Watercolor: Mixing Basics, Primary Colors, how to get vibrant colors

[@andreag313]

I like the idea of using phyllo blue, yellow, and magneta for primary. It makes bright colors, but like you said, you can very much do it the "known" way it's been taught to us. You know what attracted me to watercolor? It's a convinent and easy to travel with media to use for me. I can just buy a rather affordable set of dry watercolors and never really have to mix. I know it's great knowledge to know how to mix when it comes to the expense of oil paints for example. Knowing how to mix from a limited palette in oil painting saves lots of money not having to buy a bunch of tube paints. Don''t get me wrong, I love my watercolor tube paint set that I bought on sale from Hobby Lobby, but it's a vast set and that's why I have it. I don't want to have to worry about color mixing when I just want to dive into the actual painting. lol 🙂

[@marilynambler876]

You are a great teacher. I have watched so many other videos and not one of them really taught me what I needed to know like you have. No one told me about primary colors for instance. They said only blue ...not cyan for instance... now finally I get it 🤷‍♀️Thanks 🙏 you have made a great difference in my art journey. I sooo appreciate you. From my heart to yours you are sooo appreciated and you need to know I am one of your biggest fans now. Many blessings and prayers for your happiness ❤️🙏🌹🥰

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thank you so much Marilyn, I really appreciate it, that's so kind of you! To be fair to the other teachers, you can choose to use different blues as one of your primary colors, you just need to understand that you will get different, maybe more muted results. Cyan is really great for getting clear, vibrant mixes.

[@marilynambler876]

@@NatureSketchbook I understand and I am so happy when I hear from you. I really appreciate and enjoy your wonderful generosity. You are also very kind. I like that a lot so my heart and my prayers go out to you for all you need today and in all your tomorrows too ❤️🙏keep shining as only you can do .. it matters 💫⭐️

[@ad6449]

What a helpful video. Thank you. As a result of watching this (and taking the longer class), I've gone down the rabbit hole of trying to identify the CYM in my watercolour set. Its actually an engrossing, delightful, and educational process.

[@NatureSketchbook]

That's great, getting to know your palette can be so helpful and enjoyable! 😊

[@sniffingdogartofficial7257]

Really lovely video, thanks so much for uploading. I'm getting back into art now after years of feeling "too busy" for it, and yeah it's great to have educational content like this.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thank you, I'm glad to hear this is helpful and I hope you will enjoy diving into making art again!

[@gillian4425]

Thank you 🙏

[@larryglatt2548]

Based on a previous video of yours I have made a palette of about 17 colors & begun making a color chart of them mixed with each of the other colors, very educational. In this video I realized I didn't know which colors in my palette are the primary colors, if any of them are, so, I just wrote the company asking & hopefully I will soon have those answers, thank you.

[@NatureSketchbook]

If they can't help you, feel free to post your palette here and we can take a look at it together. :)

[@larryglatt2548]

@@NatureSketchbook Thank you, thank you. They are replying thank you again.

[@ArcNeoMasato]

As a low tier pencil and marker type guy, it still almost shocks me to hear paint get talked about as "sketching", cause in my world, it's like.... the super fine and exact finishing medium, not the part you're fast and loose with. Even for someone like me that uses different mediums, these are still really useful things to learn though, cause I've used similar mixes with markers for really nice results!

[@peterdammersfilm]

Hallo Julia, thanks for sharing! I had almost given up trying to find for the right magenta and yellow to mix red, which seemed to be printer's secret :-) Please tell me the pigment code for the primary magenta you used in the video, as I couldn't read that from your self made colour card in your paintbox. Es grüßt dich Peter aus Amsterdam

[@NatureSketchbook]

For a primary magenta PR122 (Quin. magenta) is a very good choice, I often have PV19 (Quin. red/rose) in my palette, which is slightly redder, less purple, but more lightfast, and it mixes just as well. Hope that helps! :-)

[@lydiat5819]

Thank you very much for this excellent video, Julia. I have almost zero knowledge about pigments, so I would like to follow you to get the exact colors. Schmincke (for all 3?)- transparent yellow PY150; Quin Magenta PR122; and which blue? Hope you have time to reply, really appreciate your effort.

