The ONLY COLORS You'll Need to Mix Anything

[@AMTunLimited]

For a little bit behind the science: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow are what happens when you remove Red, Blue, and Green (the three colors your eyes truly sense) from White. Pigments and media *absorb* light, so it's like playing with RGB sliders in reverse, starting with all light and removing the colors you don't need

[@pootlingalong8928]

Thank you for this demonstration. I’m just a beginner and I wanted to simplify things and start with just the 3 primaries and learn how to mix colours. I have an 8 well palette so will have 2 x each of the primaries with a couple of wells spare for when I have more experience and want to add 2 more colours.

[@alisonhendry2928]

Yay! Besides being so upbeat and fun every time I watch, you made my morning! Just taught the split primary palette to my beginners and the cool colours were these ( except I chose Phthalo blue green shade and am going to see if it makes much difference and play in studio today…) fabulous to see it spelled out so clearly JUST how few colours we really need. I have known About CMY from printing and past lessons taught to me, but you really connected with my brain today. I do have to add that I laughed when I saw your palette. Ahhh Liron! Clean it!!! You said yellow I said ?where? It’s all grey!! 😂 it was funny. Love your channel!!! Always informative. Thank you!

[@amycortez3289]

I just discovered Liron two days ago and I've laughed at his palette every lesson. I keep telling myself if I let mine get messy, maybe my paintings will turn out better!!! Lol

[@BornAgainFarmGirl]

This is video is a masterful in my opinion, the most practical teacher is the most valuable one of all and that my friend is you Liron yanil 😎‼️

[@minakshi005]

Awesome 👍

[@JayNathanWatercolor]

Great video Liron. I had a go at this a few months back and I think I remember using PB15:3, PR122 and PY3. I had great fun mixing my usual earth colors from these 3 paints. It's surprising how much you can get from just 3 pigments and a black. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@naturesketches126]

Going on my 3rd year using only this combination + burnt sienna (for convenience in the field). Learned a ton about color mixing and color harmony from this experience. Great advice in this video 👍Thank you!

[@gitikaasiwal6746]

I do not have the colours you mentioned. So I gave it a try using Lemon yellow, Prussian blue, Crimson lake and I was astonished. Even my colours produced a very wide variety of mixes, close to yours. Thank you Liron. This is a wonderful tutorial. God bless you 🙏

[@alisonhendry2928]

Ooo those would be really lovely as a triad...

[@iadenicole931]

If you look at birds, fish, and insects, well, many of them have very bright punchy colours. Some are even fluorescent!

[@cherigreen4471]

What a great video! So helpful!

[@crystalross2284]

A good CMY dupp if you want to mix what your printer or Adobe program uses. At least in Daniel Smith, Phthalo Blue Turquoise, Quin Red (Rose, Lilac, or Magenta-easier to find), and Lemon yellow. Know that CMY makes great greens. RBY makes great oranges. And both make horrid purples which is why split-primary palettes are popular.

[@aves6739]

Prussian blue and magenta makes quite vibrant purples from my experience.

[@nikahadasart3207]

Thnank you very much for a lesson, its so useful!! you share very professionals tips, thank you!

[@shuaniri]

I see this set of colors more like a compromise between warm primary colors and a true primary triad. Let me clarify what I mean by “true primary “. Just this weekend I did my own research and I came up with the following combo: PY175, PR122 and PB16 I calculated mathematically via hue angles: the last yellow before green, the last red before violet. And I found the phthalo turquoise exactly halfway between those two on the color wheel. My tests show super-brilliant mixes, especially in the violets and greens.

[@alisonhendry2928]

And now you will entice me to go down THIs rabbit hole... thanks. Going to be fun! PB 16... definitely don’t have that one..

[@gusefulbeauty]

Thank you for this great video!

[@rachelscottart6908]

There's a Scottish artist, Scott Naismith, who uses the printer's primaries too. I come from an art background & then trained & worked in graphic design - I've now reverted to painting, which I love :D - so I can see the benefit of clean colours. I wonder if Alizarin crimson will work or Permanent Rose instead of Magenta?

[@suzisandpiper]

Permanent Rose is the PV19 Winsor & Newton recommend for this limited palette together with PY 175 & phthalocyanine blue red shade, which is close to the 15:6 he is using here. It’s a great starting point. Rose together with transparent yellow and aqua green also produces a stunning set of mixes. But These are all staining colours so there’s some merit having recourse to other pigments depending on the style of painting you are doing.

[@berolinastrassmann]

Great reminder that you can do so much with just a few colours. This is my standard "test trio" when I try a new brand. I add burnt sienna to produce darker hues and neutrals. Fantastic video, thanks a lot!

[@artonthecreek]

Hmmm. Maybe this will improve my ability to achieve accurate skin tone. I’ve been using ultramarine blue, bismuth yellow and pyrolle scarlet. I don’t know I why I didn’t think to try another primary group!😂 thank you🙏🏻

[@artgoat2400]

The real colors! Thank you. In our schools they teaches the old red, blue, yellow 🙈… I hate it.

[@shuaniri]

It really kills all the fun in color mixing. The only brilliant outcome is the orange, but… who likes orange?

[@-Wellworks-]

Cool it helped me mix and blend better even though I’m ten. Great job

[@elainevechorik2171]

In your basic color, have you tried Daniel Smith transparent yellow?

[@LironYan]

Hmmm, I don't believe I have! Did you try it? Is it good?

[@elainevechorik2171]

@@LironYan I think it's awesome, but I'm new to watercolor since January 1922. Transparent even when very strong mix.

[@dsmith9572]

Ultramarine blue, quinacridone red, any yellow. Quin rose has too much blue in it to mix a vibrant orange. Phthalo blue has too much yellow to mix deep violets. The yellow isn't as critical.

[@lhemz2366]

I agree with Yellow Lemon and Quinacridone Rose. But Manganese Blue is the cleanest & closest match to Cyan, which I hunted since the 90s (Qor, Holbein) Phthalo Blue green shade will give deeper dark tones, but Manganese Blue will give vivid greens aqua, violet and purples.

[@alisonhendry2928]

LOVE managanese blue hue! My go to for skies as cerulean just too chalky. But can you get a deep dark black?

[@lhemz2366]

@@alisonhendry2928 The CMYK color model needs black. But many don't like to use black. I like Peach Black of Holbein the most. For deeper tones i like Marine Blue, Quinacridone Magenta and Quinacridone Gold.

[@angelicamartacahyaningtyas9083]

@@lhemz2366 True CMY doesn't need black. CMYK uses black ink for shorcut; rather than soaking three inks to a paper and waste expensive color ink (and the paper gets horribly wet and weak), the printer uses black ink to make it cheaper and faster in printing. Single black ink is also capable of printing small detail accurately, while layering 3 inks often need fine adjustment in printing registration to avoid blurring. FYI, cyan ink in printer mostly use PB15

[@lhemz2366]

@@angelicamartacahyaningtyas9083 Theoretical/mathematical CMY as used in early graphics programming may not need black. But if we are talking about commercial press and desktop inkjet printer, Black is important. Uncoated paper can only accept 280% to 300% ink limit, even if you use 100% of each in CMY you will only get a very dark gray. While coated paper can go as high as 320% or 350% in some European printing standards/profile (FOGRA). That's why there is something called *rich black* a combination of CMYK (maximizing the ink limit on the paper without buckling or running) so you can get darker or intense black. Separations/registration black which is 400% (100% of each) is darker but is only used on thin lines outside the page layout, for crop/trim/cutting marks and bleed marks. It's true that black is used for faster and more detailed blacks. Rarely, some use double pass for black ink(treating it as a spot color) to make it darker in illustrative designs. Intentional overprinting can also enhance black. But nobody would gamble with CMY only in photographic projects. But since *Liron is about watercolor* , I can say that i was disappointed with the CMY path when I started because I love bright colors that CMY hadn't given me. I liked cobalt turquose light, pyrolle red, ultramarine blue, opera pink, bright violets (no issue with lightfastness, even with neons. I'm creating watercolor for myself, not my 10th generation descendants) I started my journey in CMY with 3 colors from CaranDache Prismalo. After decades, i realized that the way to go is to find the most saturated transparent watercolor version of CMY and the brightest watercolor paper. Transparent pigments can go intensely pure and dark with glazing, so I won't have to used Holbein Peach Black. And so i came up with light set and the dark set above. I even considered the Pantone×Acrylic path, but it's too expensive for me.

[@juliepaul9563]

@Lhemz I agree that Manganese blue is closest to a Cyan. That said, you cannot get a deep masstone with Manganese blue hue, since it was made to imitate the genuine Manganese PB33, (gorgeous, but extremely granulating). Holbein makes a Peacock blue, PB15 and PG7, that dilutes to a dead match for PB33 without the granulation and with a deeper masstone. It's a bit greener than a Thalo GS. A great mixer, it's my go to Cyan.

[@lizadivine3785]

Liron could you please advise on affordable brushes? Everything I have bought so far is really disappointing to include a Windsor newton that immediately lost its point. Thanks!

[@WatercolourMentor]

Great video Liron! It's amazing how few colours you need to get started.

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

Phthalo blue red ahade doesn't produce the brightness of the green shades in my plein air landscapes .I usually used green shade PB 15:3...which is closer to any Cian I own. But then again I guess I come from botanical approach to painting...John Muir Laws...

[@colleenmcchesney1482]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful informational video with us.

[@madhursrivastav]

What about cadmium Yellow, cobalt blue & light red or vermillion?

[@DS40764]

What about cobalt, alizarin crimson and lemon yellow? I like phalo Blue, but the cheaper paints tend to be too concentrated in the phalo blue

[@karendirmish2696]

Interesting, I’m always trying to learn to use color without having many many brands! It was important to hear the importance of using the 3 primary colors, I need to love my pallet! Thanks 🙏 Karen Dirmish

[@workforcemillionaire7210]

Liron, I've begun mixing my browns, shade colors and darks, and I'm having trouble creating a saturated black. It always dulls down when it dries. What do you recommend? Multiple washes?

[@LironYan]

Hmmm, this could be related to the brand of paint you use, or you possibly don't mix a strong enough of a mixture. You'll see in the upcoming bees video - You have to use VERY STRONG paint to get it to dry close to black. One suggestion - try a convenience black like Neutral tint, and try using it freshly squeezed out the tube (if it did dry, try really taking the time to re--wet it). Hope this helps 🙏😊

[@workforcemillionaire7210]

@@LironYan thank you! I will get it thicker! I'm using mostly W&N, some MGraham and some Daniel Smith. And I have most of the Schmincke supergranulating paints, would love to see a tutorial on how to use one to best advantage. Lisa

[@ytreza9894]

Finally someone talking about true primary colors 😄 I also find these pigments to be the most versatile (disregarding the ones with low lightfastness such as opera rose or the ones granulating such as manganese blue hue) or the opaque (such as cobalt turquoise). French ultramarine is too saturated to be obtained with phtalo blue (which is on the green side of the wheel). Better to have it as a 4th tube. Mixed with PV19 it leads to really great violets, almost as great as the ones obtained with opera rose. On the other hand it's impossible to get nicely saturated violets (e.g. for flowers) using only phtalo blue and PV19: phtalo is too greenish and PV19 too redish. These 4 colours (yours + ultramarine) can reproduce almost all the colour wheel accurately. Except proper cyan, of course. A nice exercise is to print an ideal, accurate, colour wheel, and try to reproduce it with the 3 or 4 colours. Now you need to explain why blue and red are actually SECONDARY colours, strictly speaking! 😉

[@lorriewatson7423]

It's almost hiking season, I was wondering what the best 3-4 color pallet would be most effective; I live in a heavily forested area in North Eastern US?

[@Mossy_Hollow]

some of the peeps above mentioned using this same CMY and adding a burnt sienna for more range in neutrals; i think this may be your ticket to a quick woodsy sketch palette too!

[@stinar37]

OMG. This is the best video ever!!!!! Ty!!!!

