#ultramarine blue is better than phthalo blue green for that! it's got green in the name

[madseance]

I just want to point out that OP is not 100% wrong. But this isn't about which colours are the "real" primaries; it's about which ones are the best primaries to mix to get certain secondaries, and why.

The primary colours are red, yellow, and blue. If you're going to mix your own secondaries, you will need some sort of red, yellow, and blue to work with. But there are a lot of colors that are considered red, and a lot of different pigments that make all those reds. Some produce warm, opaque reds like Cadmium Red. Others produce cool, transparent reds like Quinacridone Rose. Cyan/magenta/yellow is still a red/yellow/blue primary set!

Let's look at OP’s colour lists:

Cadmium Red: Very slightly orangey red, opaque.

Quinacridone Rose: Slightly purplish red, transparent.

Lemon Yellow: Slightly greenish yellow, semi-transparent.

Hansa Yellow: Very slightly greenish yellow, semi-transparent.

Ultramarine Blue: Very slightly purplish blue, transparent.

Phthalo Blue Green: Slightly greenish blue, transparent.

All of these are valid colours to use as your primaries when painting! It all depends on what you’re going for. If you want more violet tones, Quinacridone Rose and Ultramarine Blue are both nudged slightly towards purple. And if you’re trying to make a vivid purple, they’re way better choices than Cadmium Red + Phthalo Blue. Those two are nudged towards yellow—which is the opposite of the direction you want to go. You’ll get a darker, murkier purple instead, for the same reason that straight up mixing yellow + purple gets you a muddy brown. Complementary colours (the ones directly opposite each other) do that in paint mixing; you get the same effect with red + green, or blue + orange. Hansa Yellow will be a little better at making orange than Lemon Yellow will, because it's got less of a bluish tinge to fight against the orange.

You’ll also get muddier, less vibrant colours from mixing more opaque paints. This is another reason the transparent Quinacriodone Rose is better than an opaque red for making purples that really pop. You’re already going to have to contend with how quickly blues darken the mix; you don’t need the opaqueness sucking out the vibrance too.

But sometimes you want less saturated colours. Or warmer/cooler colours. It all depends on what you're going for. Luckily, you don't actually have to pick ONE red and ONE yellow and ONE blue to use forever! That's not what primaries are about! You can use a different red to make purple than you use to make orange! The police can't stop you!

[fractal-patterns]

When you want the results faster

I was never trained in painting, but I love painting. I just hate that they always turn bland or straight up ugly. But I never studied how to paint. I just like the thought that whenever I paint (which is only twice a year) it should turn out good, and when they don't, my mood turn sour.

Somehow I got myself a huge board canvas and cut it into tiny pieces. My goal is to make a beautiful canvas photo album. I started with a reference photo of a fabric. I was frustrated the entire time doing it because I don't know color theories, or blending techniques, or the fact that acrylic dries too fast so it uses a layering technique. And worse, the reference photo has two different colored light sources. It was hard.

I was mad, angry at myself, complaining all the time. Yet I persist. It was just a mere 15x7cm canvas anyway. I should be able to finish it within an hour.

After three hours, I was done with the painting. It didn't turn out exactly like the photo (also because my linearting sucks haha) but it is finished! The silhouette is there, the colors look nice, it's not the best of the generation but it's the best of myself. I'm proud of it.

In theee hours of frustration and messy whining, I learned the basics of color theory (I was searching as I do the project), layering of colors, techniques to not waste the fast-drying acrylics on the palette, and I even developed an efficient workspace organization to make it easier for me to work. I learned the names of colors, too! Like ultramarine blue, phthalo blue and green, burnt sienna, burnt umber, titanium white, etc.

Funny how doing one realistic photo reference forced me to learn as much as I can for 3 hours. The thing is, I did something and I learned something, while suffering the entire time, but I went through it. Now I am braver to suffer through to a process, because I know I will learn more. In the next page after that, I was still struggling, but much lesser than before. I used my learnings from the past to acquire new learnings in the present.

In our journey to self-improvement, there are moments in which we think finishing a book will improve us drastically already, so we slow down and not read the book at all. We think we can get results by watching life guru videos and sharing these findings to others as if we have lived the lifestyle our entire lives, or worse, let it shower our ego to the point that we think we are already better than others so we don't need much work at all. Sometimes, I even think the term "self-improvement" has become capitalized so much that life gurus want us to hate ourselves so we can purchase their expensive 'online courses' and books. For years I have bought these books, only to learn more from a novel and its plethora of fanfictions. We like shortcuts from materials, but we do not know that a long journey is the best material.

Expose yourself to a learning process, and BE AWARE that it is a learning process, and not a final output. You are allowed to make mistakes, and in every mistake, take out the lesson, not the dread. Do not be afraid to repeat the same learning experience over again, heck maybe it could be a lifestyle, who knows. But go on a journey. Just go. Some would have a literal journey, like going to another country and learning the trade of tourism and absorbing other cultures. Some would go on a spiritual journey by enrolling in a monastery or entering seclusion. Some would wish to learn compassion, so it's better to practice it by volunteering and meeting more people to share your compassion with than staying at home reading the bible. Some would start small by having a weekend off in another island/state. The thing is, go on a journey. Your emotions will be exposed, your patience will be tested, your talents will be used, and your skills will be developed.

Just go on a journey.

Be patient on how long you need to do this journey.

Don't rush improvement while only sitting. Don't expect to always do it perfectly the first time.

