We are going to mix colors. For here example I have started with a three basic colors, red, blue and yellow, as you see on the color wheel and this is my paintbrush, this is the one I would like to use a lot of smaller detail, but you can use the other ones too.
A tub of water, as you can see this is the one I use at home, they do get messed up, you do not worry about it. The paint does not come out, so make sure that you wear something that you do not mind getting messed up. I also have in this tub some white, some black and some purple or violet.
Now we are going to mix, with acrylics you have to use a little water and you mix your colors together, try your light color first and then add your darker color to it to mix and as you can see, you can get different kinds of oranges if you prefer and with this you can paint anywhere you want.
Now remember that you are not going to be able to cover the painting right away with one coat, you do have to layer and we will get to that later on in another segment to show you how to do that. Now, you take your blue and red for example you take your red which is lighter and add your blue and you get your purple, add little water if you need to make it move, the water helps move it, but you don’t want to use a lot of it.
As you can, you can see through it, that is okay, when it dries you are going to add a little more over it and it will cover it as you can see. Always clean your brush when you go to a different color, you have a paper towel to see that the color is out, add little water, take your lighter color first and then take your darker color and mix to it and it will get you to your green for example, this shows how you mix them and get the colors that are on the color wheel the secondary colors.
Now, if you want to… no that is a little dark but that is all right you can just add it more to it and it will make it greener okay. Now, we are going to add whites, blacks and purples to help you see the different colors that you can make with it. If you take a little purple to darken the color for example you have your orange, add a little bit of purple to your orange and it will darken it and make it a darker orange, for shadows and shades as you can see.
If you want to lighten a color, you can take your white and add to your yellow for example to get a lighter color for brightness and you can see in there. Now, one thing you should try to stay away from is using black.
I would recommend using purple to darken your colors more than black. Black does work as you can see… watch… but the problem with it is the black color tends to make the painting look flat and the purple will help give it more dimension.
Another thing you do not want to do and this is just a tip you can lighten most of the colors with the white, but red, if you mix white with red it turns out to be pink. Now, when you want to make a brighter red, you have to use a lighter red and you use a yellow to tone your red down and let me show you with your orange… but you do not use as much, you use red and just a tiny bit of yellow and what that will do is lighten your red. For you brighter areas of red.
Now, when you want to brighten the red you are going to layer your red, you add your red, you let that dry and add another layer of red and that will make it brighter, if that is not bright enough, you let that dry and add another red.
The reason I am saying you have to let it dry, if you work an area too much what will happen is that it will lift as you can see and you won’t be able to put any paint on there until it is completely dry and it will take a lot of layer over it, and it will leave a spot.
Source : Expert Village