[@debbiepayne903]

Thank you, I tend to want every premixed color out there and really need to work on mixes and understanding them! Great video

[@zerocalvin]

personally, my to go CMY selection would be Manganese Blue Hue, Quinacridone Red (PR209) and Imidazolone Yellow (PY154), however if you dont care about light fastness, the perfect magenta to use would be Opera Rose, there is no other magenta that would come even close to rival Opera Rose... the key to make CMY truly works, is to find the highest chroma of each primary that you can. and best thing about using such an extreme limited palette is color mixing, you are going to do so much color mixing practice when painting with this limited palette to the point it's going to be automatic for you after a while.

[@kizzykat9120]

When you were talking about making a gray you started with a little blue and then you said to add a little warmth and then some lemon yellow. But I didn't get what color was 'a little warmth." The quin rose?

[@LironYan]

Yes! It was the Quinacridone Rose (:

[@mickeyroth1454]

Thank you! I've been struggling with the RBY vs CMY vs Split Primary question for awhile.

[@reallifeistoflat]

CMY gives the largest single gamut range for 3 colours. RBY will always be slightly worse. split primary, with good selections will give a larger gamut but it requires the user to both carry and buy more paints as well as know when and how to best use them. it's the best but not the easiest.

[@PaulaBean]

Amanda Wiley did a series of videos about this subject. She calls it the 'Perfect Trio'. However, she chose Indian Yellow instead of Lemon Yellow.

[@ursulastaempfli759]

Turquoise can't be mixed and also a nice clear purple. These colours need to be purchased on top of the three primary colours. Turqoise with lemon yellow or indian yellow gives some very bright greens.

[@clarestokolosa]

do you have a video that focuses on mixing browns with primaries?

[@stinar37]

Liron, have you done a video explaining why more than 3 colors is not good, and if you have not, would you please consider doing one 🙏😄

[@jennw6809]

Just a clarification, PV 19 Quin Violet might not work well in this trio, but any Quin Rose or Red PV 19 should work great! (Although I actually now want to try using Quin Violet in a trio and see what happens)

[@agold1702]

Thank you so much. Very clear and informative.

[@sue6002]

I am a great fan of a limited palette and I also want to be mixing on the paper. Can both be done?

[@DwayneHamiltonArtist]

First comment. 😁😁😁🎨

[@albertomedina8589]

Good video. I'll try those colours. What do you think about using cobalt blue, alizarin crimson and a medium cadmium yellow?

[@jennw6809]

I bet you would get a lot of nice mixes with that as well, although secondarys will probably not be quite as bright. I love to mix up triads in my mixing sketchbook to compare-- I will have to try that triad you suggest!

[@DwayneHamiltonArtist]

Amazing and informative. Geart video

[@Coco-ne5ix]

You mentioned split primaries. Would that be a warm and a cool version of each of the three primaries? If so, which do you recommend?

[@gitikaasiwal6746]

Try Daniel Smith set of 6 primaries. You won't be disappointed.

[@ralphcrosby9622]

Thank you

[@josephprimavera2545]

Very helpful!

[@stevesidare2493]

You might get a better red by using Winsor Yellow or Primary Yellow, etc. I think Lemon has a slight greenish hue in it and tends to be semi-opaque.

[@jennw6809]

Well if he'd rinsed the blue out of his brush it'd have been better LOL :-)

[@crystalross2284]

Lemon yellow is transparent in Daniel Smith.

[@stevesidare2493]

@@crystalross2284 Interesting. I haven't tried it yet.

[@juliepaul9563]

Hansa yellow light (PY3) is a very transparent cool yellow. Works great as a primary in CYM.

[@shirleyupvall9360]

Your palette is only black. See ya

[@LironYan]

😂

[@vlslatha]

Why mix our own colours? When 100s of shades are available?

[@BreMue]

Saves you money instead of having to buy a full pan/palette for, say, 1 accent color in a work

[@alinafridberg657]

And limiting your palette to fewer colors created a nice harmony in the painting.

[@juliepaul9563]

And by learning to mix, you can turn a palette of 12 colors into millions of subtle variations. Watercolors are made to be mixed!

[@alext8828]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan