One COLOR MIXING STRATEGY to Improve your PAINTINGS | Art Tips for Beginners + Demonstration

In this episode I want to share with you a color mixing strategy that can help you get better colors in your paintings. This is not a secret color is a very complicated subject let alone color mixing... So hopefully, this color strategy that saved me as a beginner can help you for your paintings!
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About me (bio) :
I am an artist living and working in France. I learned the techniques of the Atelier of the Nineteenth century and now I try to share some of my knowledge with the rest of the world, because I think that beauty still has an important role to play in artistic creation. I do mostly drawing and oil painting, and my goal is always to provide techniques and explanations that can be useful to anyone, from beginners to more advanced artists.
The material I use most of the time (not necessarily in this video) :
Drawing
Equipement
✓ Kneaded eraser
✓ Plumb line
✓ Small mirror
✓ An old synthetic brush
✓ Masking tape
✓ Cutter
✓ Sandpaper or sanding block
✓ Mahlstick or Hand rest (DIY)
✓ Level ruler
Graphite
✓ Pencils 2H, HB and 2B
Charcoal
✓ If available: Nitram charcoals (H, HB and B)
!!! Or, if not::
✓ Square Venetian charcoals Lefranc and Bourgeois
✓ Natural charcoal box (check that the heart of the stick is not spongy and hollow)
Black and white chalk
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
✓ Square Conté noir : HB and 2B
✓ Chalk or pencil holder
✓ Pencil sketch Conté Pierre noire : H and HB
Sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté : Blood and blood Medici
✓ Crayon Polychromos Faber-Castel : sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
Oil painting
Palette
(Extra-fine paint, recommended brands according to availability: Lefranc Bourgeois, Winsor and Newton, Royal Talens Rembrandt, Sennelier)
✓ Titanium white PW6
✓ Yellow ochre PY42
✓ Burnt Sienna PR101 or PBr7
✓ Venetian red or English red PR101
✓ Permanent Alizarin crimson (Attention: do not use the traditional pigment, which is not very light-fast) PV19 or PR177
✓ Cobalt teal blue PG50
✓ French ultramarine blue PB29
✓ Raw umber PBr7
✓ Burnt umber PBr7
✓ Ivory Black PBk9
Brushes
✓ About ten filbert hog bristle brushes sizes n° 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12
✓ Some flat brushes
✓ Round sable brush or round Kolinsky sable n°10 (from the size of the nail (about one inch) or synthetic imitation
Medium
✓ Linseed stand oil
✓ Odourless mineral spirits
✓ Safflower oil
Surface
✓ Linen canvas, fine grain universal coating
✓ Canson oil-acrylic oil paper Figueras
Others
✓ Palette
✓ Foam and spalter brushes
✓ Palette knife in the shape of a water drop
✓ A few small pots, containers, jars...
✓ Paper towels
***
Thanks for watching !

[@redangrybird7564]

Colour mixing comes naturally and intuitively for just a very few gifted persons, for the rest of the mortals the mixing of colour comes from following a simple set of rules, starting with the colour wheel. The best video on this topic is the one made by Mark Carder. I have checked many good artist's videos and none reveal the "secret" of mixing colours as Mark does.

[@h.r.puffinstuff431]

Thank you for this info. I am now off to search for his video!! (No offense Florent, I think your videos are great!!). 😊

[@lolly5453]

Great recommendation, I need this! Thanks so much 🙏🏼

[@squarz]

Using less combination of different pigments helps too a lot. You need a skin color, just put a little of a transparent red and a transparent yellow to your white, re-do the same color will be so easy. Same for drapery, you need blue variations? Just take a little bit of phtalo blu and mix with a black, then put a white and play with those. Then there is space to add everything you want.

[@rosered103]

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try it!

[@fidrewe99]

"A painter is almost like a musician who would have to invent all the notes before playing"... true, being a painter is more like being a composer in music.

[@rebeccanewberry3176]

so helpful! now I can stop thinking that when I don't nail the color the first time around, that it's not a failure, just part of the process. Thank you!

[@hicap06]

I work using pallet paper (grey). And I save the paper once I'm finished. Not forever, but until I'm truly satisfied with the work. This allows me to "color match" and experiment on the paper prior to applying it to the canvas, It makes the process less stressful for me.

[@mikespell757]

I JUST DISCOVERED THIS METHOD A WEEK AGO BY ACCIDENT IN MY FIRST PORTRAIT. THANK YOU FOR CONFIRMING IT! BRILLIANT!

[@tomfroehlich2221]

Florent, I love your videos! So simple and well explained...and you seem like a super nice guy!! I've started oil painting again after 40 years and your videos are so helpful and encouraging. Thank you!

[@cseguin]

I learned quite a bit about colour mixing when I worked in the printing industry. The inks we used came in primary colours and we had a recipe book to give us the various ratios to mix all the colours of the rainbow . . . it was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the job watching a coupe or a few different colours start interacting and becoming homogenous whilst mixing - very satisfying.

[@downtherabbithole9143]

Thank you so much. I have been struggling so much with colour mixing today...warm, cool, too dark/ light/ saturated etc. etc. ....this was the PERFECT video to watch.

[@108Isabel]

Thank you for this advice I've always struggled with color mixing I'm still learning as I do my art

[@petramicklethwaite7018]

Thanks, this makes sense. I have been more or less taking this approach, because it seemed logical, but it is reassuring to know that a much more experienced artist advocates it! I did think that I should know for certain the colour was right before I put it onto canvas. After watching this video I realise that I'm not likely to know for sure until I see the colour in the context of the painting. I'm glad I was on the right track after all 😊

[@muhlenstedt]

Great tutorial.Your english is excellent, just a funny thing is that I was hearing statt colour, "carder" like Mark Carder LOL English is still difficult for me but I understand your strategy that is very practical and easy.Thank you very much, I needed this a lot.

[@claygreen4723]

English is tough for me and I am from South Carolina, USA! I honestly don't see how anyone learns English. It makes absolutely zero sense.

[@flexflex5966]

You're always so fantastic ! Love and respect for your dedications to art. So great pleasure!!!

[@oilonpaper]

That was amazingly helpful, thank you! 💛🙏 I'm not (yet) a traditional oil painter, but use the dry-brush technique with oil paint on paper, and when I use color, I "paper mix" by adding thin layers that let previous layers shine through, so it's kind of like a glaze, I'd say. I've wanted to try traditional oil painting for... forever, so this video took away my fear of sucking at color mixing. 😅 Thanks again!

[@anuk7473]

Thank you so much for this video.. I thought i was being a bad artist for mixing colors on the canvas.. I'm a beginner and didn't go to art school.. I'm at trial and error stage now..

[@glynnastone3395]

Thank you so much for your explanation and demonstration. It really helped clarify the process. So appreciate your experience. Love your work!

[@bramkegg8292]

I can relate to this. Thank you very much!

[@Cosetteseferian]

Thanks a lot !, I'm a beginner and struggling with my portrait painting. Your videos are great !

[@lenns_artwork]

lovely painting and yes just keep trying mixing to get what we need,have great weekend👍👍👍

[@lynneholehouse4423]

LOVE your videos. Every single thing you say resonates! Just brilliant,

[@Karola1033]

thank you for the tutorial!! it really ligthened up some of my issues with mixing colors! and also huge respect for modifying a finished painting. i would probably be too scared to do it thinking i will damage the finished result!

[@skysky9115]

I love your train of thoughts ...thanks for sharing...its helping me to recognize my challenges .....!

[@JourneysPalette71]

Thank you for good information. Your picture is really cool.

[@mona2242]

I finally found you!,, just what I need , you are extremely generous and sooo informative. Just subscribed ! Now I need to learn colour mixing first . Thank you!,

[@lastranger]

BRO I AM REALLY THANKFUL TO YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS, BECAUSE YOU ARE THE BEST TEACHER AND ARTIST IN PAINTING ON KZbin I HAVE EVER WATCHED... THANKS FROM HEART AGAIN. ONE QUESTION CAN YOU GIVE SOME ADVISE ON ALBERT LYNCH PAINTING TECHNIQUE..OR COLOR PELLETE

[@johnnyk7480]

Thanks. I will try！

[@H3nry488]

Merci beaucoup Florent!

[@lisengel2498]

You are always very precise and very clear in your description - and you always start out with a clear goal and examples of strategies. Thats so great, but I will add that there are interesting oppositions in our choice of preferred methods - is it about total control ? or is it a creative process that embraces controll- openness, knowing- not knowing ? - for me it is very much like composing music and being an experienced musician and then go out in the unknown and investigate and give and receive find and cocreate what you did not know was rhere- happy painting

[@fpatrocinio]

Great tip, thank you for sharing.

[@dream.fiiend]

Looking forward to your color theory vid

[@fidanabasova7642]

You help a lot!!

[@Asteptillustration89]

Interesting! I am learning these techniques and starting to understand them intuitively to have a pallet mixing and a canvas mixing and once you put your colors on the canvas your further ad the colors needed to get closer to the reference 3S technique once again interesting how I intuitively pick this up as I am learning!

[@ruthbircham7340]

I paint wet on wet straight on the canvas 😍🙌🏾💝 I mix my colours on my pallets and on my canvas and I use Acrylic paint only as I'm allergic to oil paints. 💝

[@stefanop.5905]

Very nice tutorial! I would also add to start with a thin application of paint and then going thick afterward.

[@cloudsofsunset7323]

That gap between what is going on on the palette and what was happening on the canvas is the exact same problem I am facing rn Edit: This is actually so useful. I kept struggling with this issue and it truly lead me to a hole in which I could not get out of. I learned two things in this video: first I just realise the way to work is not "I have my colours in my palette, now it just should work in my canvas" but the idea your palette is just there to hold and mix the colours while the actual work is in the canvas. It made me realise that the colour effect happens in the canvas as a result of the layers and not the colour on the palette. Also that strategy which to me sounds like the right way to use a sort of sfumato? Am I going nuts? Either way I am excited, this video truly helped me can't wait to try.

[@raju.paintings]

grate work

[@OmarLopez-iv1el]

I am having the same problems you had when I paint. Hope your video can help me.

[@ronniejensen6951]

control z is always my go to option Florent! lol

[@christopherpalermo7567]

Nice job

[@arc2561]

I’ve always just naturally been doing this tbh. The vid was still really useful and put everything really into words tho.

[@susanwong6471]

Hi Florent- can you talk about how to paint irregular part, such as the the breaking part of the bread? What brush to use. Thank you !

[@pentachronic]

Wouldn't it be more sensible to use a neutral grey like an 18% grey as your palette ? That way you can see the relative saturations and luminosities more clearly before you put them on the canvas. Maybe have a few glass palettes that same base colour as the canvas ? I'm sure there would be a wet vs dry colour but at least you could do meaningful comparisons before laying paint down ?

[@dagoelius]

Viva La Farge! :)

[@moniquerenard4510]

Florent,i a m going to start my first paintin g in oil, is my canvas has to be wet??, my brush wet or bit wet,i thing my preference is going to paint, between fluid and thick, so again what kind of wrness do i start with????? Thank you, for a answer.

[@gabyroberts9601]

Thank you so much from Vicror New York I'm Gaby R

[@Ettoredipugnar]

I make swatches and label them before I start a project

[@paulallentaylor6034]

Technically, with palette mixing, where can we get in trouble if we seem to put too many colors together? I note many painters have numerous mixings. I can understand the variegated mixing where we want the appearance of blending but use colors with close value changes instead. It seems that the palette is the safest place to mix method wise. Can you explain this more? Thanks.

[@dannyboygregory-mccormick9157]

Impressionists: *laughs in blotches of high saturation*

[@apostalote]

Impressionists actually used a surprising amount of greys. Yes there are some Monet’s and Pissaro paintings that stand out for their punchy colours but if you really analyze impressionist works, there are tons of greys

[@harshadk4595]

Now, that's a good one! :)

[@lorenzodenisgrillo9608]

Hi, I've a problem with Parmigianino 's Cupid , I' m a beginner and don't know how to start with tones.

[@kozakzenyk5511]

Florent, bon jour! I noticed on one of your previous videos, that the little finger on her right hand on the portrait looks quite unrealistically bent, meaning that the fingers are too spread out making the last one look as if it is broken. forgive me if I am wrong.

[@troyingram716]

I got lapis & malachite, I want to mimic mercury sulfide with W.N. Artist oil color

[@cherylbutler446]

I’ve always wanted a control z! Can you show how to make a darker color without using black? I want to make a dark red but adding black makes it purple. Thanks!

[@squarz]

Add burnt umber and some green like viridian

[@2gooddrifters]

Burnt number and ultramarine works too.

[@stefanrijos63]

Hmm, good advice. I am confused when it comes to color. I see all these painters who can stand outside and do a full color scene in less than an hour and just figure it out seamlessly. And I know that they are definitely not color-checking each and every color or color transition because it would take dozens of hours to get it. The color-checking method has driven me away from painting sometimes because I literally have spent 30 minutes and so on trying to match just one little area of color when there's A MILLION others to match. That is part of why I can't paint fast and have to spend 2 weeks or more on a simple still life. I still haven't found out the secret of what do these painters do, or I don't know if they're just winging it and somehow it looks good. Another thing about this color-checking method is that it feels like I'm reproducing a copy of what I see; it makes me feel like a human printer. There's got to be another way of figuring things out, because painting this way is just super boring to me. I hope someone can offer me some helpful advice on this issue.

[@Pulapaws]

I painted oil paint at the age of 17. My art teacher would let me sit in the room by myself as I painted by the window. I would mix my colors by with a see and feel. I first started with still life. You have to paint every day very small paint studies. Learn you paint and play around with colors. I have a canvas piece of paper besides me that I would test my mixer on before I place it in my painting. Think back when your was a child. You don’t think about super complex colors, themes etc you grab your paint, your markers, color pencils and just do it with very little care and have fun, learning along the way but didn’t know you was learning. It like learning to walk as a baby. Art should be fun and you should give yourself permission to just throw colors and mixes on a cheap canvas. You will grow quicker and faster by just painting and it being fun will have you doing it more. If your make good mixes be sure to have a pad to record it. Than when it time to be serious you have some more painting miles and patience to see the main colors you need to paint and some you want to add to add your artistic license.

[@gunnarg8074]

what brushes can u recommend?

[@michaelmcewan432]

Does it matter whether you mix paint with a pallette knife or brush

[@UnbeltedSundew]

After having tried a while to mix with a knife I find it way easier to mix with a brush at least for now. The difference is that it is much easier to keep the mixes small and grab smaller amounts of paints so that you don't immediately overpower what you already have. In other words its easier to make small adjustments. Using brushes also has the advantage of giving you an idea of how much (or rather little) paint you need to take to change the colour, which should in the future help you if you go back to using a palette knife.

[@GalleryBry]

michael mc ewan it’s all personal preference. Mixing with brushes can give you more control if that’s is what you are used to but it can wear your brushes faster. A knife can let you mix and move pools of color around on your palette easily if you want to premix all you colors and organize them but takes more practice to get precise mixtures. I use both. Try it and see what you like best.

[@michaelmcewan432]

@@GalleryBry thank you so much 😁

[@bettychilldres9860]

Just a question... as I noticed that you didn't bother "finishing" the painting at the bottom edges... why is it that some really good professional painters NEVER take the time to FINISH their paintings usually on the outer edges?

[@sivadmg]

Why use a brown pallette? Why not use a white or black or grey pallette?

[@ronnieboomboom2040]

Sympa pour les Français...

[@xkallari4765]

My inmature brain makes this part of the video 8:48 like if the brush its talking XDD

[@jybuys]

Cudder ?

[@shreyasshankar4109]

You know language better than him? Congrats. He can paint things that will live on more than you ever will. Cheers.

[@damemarthafalker6738]

Who's the subject? She's gorgeous! (I felt like I was falling in love.)

[@kaic9712]

If you look like your profile picture I’m sorry for you

[@DecinergyAt]

👍🏻☺️ *TOP!* 😉✌🏻🇪🇺

[@badmanbegins1]

At 7:30 Add a cooler .....and you picked up warm....ie., red :)

[@2gooddrifters]

There are warm reds and cool reds. It depends if it leans towards orange or purple.

[@AlejandraRafa]

He didn't say that you add a cooler color... he said that you may still see a trace of the color that was too cool on the canvas (the color he removed), so you need to warm it a little bit.

[@jedimasterham2]

Well that's your problem. You're using cutters not colors. Only kidding. Very informative video.

[@amothergoddess2774]

ITS NOT MIXING, MY PAINT SUDDENLY TURN OUT DULL, I DON'T KNOW WHATS GOING ON, WAS OK B4!

[@monicarosa1301]

The face is perfect...but I noticed the fingers are really weird and long and too skinny..I wish I could pant like this though!

[@musthavechannel5262]

Once you see her fingers you can't unsee them.

[@jeannerenaud2357]

In french, please.

[@HeiderosesPhotograph]

WHY ARE THERE NO HIGHLIGHTS IN HER EYES ?...THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT.

[@rosered103]

Why are you yelling. We are not hard of hearing because we are sitting right next to you. Some artist's, don't put highlights in eyes, and some don't even put pupils in the eye and then some artist's do the whole route of the pink into the corner of the eye by the nose. Depends on the artist. Also I myself was wondering why her earring was way to the right with no hole showing where the earring goes into the ear.

[@tumblingrosesstudio]

@@rosered103 some piercings are not centred- various places do it various ways