[@NatureSketchbook]

You're welcome Lydia. The good thing about these pigment numbers is that you can get them from any brand and they will be more or less the same, unlike the paint names. So the PY150 might be called transparent yellow from Schmincke, but nickel azo yellow from Daniel Smith, etc. You just need to look out for the pigment number. As a blue I would choose Phthalo blue (green shade), PB15:3, available from about every brand out there (sometimes called helio blue, winsor blue, etc.). You can also use slightly different pigments as long as they're close enough on the color wheel. PV19 as a pink/magenta pigment comes to mind, and PY154 as a primary yellow. I really like the very comprehensive website handprint.com for all things about watercolor pigments and color theory.

[@lydiat5819]

@@NatureSketchbook Wow, I learn something new again. You are so kind to keep sharing, thank you very much *salute* 😁😂😃.

[@cymbidiumm]

What are the names of the primary colors you bought? I mean the pigment tone, so I can buy them.

[@NatureSketchbook]

You can use these: Yellow: PY3 or PY154 or PY151 Magenta: PV19 or PR122 (Quin. Rose or Quin. Magenta) Cyan: PB15:3 (Phthalo Blue green shade)

[@3LittleSprouts]

I’m in the process of buying pigments to create my own watercolours, I’ve just changed my red to a quinacridone magenta, permanent yellow light and I have the choice of 3 phthalo blues (I’m not actually sure of their exact make ups, I’m only assuming they’re a light , medium and dark hue or I can get a French ultramarine. I’m quite perplexed as to which blue to buy to get the most vibrant colours. I’ve also read that phthalo blue pigment can be particularly difficult to mix and work with. I would appreciate any help you could give me in making my decision.

[@NatureSketchbook]

You'll probably want another warm red to complement the Quin. Magenta, maybe a Vermilion or Pyrrol Red. Of course I don't know what kind of palette you're putting together, but it's usually practical to have a cool and a warm version of those primary colors. As for the Phthalo Blue, often these are called "green shade" or "red shade", I would go with the green shade, then you'll have a nice cool (=more tending to the green side) complement to a warmer blue (Fr. Ultramarine is good). I've had no problems with Phthalo Blue so far, it's a great mixer. These days what is sold as Manganese blue is also often based on Phthalo pigments, that would be another alternative for a cool blue. I hope that helps a bit!

[@NatureSketchbook]

On second thought: one difficulty I can imagine working with Phthalo Blue is that it is quite intense and slightly staining, so harder to lift off the paper once you put it down. But apart from that I've never experienced problems.

[@3LittleSprouts]

This is great advice, thank you for your help. Phthalo blue is looking a little less scary now.

[@NatureSketchbook]

@@3LittleSprouts If you have more questions, just let me know, I love talking about pigments! :)

[@kimsargeant8126]

What is the yellow you used? Everyone seems to just say yellow, but there are many yellow hues. Please advise.

[@NatureSketchbook]

This particular yellow is Schmincke Transparent Yellow, PY150. It's sort of in the middle between cool and warm yellow: when applied thinner, it's almost a lemon yellow (cool), undiluted, it tends more towards ochre (warm). Hope that helps!

[@sarahorchard1822]

You didn't explain that you used a transparent yellow on 'printer' colour. Confusing!

[@Pattymelt415]

Since you have already stated that you use Schmincke paints because they are less expensive, then us in the United States, would have to spend a lot more in order to follow your lessons. Perhaps what you could do is when you refer to your schmincke colors you could give a good Daniel Smith substitute.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Hi Lola's Mom. :-) I know that prices can differ a lot locally, and I would never tell anyone what to paint with just because I'm using it. I just share what I happen to use and why. You do definitely not need the same supplies as me to follow any of my lessons. I hope I haven't said that anywhere. I encourage everyone to get the paints that are most affordable to them! You can compare colors by different manufacturers by looking at the pigment numbers (both Daniel Smith and Schmincke have extensive brochures available that document this), or by looking at the palettes of other artists who use DS paints. I know there are a lot who do, on KZbin and elsewhere (for example Jane Blundell compares all kinds of brands on her blog). Right now I simply haven't tried enough DS paints to recommend a well-balanced palette. I hope that's understandable.

[@barbararivera2380]

:)

[@fishisnotfishfish2267]

Internet debating about primary colors. Some of use just care about the results. CMY or BRY doesnt matter if it gives me better results I'm use It!

[@NatureSketchbook]

That's actually what I say in the video: you choose your primaries by the results you want to get. :)