[chisketches]

Watercolor tools & suggestions

So I’ve been asked by a few people what I use for my watercolor pieces and advice. I’m not honestly sure that I’m the best person to ask for advice or anything as I’m still very much a novice, but I’ll give it a shot at least.

First off, I’m going to post some info on the palettes I’ve got and go into a little bit of a rundown on what they’re like. I do want to say that I’ve collected these over years, so this isn’t something I run out and bought all over night or that anyone else should go out and buy so much. I went way overboard and I think I have a watercolor addiction, haha. I just really like the medium, okay. Shhh....

1) Sonnet These are a Russian brand of student grade watercolors that are just amazing. I managed to get a 24 set off eBay for around $20 (USD). They’re vibrant and made with honey, I believe, so they always stay slightly bit tacky to the touch. This makes it easier to reactivate them, but sometimes the colors can definitely be a bit overwhelming if you’re going for a muted style. Which, admittedly, I tend to do. To be honest, I think most anyone could also get by with the 16 color set very easily. Limited palettes are much easier to work with, especially for a beginner, but I’ll get into that later.

Anyway, they’re a wonderful brand, but I was never able to find any sort of pigment info on them. I know there are a few colors that aren’t very light fast, but I was told that the colors are non-toxic by the dealer. It’s important to keep in mind if you have kids or pets around... or if you’re just particularly clumsy and end up getting paint on you/in your mouth accidentally.

2) Daniel Smith These are my absolute babies and I tend to reserve them only for work I either intend to give away or for pieces that I intend to display/sell, whatever. They’re a fine quality professional brand of watercolor with tubes ranging from $5-16 and sets anywhere from $40-60. I have about 31 tubes that I’ve picked up over the course of quite a while, to be honest. But it is a bit more cost effective to get the primary set on Amazon or eBay and just mix the majority of colors. The best thing about professional watercolors? A little goes a lot further since they’re richer pigments and less filler than student grade and tend to have an amazing vibrancy to them.

One thing to keep in mind, or at least for me, is that there are some pigments that are legitimately more toxic than the student ranges. Cadmiums tend to be the worse, and I go out of my way to avoid those. As a matter of fact, I make sure all the colors I have are certified AP Non-Toxic where I can and steer clear of CL warnings. It’s probably paranoid on my part, but I have dogs and I am extraordinarily clumsy and end up covered in paint more often than not, haha. The colors I avoid are cobalts, cadmiums, and anything with nickel in it. But again, these are just personal choices. I’m sure there’s really very minor risk if you use these colors responsibly. I just personally never cared for how opaque cadmiums can be or the hue of cobalt blue anyway, so it’s not a bad thing to cut these out.

For those curious, these are the colors I have in this set: Hansa Yellow Light, New Gamboge, Naples Yellow, Pyrrol Scarlet, Quinacridone Coral, Alizarin Crimson, Rhodenite Genuine, Quinacridone Rose, French Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Mayan Blue Genuine, Indigo, Phthalo Turquoise, Rose of Ultramarine, Amethyst Genuine, Sap Green (Winsor & Newton), Jadeite Green, Cascade Green, Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Gold (The 15 ml. tube is AP, the 5 ml tube has a CL warning since it’s a different formulation), Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet, Naphthamide Maroon, custom mix of Napthamide Maroon + Quin Gold. for skin, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Piemontite Genuine, Shadow Violet, Hematite Genuine, Neutral Tint, Buff Titanium. But if you want my honest opinion? For a basic beginner set, you really shouldn’t get all those. I’d recommend Hansa Yellow Light, New Gamboge, Pyrrol Scarlet, Quinacridone Rose, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Sap Green, Jadeite or Cascade Green, Yellow Ochre or Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Neutral Tint. You really don’t even need greens since those are easily mixed with the blues and yellows, but some people find it convenient to have the mixes! It’s really a personal choice. I want to also selfishly recommend Amethyst Genuine because it’s one of my absolute favorite colors ever and it has genuine amethyst in it so it sparkles. :T  

But, yes! A lot of these primaries are available in a set called Essentials, which contains two yellows, two reds, two blues. That’s more than enough to start with, if you don’t mind mixing! And to be honest, I recommend getting used to mixing your own colors. It’s a fantastic exercise and will really help you feel more in control of your colors. The Essentials set costs about $25, I believe.

3) Studio palette To be honest, this is a mix of all the tube colors I have... or maybe not all, but at least half or more. It’s a mix of professional colors and student grade colors that have a decent lightfastness rating-- which just basically means how resilient they are to fading! I believe it has Daniel Smith, Shinhan, Cotman, and Grumbacher Academy colors in it.

Oh-- I feel like I should note! That I would recommend getting Daniel Smith’s Permanent Alizarin Crimson rather than the regular one as regular Alizarin Crimson isn’t lightfast at all. I didn’t know that when I bought the tube and now only use it in my sketchbook or for pieces I don’t intend to sell. As I understand it, the color either fades to brown or completely disappears, depending on the brand. I won’t even pretend to know how much I spent on this. I’d rather not think about it, even if I spent the money over the matter of 3 or more years. :P

4) Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketcher’s Box I think almost everyone starts off with this cute little thing, haha. It has a warm and a cool of all the primaries, two greens, two earth tones, and a white. It’s a fantastic set! The colors might not be as pigmented as professional quality colors or, really, even other student grades... buuut they are decent colors. I love the way they look on paper and how they mix. They also aren’t really staining much at all and lift up from the paper fairly easily if you need to, with exceptions for the Intense Blue shade... which is just phthalo blue, and it’s a very staining color. For anyone just starting off, I’d highly recommend this set. It’s a good starting point, but! I do want to warn that the colors can be difficult to work with at times... or at least they are for me? You can’t really layer them very easily since, as I mentioned, the color tends to scrub up rather than stay put. I got this set for about $10, I believe.

5) Mijello Mission Gold I got this set off eBay a while ago to just test out some of the colors. They’re a Korean brand that have gotten a lot of steam behind them lately, probably for selling for fairly cheap on Amazon and being comparable to Daniel Smith and other professional brands. I have to say that these are amazing. They’re another one that uses honey as a binder and are very easily reactivated as a result. The way they spread on paper and the vibrancy is just something I love and, once I begin using some of my other palettes up, I tend to buy the larger set. This one, I believe, came with 8 colors from their 9 color introductory set. I will say their Burnt Sienna is a bit strange. It’s a mix of three different pigments and, while beautiful, reacts a big weird when mixing. I think the 9 color set is about $27 on Amazon. It’s more than enough to get started with, but the 36 color set with a palette is only about $61 on there at the time of writing this, with a 24 color set listed at $45. It’s really up to you on what you think is the best bargain. The colors are all said to be non-toxic though and that’s appealing to me at least!

6) Prang This is a very affordable set for beginners too. It’s a 16 set that you can usually pick up for around $4-8 on Amazon or in grocery stores. Keep in mind that, while the colors are fantastic, this is still a scholastic brand meant for school-age kids. It’s non-toxic, easy to clean up, but I think the 8 color set would be more than enough too. It’s about $2 at my local store and has all the primaries. The 16 color set is a bit heavy on purple, in my opinion, which isn’t terribly useful. The colors are semi-moist and very easy to reactivate. The pans are also replaceable and available on Amazon.

7) Royal & Langnickel Gouache I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include this as I’m still very new at Gouache, which is basically an opaque watercolor. I bought the 24 12ml tube set off Amazon for about $10 to test out. I didn’t want to blow a bunch of money on professional grade if I wasn’t sure I’d like it. So far, the colors are nice! Perhaps not quite as opaque as I expected, but they reactivate well and are fairly stronger if you use them direct from the tube... hence why I have one of the white tubes in the box. They also have something like 21ml tube sets for a bit more that I might get when these run out, but... yes. They’re decent quality for anyone who’s looking to get into the medium! I like them much better than Reeves brand, if only because they don’t have any bizarre smell to them.

8) Sakura Koi Travel Palette I am probably not going to be popular with this opinion, but I really dislike the watercolor in this set. They’re hard to work with, don’t mix well, and seem almost more gouache-like than anything else. The selection is fine and the water brush that comes with the set is probably one of my favorites. The palette itself is pretty nifty-- though also a bit bulky for my liking. It costs about... gosh, I can’t remember. $15-20, I think, with larger sets costing more and smaller sets costing less. I can’t really recommend these though, not when the Cotman set is cheaper and has lovelier colors.

9) Grumbacher Academy My absolute favorite student grade of all time. This probably isn’t a popular opinion either, as these tend to get hate for some reason, but I find them very smooth to work with and comparable to professional colors. They also have this violet color that’s my absolute favorite of the line. You can get a set of 12 for about $15 on eBay or buy individual tubes on Blick or Jerry’s Artarama for $2.50-ish. The colors I have are: cadmium yellow pale hue, cadmium yellow deep hue, naples yellow, cadmium orange, cadmium red pale, rose madder, alizarin crimson, violet, ultramarine blue, prussian blue, phthalo blue, sap green, chromium oxide green, virdian, emeral greend, hooker’s green deep, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, light red, perylene maroon, burnt umber, sepia, and payne’s grey. Again, so long as you have a warm and cool of each primary, some earth tones, and a dark... you really don’t need 24 colors. 8-12 colors is a fine start and should give you the ability to mix whatever you need.

As for tools, I use Pentel water brushes and a generic brand I found on Amazon that came with 6 brushes, including two flat ones. These are just so much more convenient since you put the water inside the handle itself and just squeeze some out whenever you need it, eliminating the need for a cup of water for the most part. It’s easy if you’re on the go or sitting in front of the TV and away from your art space, haha. I also have a selection of round and flat brushes from Folk Art...? I think that’s the brand. They’re just fairly inexpensive ones I got from Wal-Mart, honesty.

The paper I use is either a Field Art watercolor journal (About $14 on Amazon atm, but I got it for about $8 when it was on sale) or Canson XL Watercolor paper, both cold press. I don’t really care for hot press or using anything smooth as it’s much harder to control and the color tends to just sit on the surface. If I’m just sketching, I’ll use mixed media paper too... the brand I have is also by Canson under the XL line. It’s a pretty nice quality! None of these are like Arches or any professional brand, but those are just out of my price range atm. I wouldn’t feel comfortable splurging on it because I know I wouldn’t want to use it for fear of messing it up.

What’s the point of having expensive materials if you’re too afraid of messing up to use it, right?

I don’t really have many tips to offer other than practice! A lot. And don’t worry about whether you’re doing things the way you’re supposed to-- art is a very personal experience and you’ll develop what works for you. You’ll have your own techniques, you’ll have your own favorite colors. Don’t get pinned in by any rules you feel like you have to abide by, whether that means palette colors or tools... whatever. Do what makes you happy. If you’re not having fun, then it’s really not worth it to push yourself for a hobby, in my opinion.

I also recommend not sketching directly on the Canson paper if you can help it. A light table/tracing table costs about $15-20 on Amazon and will be an invaluable tool. If that’s not an option, look for a blue colored mechanical pencil lead or a non-repro pencil and sketch with that, then outline with pencil. Save inking for after you’ve colored things in-- it’ll save you smudging and bleeding woes, trust me! Or at the very least, save the bottles of ink and Sakura Pigma Microns, and go for a standard Bic ballpoint pen-- they’re absolutely waterproof and won’t bleed in the slightest.

Oh-- and before I forget! One rule I do think is worth sticking to-- use a limited palette when you’re doing a piece of work. No more than 5-6 colors per piece, any more and you risk making your art seem less unified and potentially even clashing. It will look more harmonious the fewer colors you use-- I tend to not use many more than maybe 4 or 5 in a piece at a time. You can easily mix what you need.

The only other tip that I can think of is to put aside the black. You really don’t need it in watercolor! It doesn’t look natural and mixing your darks will bring your piece together a lot better. You can use payne’s grey or neutral tint for darks or to make darker shades of colors by mixing it in, or you can mix a ‘black’ with burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. It will look a lot more natural.

But yeah, that’s really all I know to say on the matter, but if you’ve got a specific question? Please feel free to shoot it my way! I’m always happy to answer them. c:

Thanks for sitting through my rambling! Also, if anyone needs me to, I’ll scan in any color swatches for better comparison!

[fallen-artist63]

Week 5

Link #1: How to Create a Painting With Shading : Painting Techniques

~You want to make sure you have at least one dark color and one light color. Okok, so I’ll be including a little picture of what I did, but I’ll be using Emerald Green as the light color and Ultramarine as the dark color :) ~Now mix them together to get your medium tone. Oh. I mean, it comes out as a pretty teal owo. You’ll see in a bit, dw. ~Dip your brush in the water and just dip into your middle tone and paint a circle on your paper or canvas. I hope y’all know that I don’t expect you to do this with me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you tried this out LOL. Whatever floats your boat y’know. Besides, who doesn’t love painting circles, am I right?- But seriously, circles do be pretty hard to make legit circles. Like, I think I’ve only managed to get one even close to being an actual circle, and that wasn’t even that close. ~It’s completely okay to have some variation, thicker paint around the edges and then kind of wash you paint in the center of the sphere (for now it’s a circle, but that’s besides the point) ~You don’t have to completely rinse your brush out. It's okay to leave a little bit of that color on because it’ll create a smooth transition. I actually didn’t think of that to be completely honest with you. I tend to always wash my brush completely before I even go into the next color. I- well the more you know, the better you can be c: ~Grab a little bit of that light color and you’re gonna add some highlights in the upper left or right corner of your sphere (whichever one you prefer I suppose, I tend to always have the light coming from the left) ~Even though we’re using acrylic, the paint should be staying fairly wet and just kinda blend that lighter color in with the darker color. So like, wait. I just kinda went braindead for half a second, I’m like- Acrylic paint isn’t wet, that’s only water colors. And- I’m just sitting here now dumbfounded because when you think about it- Water color isn’t wet- But acrylic paint is- it’s- yes- look I have no idea where I was going with this bit LOL. But here it is-(Intense brush strokes) LOL  ~Create as smooth of a transition as possible between the upper and lower part of your sphere. I cannot tell you guys how good this looks tbh, and we’re only maybe halfway done LOL ~Dip the brush back in the water (What if I wanted to dunk it though-) and go for your dark color and basically you’re just going to do the opposite of what you did with the light color, meaning that you’ll be in the opposite, bottom corner (Don’t mind the fact that I just said the bottom corner for a sphere- I’m intelligent, yes.) ~Really try to blend it in with the paint that’s already down there. ~You should be doing light brush strokes, you don’t need to push too much paint down onto the page. See, the thing is. I have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to anything really, so I would say this was the most challenging thing for me, so far that is one of the main struggles for me. ~Now rinse your brush out and leave a little bit of paint on the brush and this is going to be used for the shadow, which is just gonna be a washy shape surrounding the bottom of the sphere and that’ll create a plane for your object (sphere) to be on. I never actually thought of it like that- Usually I thought of the shadow as, well, a shadow lol. But I guess when you add the shadow it does give it a little place to sit. Almost like a dog sitting on a mat or something. 

My little video painting a sphere :)

(This video was well done, I would like to say that the sphere doesn’t really look all that much like a sphere BUT it does show enough to help with one’s shading, which was the whole point of that video)

Link #2: Beginners Guide to Highlighting and Shading

(So, since this is a website not a video. I’m going to only write down what I didn’t know already, that way it doesn’t take years to get through all of this kk? I did include the link^ so y’all can check it out yourself as well :) ) ~Most beginners use black for all their shadows. In reality, shadows are rarely a true black. Okay, it’s not like I didn’t know this before. But I once made the mistake of trying to make every single shadow black. I can feel the pain, it’s okay. I just learnt this at the beginning of this class to be honest with y’all LOL. ~To find the right shadow color for your object, add tiny amounts of black or the cool complementary color to the original color of your subject. So basically, what the first link said as well. You have the light color, and the dark color. But to get that dark color you need your medium tone, so kinda backwards in a sense-ish. ~Blend out the edges to make sure you don’t have a harsh line. Use various mixes of your shadow color to gradually lighten your shading and blend it into the surrounding area. I meannnn, I think I’m pretty good at not having harsh lines for the most part. I would say that the edges are usually always a bit harsh, but other than that I think the shading part is pretty well blended. ~You can also use a glaze to add shading. (Yo, okay so I have zero idea what a glaze is when it comes to painting- I-) ~Shadows are not always dark. To be fair, I think most of the beginners (including myself) start off thinking shadows are always dark. That they’re more prominent than the object itself. I think that’s what’s stopped me a lot of the times with my earlier paintings that I did a while ago. ~It is important to study your scene or reference photo before planning out your painting I 100% agree, study the scene, the object, everything. Analyze the reference you want to paint before you actually dive right in. That goes with any art actually, not just painting.  ~It is tempting to add pure white paint where the light source hits your subject. (I can relate, don’t worry) However, as with shadows, highlights are rarely pure white. ~Use a soft brush with a light touch for highlights. They should be subtle and the edges well blended into the surrounding color. Oh goodness, again I’ll have to work on my heavy hand, but other than that I would say I’m doing pretty good about this. ~Gradually build up the highlight rather than having a blob of light colored paint. Uh, oOpS ._.

Link #3: 7 Must-Know Painting Techniques For Artists

1. Under painting

~Create an underpainting in burnt umber or a mix or burnt sienna and phthalo blues to establish shadows and values. I never actually thought about doing this tbh. I usually start with a white canvas and go from there, y’know? Maybe if I try this I’ll see some big improvements, who knows :) ~Work paint up from thin to thick, especially when using slow-drying paints. It’s impossible to work on top of heavy, wet paint. (I agree, like- There’s been times that I’ll legit just try and paint over the first coat maybe 15 minutes after I paint it on. I’m like, nahhh it’ll be fine to paint on, what’s the worse that can happen. Well- I ruined the painting lesson learned though) In the same way, work up to highlights, adding the brightest, and usually heavier, paint at the end. 2. Blocking in

~A filbert is a good general brush for blocking in form and paint. It has a dual nature, combing aspects of flat and round brushes so it can cover detail as well as larger areas.

These would be the type of paint brush that they’re talking about. They’re a mix of flat brushes and round brushes. I maybe have like- 2 of these in all between 3 art kits to be honest. I may have to start investing in more of them, who knows.

3. Building up texture

~Almost anything can be used to add texture to your paint. (I honestly never knew that people added things to their paint to create texture) There are already made texture media available, but I have seen items such as egg shells and sand used to add interest to a painting. Oh? Bro, who would’ve thought about adding eggshells to your paint, like  I honestly never thought about adding anything actually. I just paint with what I got, y’know. But maybe I’ll try this soon™ ~Use an old toothbrush to spatter your image with paint. This can be remarkably effective at suggesting noise and grain. Well, that’s new. I really didn’t think about using anything else for a painting besides paint brushes. oOpS

4. Dry brushing

~This method tends to work best when applying light paint over dark areas/dried paint and is useful for depicting rock and grass texture. So, I’ma be completely honest with you guys. I used to paint without water, and like- I was so ignorant about most of the things that I know now. I would only use water to wash my paint brush afterwards, but now. Water has become so helpful in my paintings oml, it’s amazing what a little bit of water can do for your painting.

5. Sgraffito

~Removing paint can be just as important as applying it. I- I only ever removed paint when it was in the wrong spot.- I didn’t know that removing paint from anywhere can help, especially when you want to expose the underpainting.

6. Glazing

~Glazing is the process of laying a coat of transparent paint over a dry part of the painting, and it’s used for intensifying shadows and modulating colour. Well, now I know what glazing is LOL.

7. Painting with mediums

~Mediums are fluids that can be added to paint to modulate its consistency, drying time and texture. Again, I honestly never knew that. I’m so inexperienced with painting items and ways it’s not even funny man. ~In the case of acrylics, you get different mediums that make the paint matte or gloss.

Link 4: Acrylic Painting Techniques

1. Dry Brush

~You want to aim for seeing your brushstrokes in the paint. I don’t tend to like seeing my brushstrokes within my painting to be honest, but if it works it works, kinda thing.

2. Sgraffito/combing

~Involves painting a layer or two of paint and then etching into it to create a design and reveal what’s underneath. Again, I really don’t tend to do this either. Considering I just learnt it LOL but I wouldn’t have thought about removing paint or etching anything within the paint.

3. Wet-in-wet

~You can do wet-in-wet with acrylic just like you can with watercolor so go ahead and lay down some water on your paper and then you can just drop in the acrylic paint.  My thinking- If you want a watercolor effect, why not just use watercolors? Big brain time LOL

4. Overlay/glazing

~Start by laying down a darker color on your paper and then letting it dry. (Yes, we need to let this dry for several minutes. So while you’re waiting, pop in some popcorn, watch it pop, eat some and then you can go back to painting :) ) ~What you’re going to do now is overlay or glaze a lighter wash over top so water down your paint just a little bit. Y’know, this technique might actually come in handy with my next painting ngl. But we won’t talk about that until the time comes owo

5. Impasto

~You’re going to use a palette knife instead of a brush so this is a really nice way to achieve a lot of different texture within the paint. So, I only ever use palette knives before for backgrounds. To get that kind of color dye/blending feel y’know- I can’t think of the word right off hand but- TYE DYE yes tye dye feel, hush- :(

6. Modeling Paste

Before we even learn anything, like- I never knew that you could use modeling paste for painting?!?!?! Like- I only ever used modeling paste when I was fixing a clay sculpture or something of the sort, y’know?- The more you know ~A great way to add texture into your artwork. So you can use a palette knife to scoop it out and then apply it onto your paper. You could also use a paintbrush to softly apply it to your paper. (My brain man, this is all so new for me- I-) Note you can also mix it directly with the paint color if you want to. Let the modeling paste dry and then you can paint over top of it. Waittt, you could use this to make the texture of mountains owo and rock beds, bro- I feel so inspired by this one ngl.

7. Stencil/Stamp

So the girl in the video was pretty basic with it, you just use it as a stencil should be used and of course washing it afterwards.

8. Sponge

~With a sponge, similar process as you would use with watercolor. You’re just using the sponge to apply paint instead of a brush. (Big brain, she knows) You can go back in after you let the first layer dry a bit and add like a second or third layer of paint. Y’know, time for a funny-ish story. So back in elementary school, we did this sponge painting, we could only use the sponge. And I’m like, I wonder what a pufferfish would be like with a sponge. So- I painted the sponge right, then I took some bottled glue, put the glue on the back of the sponge and glued it to the paper. LOL My art teacher found it funny, but had me remake the painting and explained that it had to be painted with the sponge, not made out of the sponge. So yeah- 

9. Drips/Splatters

~To achieve drips, mix some water into your acrylic paint and you’re just gonna kind of angle your paper and guide the drips down. (So like, this would be kinda effective when you want the feel of a waterfall? Yes, no, maybe so?) ~For splatters, it’s better to use a flat bristle brush. Load it up with paint and you can actually just kind of flick the bristles and really control your splatters.

10. Gel Medium

~Gel medium is used to thicken your paint and also actually make it a little bit more adhesive. So you can mix it directly with your color and it’ll lighten it just a little bit. So, when using this don’t expect the exact color, okay got it.

11. Scumbling

~You can scumble with paint just like you can with colored pencils. So use your brush in a circular motion but keep it controlled. Well, that’s new. Now I know what it’s called at least LOL. I honestly never knew what that technique was called until now, but I remember always coloring with colored pencils like that just because my mum did--

12. Masking

~You can mask with masking tape of course or you can also use rubber cement. Rubber. Cement. I- Howcanonemakecementrubber- I might actually have to search up what it looks like, I’ve never heard of anything called rubber cement. ~If your paint bleeds through, just go back through and patch it up with some paint.

13. Mediums: Gloss or Matte

She really just explained what she was doing for this one.

14. Soft edge vs. hard edge

~Soft edge and hard edge are just two paint terms for how the paint is laid down and the quality of it. Who knew, I actually didn’t realize that how you lay down the paint affects how soft or hard the edge is.

So, I’m sorry for this being a bit late. But I feel like I learnt a lot with this one :)

[sadiesavestheday]

A Look Inside My Palette

I have been wanting to make a sort of watercolor resource including swatches of all the colors I have been able to get my hands on. Since that would mean watching all of the colors in my palate, I decided to take this as an opportunity to talk about the colors that I paint with regularly.

At the moment there are 42 colors in my main palette, although that’s probably way more than I need. My palette is in a state of transition, and I’m really trying to figure out what yellows and oranges are important to my painting.

In addition to those 42 colors, I also have 38 other colors that are not in my main palette. They are either redundant, not exactly fitting my needs, or waiting their turn to be put into the pallet.

My Selection Criteria

The way I choose colors is pretty simple. I want high quality, single pigment colors, that are fairly non-toxic. I stay away from cadmium, cobalt, cerulean, manganese, and viridian paints.

(Even though I really love cerulean and viridian, and miss them very much. I have heard that Kremer Pigments sells a non-toxic Zirconium Cerulean that I just can’t wait to get my hands on!)

I also want my colors to mix well and try to avoid repeating the same hue unless there is something very different in the characteristic of the watercolor.

The brands I choose are often determined by whether the pigment I want is available in the brand, the quality of the pigment in that brand, and the price.

Main Palette

Yellows

PY 53 – Nickel Titanate Yellow – Daler Rowney

PY 175 – Lemon Yellow Hue – Winsor & Newton (discontinued)

PY3 – Lemon Yellow – Schmincke

PY 97 – Transparent Yellow – Winsor and Newton (discontinued)

PY 153 – Sennelier Yellow Light – Sennelier

PY 97 – Hansa Yellow Medium – Daniel Smith

PY 74 –Schveningen Yellow Light – Old Holland

PY 153 – Indian yellow – Daler Rowney

PBR 7 – Raw Umber – M Graham

PBR 7 – Burnt Umber – Daler Rowney

PY 43 –Goethite – Daniel Smith

PBR 24 – Naples Yellow – M Graham

PO 49 – Quinacridone Gold – Daniel Smith

As you can probably tell from this list, I have some kind of yellow obsession. For a while I was on the hunt for the coolest yellow possible, and I think that I have finally found it with Nickel Titanate Yellow. Still I am tinkering around to figure out the best combination of cool, warm, and middle yellows, so my palette is kind of a mess.

PY 53 – Nickel Titanate Yellow – Daler Rowney

This is the coolest yellow that I have been able to find. Unfortunately, it’s a bit opaque, but it makes the most vibrant greens with phthalo blue or phthalo green that I have ever seen! Note: You can mix this with nearly any color to make a pastel or milky version.

PY 175 – Lemon Yellow Hue – Winsor & Newton (discontinued) & PY 97 – Transparent Yellow – Winsor and Newton (discontinued)

I was lucky to find beef to discontinued yellow colors from Winsor and Newton on the sales rack at my local art store. They are both beautiful colors, and very lovely and transparent. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I will be able to find a replacement once they are out because the same pigments and other brands seem to have a different hue.

PY 153 – Sennelier Yellow Light – Sennelier

My favorite middle yellow. Sennelier makes the best yellows, they just all glow.

PY 74 –Schveningen Yellow Light – Old Holland

This warm yellow is a unique pigment to Old Holland. It’s also different because it is very transparent, but also very lifting. That is a rare trait for yellow paint. Most are very staining.

PY 43 –Goethite – Daniel Smith

I use this pigment instead of yellow ocher. It’s not quite as opaque, and has a nicer texture and some granulation.

PBR 24 – Naples Yellow – M Graham

Naples Yellow is a very opaque paint, and not normally something that I would have imagined keeping on my palette. However I have found that it is really nice and glowing when extremely diluted. It’s useful for natural colors, beaches, and mixing into skin tones to give a little more weight to transparent colors.

PO 49 – Quinacridone Gold – Daniel Smith

Do I even need to say anything about this color? It’s super famous. I actually changed how I painted once I got this color, that’s how useful it is.

Oranges

PY 110 – Indian Yellow – M Graham

PO 62 – Chrome Orange – Schmincke

PO 71 – Translucent Orange – Schmincke

PO 48 – Quinacridone Burnt Orange – Daniel Smith

PO 65 – Golden Barok Red – Old Holland

PBR 41 – Translucent Brown – Schmincke

PR 101 – English Venetian Red – Schmincke

PO 73 – Scarlett Pyrrole – M Graham

PO 62 – Chrome Orange – Schmincke & PO 71 – Translucent Orange – Schmincke

Schmincke definitely make some of the best oranges. These colors are pretty unique to them. They are transparent unlike most orange colors, single pigment, and extremely vibrant. Wonderful colors for botanical painting

PO 48 – Quinacridone Burnt Orange – Daniel Smith

I love all of the Quinacridone colors. This is color that I use very often for portrait painting.

PO 65 – Golden Barok Red – Old Holland

A gorgeous brick red, this is a unique color to the Old Holland line. I use it sometimes as a substitute for burnt sienna that doesn’t granulate.

PBR 41 – Translucent Brown – Schmincke

I use a ton of this color for painting portraits, particularly of people with darker skin. I don’t like to use burnt or raw umber because they granulate. If you mix this color with Indanthrene or ultramarine blue, you get a super nice dark brown color.

PO 73 – Scarlett Pyrrole – M Graham

Probably the brightest and most saturated color on my palette. It just pops off the paper. Crazy dispersion. Crazy saturation. Just crazy.

Reds

PR 254 – Permanent Red Light – Van Gogh

PR 206 – Madder Brown – Schmincke

PR 254 – Winsor Red – Winsor and Newton

PR 179 – Deep Red – Schmincke

PR 209 – Quinacridone Red – Daler Rowney

PV 19 – Quinacridone Rose – M Graham

PR 122 – Purple Magenta – Schmincke

PR 206 – Madder Brown – Schmincke

Another color that I use a lot for portraits. I just really love how soft and warm it is. Nice for a warm brown skin tones, or blush.

PR 179 – Deep Red – Schmincke

If I were to narrow my palette down to a few key colors, this would definitely be on it. I mix this with pyrelene green to make the deepest darkest blacks.

PR 209 – Quinacridone Red – Daler Rowney

So I discovered this by accident. I had so many Quinacridone red colors, that I figured there wasn’t a reason to get another one. But I wanted to try a different pigment. And as soon as I decided to use Quinacridone read, I fell in love. This is just a wonderful, staining, transparent, mostly middle red. It’s lightly on the blue side, but I like my reds slightly cool anyway.

PV 19 – Quinacridone Rose – M Graham & PR 122 – Purple Magenta – Schmincke

Some people use these colors basically interchangeably. They both make wonderful purples when mixed with ultramarine blue. PR 122 is slightly better for this, but PV 19 is less of a finicky color when mixing with the right range of other colors.

Purples

PV 15 – Ultramarine Violet Deep – M Graham

PV 55 – Quinacridone Violet – Winsor and Newton

PV 55 – Quinacridone Violet – Winsor and Newton

I don’t have a lot of purples because I like single pigment colors, and many purples are convenience colors or non-lightfast. Dioxazine Violet is often a fugitive color in many brands, so I stay on the safe side and go with my trusty Quinacridone.

Blues

PB 29 – Ultramarine Blue Deep – Old Holland

PP 29 – Ultramarine Finest – Schmincke

PB 60 – Indanthrene Blue – Winsor and Newton

PB 27 – Prussian Blue – Schmincke

PB 15:1 – Phthalo Blue – Schmincke

PB 15:3 – Phthalocyanine Blue – M Graham

PB 29 – Ultramarine Blue Deep – Old Holland & PB 29 – Ultramarine Finest – Schmincke

Normally I don’t have doubles of colors on my palate, but these two have very different characteristics. I often like to mix a warm blue that is not granulating, so Schmincke’s Ultramarine Finest is great for that. But when I want really lovely granulation, I go for the Old Holland.

PB 60 – Indanthrene Blue – Winsor and Newton

Probably my favorite blue. I use it to darken everything.

PB 27 – Prussian Blue – Schmincke

This is my mixing blue. I find that it mixes nicer and gentler colors and ultramarine does, so it’s an essential color on my palette. Also the blue that I use when painting portraits.

PB 15:1 – Phthalo Blue – Schmincke & PB 15:3 – Phthalocyanine Blue – M Graham

Phthalo blue comes in a red and a green shade, however if this pair is not far enough apart for it to be noticeable. I will probably replace the M. Graham phthalo blue with the new Rembrandt phthalo blue red shade that I have gotten.

Greens

PG 7 – Phthalo Green – Schmincke

PG 36 – Phthalo Green Yellow Shade – M Graham

PBK 31 – Pyrelene Green – Winsor and Newton

PBr 7, PB 15 – Cascade Green – Daniel Smith

PY 129 – Brown Green –Sennelier

PG 7 – Phthalo Green – Schmincke & PG 36 – Phthalo Green Yellow Shade – M Graham

I didn’t think that it was necessary to have both phthalo greens, but having been a green yellow shade makes a really big difference in mixing greens. This pair is sufficiently far enough apart that they can be really useful and versatile.

PBK 31 – Pyrelene Green – Winsor and Newton

This is the last in the series of dark colors that I love. I use this, Deep Red, and Indanthrene Blue to add deep values to nearly every painting.

PBr 7, PB 15 – Cascade Green – Daniel Smith

This is the only convenience color on my palette. I just love the granulation and how the color separate. Even though I can mix myself, this is much more convenient. I use the color rarely, but when I do I’m very happy to have it.

PY 129 – Brown Green –Sennelier

Another kind of odd color, that is really great because of its duotone nature. Mixes with purples and with yellows to make interesting browns and greens.

Other

PBk 11 – Lunar Black – Daniel Smith

Normally I don’t believe in using black in watercolor, but the granulation of this pigment is insane. I love using it just to play around, or to get texture in rocks.

Supplementary Palettes/Other Colors

PBk 9 – Ivory Black – Schmincke

Po 62, Pg 7 – Permanent Green Olive – Schmincke

Py 151 – Azo Yellow – M Graham

Py 184 – Permanent Lemon Yellow – Van Gogh

Pbr 7 – Burnt Sienna – White Nights

PY 43, PR 102, PY 83 – Raw Sienna – White Nights

Nr 9 – Rose Madder Genuine – Winsor And Newton

Per 7 – Burnt Umber – Schmincke

PY 42 – Yellow Ocher – Schmincke

PB 29 – Ultramarine Blue – M Graham

PB 27 – Prussian Blue – Daler Rowney

PP 29 – Ultramarine Deep – Van Gogh

PR 122 – Opera Rose – Winsor and Newton

Gold (90) – Kuretake Gansai Tambi

Persian Blue (63) – Kuretake Gansai Tambi

Dark Pink (34) – Kuretake Gansai Tambi

PBR 7 – Burnt Sienna – Old Holland

PR 102 – Red Ocher – Old Holland

PB 16 – Helio Turquoise – Schmincke

PG 23 – Green Earth – Rembrandt

PV 42 – Royal Purple Lake – Old Holland

PBR 7 – Raw Sienna Deep – Old Holland

PR 255 – Permanent Red Middle – Rembrandt

PY 184 – Permanent Lemon Yellow – Rembrandt

PY 150 – Aureoline – Rembrandt

PB 15 – Phthalo Blue (red shade) – Rembrandt

PV 19 – Permanent Carmine – Schmincke

PB 15:1, PBR 7, PBK 9 – Sepia – Schmincke

Nr 9 – Rose Madder Genuine – Winsor and Newton

It’s too bad that this color is fugitive. It’s really beautiful. I don’t know of any other slightly granulating, non-staining, vibrant pink.

PR 122 – Opera Rose – Winsor and Newton

Another fugitive color, which is why I do not keep it in my main palette. It is superduper vibrant, but I feel like I can see it fading even a few days after I have painted with it. I almost never use it.

PB 16 – Helio Turquoise – Schmincke

A color in between phthalo blue and phthalo green. It’s really vibrant, and almost like a tropical sea. You can mix this same color by mixing phthalo blue with phthalo green, but this is more convenient. It is a good cyan primary color. One day I would like to try Holbein’s PB 17.

PG 23 – Green Earth – Rembrandt

A fairly odd color in watercolors. I am always interested in single pigment greens that are non-toxic. It’s nice that it granulates gently. I could see using this a lot for nature colors. I would also like to try this as a underpainting for portraits.

PV 42 – Royal Purple Lake – Old Holland

I saw this color recommended, and wanted to try it out as a pink watercolor. I don’t paint paintings very often, but I know that a lot of people do. This is very nice and pink, obviously not as pink as Opera rose. It is also a good magenta primary color.

PBR 7 – Raw Sienna Deep – Old Holland

While many people use yellow ocher when painting portraits, I really dislike the opacity in the flatness of it. Raw sienna has a similar hue, but it is much less opaque, and much more vibrant to me. I would recommend this over the yellow ocher.

PR 255 – Permanent Red Middle – Rembrandt & PY 184 – Permanent Lemon Yellow – Rembrandt

These will probably replace the Van Gogh versions that I currently have a my palette. Since these are the artist grade to their student grade, it makes sense that these colors are more vibrant and transparent.

PB 15 – Phthalo Blue (red shade) – Rembrandt

As I said before, this will probably replace the M Graham phthalo blue in my palette.

Winsor and Newton Cotman

PB 29 – Ultramarine – Winsor and Newton Cotman

PBR 7, PY 42 – Burnt Umber – Winsor and Newton Cotman

PY 42 – Yellow Ocher –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PR 101 – Burnt Sienna –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PY 139, PG 36, PR 101 – Sap Green –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PR 149, PR 255 – Cadmium Red Hue –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PY 65, PR 255 – Cadmium Red Pale Hue –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PY 97, PY 65 – Cadmium Yellow –Winsor and Newton Cotman

PY 175 – Lemon Yellow (discontinued?) –Winsor and Newton Cotman

That’s all for now! I love to collect unique colors, and new brands, so this list will probably be growing soon.