The BEST Way To Learn Colour Mixing.

For my Essentials of Colour Course visit:
/ simplifydrawingandpain...
In this oil painting tutorial, portrait artist Alex Tzavaras shows you the best way to learn Colour mixing for begginers.
Colour mixing is one of the most challenging things about oil painting for beginners. There are an infinite variety of colours in nature. Not only that, when you go to any art store there are so many pigments to choose from. To help us make sense of all this, we have numerous colour theories. One of the most comprehansive is the Munsell Colour System, created by the artist Aflred Henry Munsell.
Munsell specified three properties of colour, HUE, VALUE and CHROMA. In this portrait painting tutorial, Alex show you how to paint a portrait using a limited palette constisting of Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon, Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue. Using a palette made up of more intense or chromatic versions of the three primary colours is the best ways for beginners to understand these three principles of HUE, VALUE and CHROMA
Alex Tzavaras is a contemporary realist artist offering portrait painting and alla prima oil painting tutorials. Alex teaches the traditional painting techniques artists used to draw and paint from life up until the start of the 20th century.
Connect with Alex:
/ alex_tzavaras
alextzavaras.com

[@ricebug0]

The best painting channel in tube!!🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much!

[@raksharky]

That's true

[@ellengarcia4041]

These METHODS were what we were taught at school in the seventies!!!!

[@tomhighsmith]

70 AD

[@paulkefalas663]

Truly the best painting teacher on youtube.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Paul!

[@TheLindosguy]

Excellent video tutorial. Thank you for simplifying a complicated subject.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lydiadeetzz999]

100% the best channel on here, the demos help so much to see your process! So good at really simplifying all the jargon around oil painting, thank you :)

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Lydia!

[@ssstults999]

So awesome!!! Thank you for sharing

[@franciscoarcegurza6474]

I agree,the best channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for simplifying complicated things.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Frances! Glad you think so.

[@amylincolnrealagebeauty]

Absolutely phenomenal demonstration! Beautiful painting.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Amy!

[@allehstephen9566]

You are the best sir

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you!

[@Ztandard32]

Thanks that was very helpful. The process is always easier to follow when the result looks so good.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much! Glad it was helpful.

[@kajwilstorp1483]

i have try mix this color now its really nice thanks alex

[@LouisAmateurArt]

Thank you Alex! Incredibly interesting and useful as ever!!

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Louis! Glad you think so.

[@jamiewashere]

So good Alex! Thanks for sharing your expertise, I've learned so much from your videos.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Jamie! Glad they're helpful.

[@thisSaint]

the greatest painting instruction of all time

[@SirPrancelot1]

Excellent. Thanks.

[@jonroads8281]

Absolutely the best video on this topic around. Your channel is absolutely without equal mate 👍👍👍👍

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Jon!

[@inkonmyhands]

I love the final result! There's something very captivating about it.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you!

[@annstuart8886]

Thanks so much. I love your videos!

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you ver much Ann!

[@julielarge6120]

I'll never remember all of that.

[@incognito3620]

You won’t have to remember this if you paint flesh. You need red , yellow and blue. Black (or raw umber) and white. THATS IT. DONT GET CONFUSED. He is giving you twenty years of study. No one will remember all this.

[@sannefridolin]

One thing on most youtube videos that makes them difficult to digest is, that the authors cut out any pause in the narration, so that the overall effect is one of a constant stream of words, with no punctuation. I don't know why they do that. It would be easier to understand a complicated subject, if it was told with the natural flow of sentences preserved.

[@EvanDahill]

Take notes! Pause video. Jeez.

[@jcpmac1]

Enormously helpful. Thank you.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful.

[@andyquinn1125]

Once again, an excellent lesson Alex.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Andy! Glad you think so.

[@erinbumble6049]

thank you Alex :)

[@RakuRadio]

Excellent tutorial. I will try this palette!

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you! It can be quite challenging sometimes, but I definitely reckon it's the best way to learn how mixing paint works.

[@jacobminor1122]

Thank you for the new video! I'm a big fan of your channel. This portrait tutorial was fantastic! I struggle with color mixing flesh tones and this was extremely helpful.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Jacob! Glad it was helpful.

[@GKganesan]

Outstanding

[@michaeljohnangel6359]

Bravo, mæstro!!! An excellent demo. Thanks!

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Paulus!

[@alliet808]

Loved this video 🩷

[@bahumdinger8361]

Thank you

[@suzanneaitken5939]

Fantastic, as always

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Suzanne!

[@PappuDas-fq1ll]

Again extremely brilliant video.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you! Glad you think so

[@user-fr8mf6ed2y]

Thank you very much. Very Informative. Very useful tips

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Glad this was helpful!

[@stefanvillette9830]

👏👏👏As usual, top lecture and cool video!👍

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Stefan!

[@praneetakki]

Great tutorial thank you so much

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kathleenmcneil3032]

You are a great artist x

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Kathleen!

[@fayee8986]

Really enjoyed your teaching techniques ,keep them coming. from America...❤.ty

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you! Will do!

[@zahidulhaq7047]

Great❤

[@avdheshkumar1712]

Your videos are great it really helps ❤❤❤

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much!

[@santone1849]

Brilliant 👋👋👋

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you!

[@kajwilstorp1483]

good video alex like it a lot

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you!

[@patriciozazzini8302]

Nice I 've been waiting for a new video.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Patricio!

[@peteradshead6566]

Alex, I don't paint nearly enough to be any good but your superbly presented videos are for me the best encouragement to be found on KZbin, thank you. Please keep up the good work. One question though, at one point in this video you say that adding white to neat ultramarine from the tube increases its intensity, but that statement seems to me to be incompatible with the situation, if that is taken to the extreme, when intensity will obviously be reduced if so much white has been added that there is no chroma or intensity left. As I understand it just because pure ultramarine has a very dark tone does not mean it has low intensity, it is just difficult for us to perceive that intensity.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

That's very a good question. Generally, adding white will cause a colour to loose its intensity. But with some dark transparent pigments, like ultramarine, or alizarin when you add a little white it becomes a much brighter colour. In its pure form ultramarine is intense, but only in relation to other dark mixtures. It's very dark so you might use it to add more intense notes to really dark shadows.

[@svenfigenschou7345]

very good Alex :)

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Svan! Glad you like it.

[@shirleyhiggins3395]

The way I found most useful was to take the three primaries and white, and I also added burnt umber to help with the darks, and I chose a colour chart from one of the companies and spent an afternoon mixing colours to match the chart. It was a real eye opener how many colours I could make and it was a great experience which made me feel more confident in colour mixing. I still have the swatches I made for reference with notes of the colours used in order of the quantity of colour needed.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Mixing colour charts is definitely a very useful exercise, but I reckon I learned more about intensity and matching the relationships between different colours by using combinations of the 3 primaries?

[@maurizioliberato]

Fantastic demo and super clear explanation about colours as always! I’m learning so much watching your channel! Question, what colours brand do you use? They seem so fluid and buttery, or do you just use more?

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you Maurizio! I mainly use Michael Harding, as it's the most widely available professional quality brand here in the UK. But I also mix plenty of paint in order to acheive that consistency.

[@maurizioliberato]

@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting thank you Alex, I use Michael Hardings too mostly. I need not to be afraid to mix bigger piles then 😀

[@majdrup]

Alex, great video. Is was really cool to see a palette like a more chromativ version of the Zorn palette. What are those lighter handled brushes you're using? I'm currently using badger brushes for the features, but I'm curious.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you! They're cheap hog brushes from Rosemary and co.

[@majdrup]

@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting thanks for the answer.

[@PavlvsXavier]

Thoroughly enjoyed your video. Could you share where you get your plaster casts? Decent ones seem impossible to locate anywhere in the UK via Google. Thanks!

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

I only have a couple of casts, one I found in an antique shop here in the UK (the bust of Joan of Arc). I have a Torso that a sculpture friend made for me from a mould they already had and another Torso from a company in the EU, www.decorarconarte.com though they have become more expensive since Brexit.

[@StephenThorley]

This might be the easiest to understand explanation I've seen yet, very useful thankyou. Do you always paint alla prima?

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much Stephen! Yes I do. Though that doesn't mean I always finish a painting in one day. Rather it means in one process, starting by blocking in the larger shapes then refining and eventually adding details. With a larger painting you can refining the whole thing in one go but you work a section at a time. Even so, you continually have to keep reassing each section and comparing with the whole, so they may need repainting. I will have to make a video about the process of doing a longer painting at some point?

[@eddmaster9]

Pep Guardiola with the painting lessons ❤️

[@MrSilva960]

Experience is also important, made color chart, sometimes is not enough, made a note-color sketch, for those in advanced path .

[@handmadeindustrial]

I tried explaining color value and temperature to my 5th graders last week. I got through to many of them luckily. But some put up a fight. We practiced squinting until the colors became indistinguishable and then opened them for a big surprise.

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Well done!

[@jackhammer8364]

Beutiful

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you!

[@dkern-kb6sy]

The thing is, flesh is not always the obvious colors of flesh. But you have to look harder to see the cobalt blue or the cadmium or green in the overall painting....sometimes blue or cadmium red, whatever, used as flesh, will set the flesh colors off and stand out like magic realism....

[@pankajbarikudas]

How to choose different size of brush and shape for acrylic or oil work . Like what you use in your painting.

[@_MIXEDMEDIA]

your videos are very helpfull as always thank you Alex ✌️✌️ i am new to the art world an i always seek others experience to take a step to become a full time artist can you make how to paint transition between color and value using brush strokes only without blending and the business part of art and your plan and strategy to make a leaving out of your art can you help please 🙏🙏

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Thank you very much! Here is a video I made about painting edges in which I talk about blendig etc. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZ6cmXZ9jpuebM0 I'm probably not the best person to ask about career developement as an artist. I'm going to be honest, you need a f*ck of a lot of determination, because making a living from your art can be incredibly difficult. The only advice I can really give is keep painting and improving, enter your work into competitions, find ways to show your work and meet people, in person and online. Opportunities will come. If anything it has become easier to reach an audience in recent years because social media, so we're not so reliant on galleries anymore.

[@_MIXEDMEDIA]

@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting thank you very much 👍👍 can you make the business and marketing part of art ?????? please

[@alcyonecrucis]

Just white red ochre and umber is good enough

[@Lppt87]

Monsol color theory. Hue, value, chroma. Hues : purple, red, yellow, blue, green. 5 total. Value: black (darkest) white (lightest) Chroma: the strength or purity of the color. Other words: intensity, saturation. A color is more chromatic the further away is from grey. Exercise to learn about mixing colors and chroma. Work with a limited paletted of really intense colors: Yellow : cadmium lemon. Red: Azarim crimsom . Blue: ultramarine blue. White: titanium white. Cadmiun red is another red color that is warm, but to make it cooler you would need to use blue or white, and that would desaturated it. But most colors in nature are desaturated, like the lemon.

[@kajwilstorp1483]

what is your favorit pallett zorn or this one in demo

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

I find this palette can be quite challenging, but it is a great learning tool. The zorn palette makes it a lot easier for mixing flesh tones, though it is quite limited for mixing darker colours, so I like to include Ultramarine, Alizarine and Transparent oxide red.

[@kajwilstorp1483]

i like also ultra marine transsparent oxide red and white love it thanks to you its so nice for flesh tones @@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting

[@sujanithtottempudi2991]

🙏🙏

[@frankderuyck6268]

I find that the Zorn palette is better for making copies of 17th century paintings of the like of Velasquez Do you agree?

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

I agree.17th century painters didn't have acces to cadmiums etc. they would have had vermilion and more nuetral earth pigments so probably quite similar to the Zorn palette. The Zorn palett makes it much easier for mixing flesh colours i.e. portraits and figures, but it's not so good for mixing brighter colours. This palette allows you to mix a much wider array of colours, but its harder to mix greys and neutrals.

[@frankderuyck6268]

Thanks Alex. You're the best!

[@kennethaquino8352]

some artist add burnt umber to make blacks

[@Claes-AkeSchlonzig]

Is Alizarin Crimsom fully Lightfast?

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Supposedly not, but Michael Harding which is the brand that I use claims that his is ok? There are more permanent versions available though, like Alizarin Claret by Michael Harding or Permanent Alizarin by Winsor and Newton?

[@Claes-AkeSchlonzig]

Is it the Quinacridone pigment a good replacement?

[@seanfaherty]

Holy shit That's the pallet I use. I thought it was just childish colour preference. I feel a little better about that now

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

I find It quite tough for doing flesh, but for a limited palette it enables you to mix a much wider most colours.

[@GnaReffotsirk]

My regards to Kristine/Christine.

[@dharmeshamrathlal3752]

Christine's neck is probably still sore from that angle

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

Yeah, she worked hard for this one.

[@kailyn.bw.]

Super helpful!! I wish it were a little calmer in the voiceover, I feel like I’m being talked at by someone who’s stressed out. The content is so great though. Thanks for helping me wrap my brain around this!!

[@averagepainter]

you mean gradation when you say „gradiation“, don‘t you?

[@craigbroussard1010]

if you cam speek propor english;;;

[@kajwilstorp1483]

where did anders zorn use cadmium yellow for and must ask can i be your friend on facebook

[@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting]

The Zorn palette is a different limited palette for the one I use in this video. It doesn't use Cadmium, it uses Yellow ochre instead. Though is still uses version of the three primaries red, yellow and blue. Cadmium Red light or Vermilion, Yellow ochre and Ivory black.

[@kajwilstorp1483]

i like this limitited version for portrait @@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting