! Even though most of them are Teal and orange anyway!!

[@cinderheat]

This is amazing - I'll come back to this video again and again. I'd love to see you do a similar breakdown on how coloured primers affect a technique like slapchop. Cheers!

[@thestateofplay2023]

That video is in the works!

[@cinderheat]

@@thestateofplay2023 I cant wait!!

[@therealdadoom7509]

This is the content creation we've been looking for

[@thestateofplay2023]

I read that in Obe Won Kenobi’s voice….🤣

[@stuartlennon9511]

Fantastic! Very comprehensive explanation in an easy to digest format and speed 👌🏼

[@thestateofplay2023]

Always a pleasure Stuart! Thanks!

[@WhoDatheir]

This is awesome and well layed out. Thank you thank you thank you

[@thestateofplay2023]

You’re welcome. Times 3! 🎯

[@cabe_bedlam]

Great video, feels like someone spilling the secrets of the magic circle!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Is there a ink circle! You think they’ll come after me?! 🤣🤣

[@paulhempenstall5463]

Thanks, this was very informative!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks Paul!

[@howardhautville4208]

Absolutely awesome - thank you

[@thestateofplay2023]

Thanks

[@ambrosedugas6959]

Thanks so much! I'm mixing my own inks for calligraphy.

[@thestateofplay2023]

If you buy specific calligraphy inks you may not have to thin the magenta. Best to do some experiments as I’d heard calligraphy ones “can” be thinner anyway.

[@ambrosedugas6959]

Thanks, I'm just going to use the FW inks, and get a matte pouring medium just in case I need it. I was interested in what would happen if some mica powders were mixed in with the acrylics. I guess I'll find out!

[@thestateofplay2023]

Ooh! Let me know.

[@ambrosedugas6959]

Hey! So... it turned out great! Watching your video helped me get an idea of what proportions would create certain results. Loosely based on that I created some inks I love. The FWs were actually too watery as is, but the fluid medium actually thickened them (opposite of what I thought!). The micas look great and react well in the inks. I'm just going to put some mixing balls inside the jars to make them easier to shake up so they don't clog my droppers. 😃 unique and sparkly inks run $15-30 for a 1 oz bottle. This saved me a ton of money!

[@hvbarata]

Another brilliant video. Currently I'm having fun with the scale75 full body acrylics (since I was getting sick of all the speed paint thing) but this is definetly something I will pick up to use on the airbrush. Much easier to keeping a butch of air colors or pass the time diluting other colors.

[@thestateofplay2023]

You mean those Scale75 tube paints? Good aren’t they…👍🏼

[@hvbarata]

@thestateofplay2023 amazing. I know that they are more expensive than Heavy Body Acrylic from the art store. But for us miniature painters that are used to GW and stuff they are not even that expensive