Do you wish you could mix bright beautiful colors? You can quickly mix the colors you want and get to the best part, painting! In this post I’ll share how I am mixing colors and what I am learning. For more photos and details visit my Instagram @apaintedgarden.

My goal is to create a simple palette for all of my painting projects. I want to have a minimum of colors that I can use to mix all of my favorite colors. Let’s begin!

The Three Primaries I Use to Mix Colors

First, I looked at all of my reds and used those reds to make pink. These swatches are in the featured image. From there I began mixing my primary colors. My primaries are Quinacridone Magenta, Medium Yellow, and turquoise. I use these colors to mix all of the colors.

MAGENTA

I have three Magenta colors. I have Quinacridone Magenta in both student and professional grades. The other paint is Medium Magenta. I really love the Liquitex brand and that will be my go-to brand. My next step is to swatch the reds and see how they mix with Magenta. For example, I can mix yellow with Quinacridone Magenta and compare it with that same yellow and Naphthol Red. My featured image shows the swatches for Magenta.

TURQUOISE

Next, I wanted to see what happens when I mix Magenta with turquoise. Turquoise and Quinacridone Magenta make beautiful purples. Now I know that I can mix purple instead of purchasing it!

YELLOW

I have Cadmium Yellow and Medium Yellow. I wanted to see which of the two I prefer. I took Quinacridone Magenta and mixed it with both yellows to make orange tones. I compared that to the other red tones I have. Cadmium Yellow is a warm yellow. That’s why I prefer it! I love that I am learning this. Cadmium Yellow you have my heart. My Cadmium Yellow is actually Winsor Newton Professional Acrylic Paint. I am not sure if Liquitex has a Cadmium Yellow. Ok I just checked. They have a Cadmium Yellow Light. I’ll stay loyal to Winsor.

GREEN

Last, I mixed Medium Yellow with Turquoise to make greens. From there I test out Phthalo Blue to see how it compares to mixing with Turquoise.

This is a quick description of how I mix colors. My next step is to swatch my favorite colors with ivory. Oh, my goodness Ivory, where have you been all of my painting life!

For all of my swatches and a few notes visit me on Instagram @apaintedgarden. When I am done mixing paint, I will share my top tips in a video and post here. What are your favorite colors? Do you have color technique that helps you mix and paint beautiful colors. This is only my suggestion, but you do you. I’ll add a few of your comments in an upcoming post.

With Love,

Mireya