There can be many reasons for looking for the color green. For example, you want to paint the kitchen, draw a landscape, or make leaves for a plant out of plasticine, and buy required material no possibility. Then you have to look for the answer to the question of how to get

Color Basics

The science called coloristics studies colors, their features and combinations. Any artist, even a beginner, has an idea of ​​how to get a particular shade by mixing paints, and, naturally, knows how to get green.

You may not believe it, but all the objects around you are painted in only 3 colors. They are called basic. These are red, yellow and blue. By mixing these colors and using black and white, thousands of shades can be created: brown, purple, pink, orange and many more. By learning these basics, future artists will also learn how to produce the color green.

The color ring is used to visually study color. It is convenient to use it to determine which color needs to be mixed with which in order to obtain more complex shades. Moreover, changing the proportions of the initial colors also changes the final one. Paints from different companies may differ slightly in color - this also needs to be taken into account when mixing.

What needs to be mixed?

We figured out that any color can be obtained by mixing red, blue and yellow. All that remains is to figure out what colors to mix to get green. For the answer, let's turn to the color ring. It clearly shows that the color we need is between yellow and blue. This means that they need to be mixed to get green. If you take paints in equal proportions, you will get a regular color, the kind you can find in a jar labeled “green.” But what happens if you change the amount of one of the colors?

Many shades

We have already talked about shades above, it remains to figure out what they are. This is what artists call colors that are very similar to the main one, but modified by adding other colors. Let's see what this looks like in practice.

We have already figured out how to get green by mixing blue and yellow in equal proportions. If the proportions change, the color will change. For example, adding blue to green will make the second “cooler”. This is the name of the shades that can be found on Adding yellow makes the color “warm”, for example light green. And if you add a lot of yellow paint, you get lemon.

How to change color correctly?

Artists are often faced with more difficult task- how to get a green color that is much more interesting than the standard one. To do this, you can experiment. For example, adding black - it will make the green darker, like a swamp or coniferous, but in some cases this is necessary. You need to work with black very carefully. Even the smallest drop can make the color look muddy, so add it a little at a time. And white will make the shade lighter. At the same time, the brightness will decrease - the green will appear as if in a fog. The same recommendations apply to other colors.

In pursuit of interesting shades, some begin to add all the colors in a row to green. This is not worth doing. Colors located on the other side can easily ruin everything. That is, if you mix yellow and blue, try not to add red and its shades. Only those who have sufficient painting skills can do this correctly.

Psychology of green

Knowing how to get green can be useful in many areas of life. But before you actively use it in the interior, decide whether it will suit you psychological point vision.

Experts have long noticed that furniture can greatly influence a person’s mood. For example, red evokes passion or aggression, soft pink is suitable for frivolous pastime, and orange adds energy and positivity.

As for green, a lot depends on its brightness and saturation. Lighter colors allow you to relax and have a pleasant rest after a hard day. working day, and juicy emerald shades or light green will add vigor. At the same time, dark colors make the interior more serious. But all psychologists are inclined to the same opinion - green is the most relaxing and calm color of all. If this is exactly what you need, actively use green in the interior.

How to get other colors?

Whatever your goals, it's unlikely that you can get by with just one color. Green can be successfully combined with many other shades, because in nature, leaves of this color serve as the background for irises, dandelions, forget-me-nots and poppies. Moreover, it all looks very harmonious. This means that green, if desired, can be successfully combined with any shades. But how to get them?

Red, yellow and blue are the main ones, as we found out above. They are complemented by black and white. A simple table will tell you what colors you can get by mixing.

The article gives a complete and detailed answer to the question of how to get green by mixing paints. This means that now you can easily cope with this task and create many amazing shades that are not in your paint palette.

04.06.2017

Features of color mixing

Wall decoration is becoming fashionable in interior design various types plasters and painting them with paints. But it’s not always possible to choose the palette you like in hardware stores. Don't despair. Modern technologies allow you to get the desired result. Mixing colors of standard shades allows you to achieve the desired result. The next question arises, how to mix paints to get a beautiful tone? Let's try to get an answer.

There are quite a lot of tones. But the production of paints is based on the use of standard colors. Nowadays, non-standard colors are in fashion, which can be obtained by mixing dyes. The following expert recommendations will tell you how to mix colors correctly.

It has been known since childhood that the basis of all tones are three colors: red, blue, yellow.

To get other options, you need to know the rules for mixing paints. The combination of basic dyes gives a wide range of different undertones.

The secret to creating a new color scheme by mixing colors is to use basic dyes in different proportions. For example, when mixing the colors blue and yellow, we get green. If you continue to add yellow to the resulting substance, you can get tones that are increasingly closer to it. It all depends on the volumes that are connected.

On video: how to get a new color.

The nuances of combining dyes

Mixtures of colors of chromatic shades that are placed next to each other in color wheel, give a fairly bright palette. If you mix dyes that are on opposite sides of the circle, we get achromatic tones, that is, with a predominance of gray.

Related article: How to get an orange tint: learning to mix colors

To get the desired result, you need to understand not only color scheme, but also ensure that the solutions are suitable in chemical composition. Otherwise, you may get unexpected results. If the color initially turns out bright when mixing paints, then over time it begins to darken and turn gray. For example, a combination of lead white and cinnabar red color initially gives a bright pink, but after a while it will lose its saturation. This also applies to oil paints. They are very susceptible to solvents.

The best option for achieving high-quality rich colors is to combine a minimum amount of paints. Comparability of materials is required. A color mixing table will help you select them.

Traditional palette mixing options

When getting a color yourself, you need to know the rules for mixing paints. Let's look at common options for getting the desired color.

Reds

Red is a representative of the main color. To obtain different red shades, you must follow the following rules:

• The tone of carmine, which is as close as possible to fuchsia, is combined with yellow 2:1. The result is red.
• Combining pink with yellow produces orange.
• To get scarlet, you need to take red and yellow in a 2:1 ratio.
• To achieve a red palette with a soft effect, red and pink paint are mixed. To achieve a lighter tone, it is better to add white paint.
• If you add dye to the main red paint dark color, then we get burgundy.
• You can achieve dark red by mixing red and purple colors in a 3:1 ratio.

Blue

There are primary colors, which include blue. To obtain the desired blue color, you must use this primary color. We get blue by adding white to the blue palette. As the volume of white increases, the shade will become lighter. To obtain a moderate tone, use turquoise instead of white.

Two color mixing tables

Take paints. Any kind of paint will do - even those used on furniture or walls - but it is best (and cleanest) to practice with a few small tubes of oil or acrylic paint. First, let's see what happens if we mix just two colors - red and blue.

• Note: Black can be obtained by mixing existing colors. Black pigment, of course, exists, but its use is too conspicuous. It is better to obtain dark colors by mixing transparent primary colors: shadows also have shades, depending on the time of day and other factors.
• Read the "Other Tips" section below for guidance on choosing the best magenta and cyan.

1. Mix red and blue. Everyone knows that red and blue when mixed give purple, is not it? Indeed, but it's not that bright, vibrant purple. Instead they form something like this:

   • Not very pleasing to the eye? This is because red and blue absorb more and reflect less of the spectrum, producing a dark, dirty purple instead of a vibrant and bright one.

2. Now try this: mix magenta with a little cyan and you will see the difference. This time you will get something like this:

   

   • Magenta is a shade of purple, cyan is a blue-green shade, often called royal blue or turquoise. Along with yellow, they are the primary colors in the CMYK model, which is based on a subtractive color scheme (producing color by subtracting individual components from white). This scheme is used in printing, including color printers.
   • You can see that using true primary colors - magenta and cyan - results in a much brighter, more vibrant hue. If you want a deeper purple, add more blue. For a deep purple, add black.

3. Mix pigments to create primary and secondary colors. There are 3 main color pigments: cyan, magenta and yellow. There are also 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing two primary colors:

   • Cyan + yellow = green
   • Cyan + magenta = blue
   • Magenta + yellow = red
   • Cyan + magenta + yellow = black
   • In subtractive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces black.

4. "Read the information below. The Mixing Paints section provides more detailed guidance on how to achieve a wide range of shades, including light, dark and greyish. The Tips section provides an extensive list of colors and combinations you can use to get those colors on your palette.

   Light mixing: additive colors

   1. Take a look at your monitor. Look at the white areas on this page and get as close as possible. Even better if you have a magnifying glass. When you bring your eyes closer to the screen, you will not see White color, and red, green and blue dots. Unlike pigments, which work by absorbing color, light is additive, meaning it works by adding up light streams. Cinema screens and displays, whether it's a 60-inch plasma TV or the 3.5-inch Retina display in your iPhone, use an additive method of mixing colors.

      Mix light to create primary and secondary colors. As with subtractive colors, there are 3 primary and 3 secondary colors obtained by mixing the primary colors. The result may surprise you:

      • Mixing red + blue = magenta
      • Mixing blue + green = cyan
      • Mixing green + red = yellow
      • In additive color mixing, the combination of all colors produces white.
      • Please note that primary additive colors are secondary subtractive colors, and vice versa. How can it be? Know that the effect of subtractive color is a combined process: it absorbs some colors, and we perceive what remains, that is, reflected light. Reflected color is the color of the luminous flux that remains when all other colors have been absorbed.

   Modern color theory

   1. Understand the subjective nature of color perception. Human perception and identification of color depend on both objective and subjective factors. While scientists can detect and measure light down to the nanometer, our eyes perceive a complex combination of not only hue, but also color saturation and brightness. This circumstance is further complicated by the way we see the same color on different backgrounds.

      Hue, saturation and lightness are the three dimensions of color. We can say that any color has three dimensions: hue, saturation and lightness.

      • Tone characterizes the position of a color on the color wheel - red, orange, yellow, and so on, including all intermediate colors, such as red-orange or orange-yellow. Here are some examples: Pink refers to a magenta or red tone (or anything in between). Brown refers to the orange tone because brown is dark orange.
      • Saturation- This is what produces rich, vibrant color, like on a rainbow or color wheel. Pale, dark and muted colors (shades) are less saturated.
      • Lightness shows how close a color is to white or black, regardless of color. If you take a black and white photograph of flowers, you can tell which ones are lighter and which ones are darker.
        • For example, bright yellow is a relatively light color. You can lighten it up even more by adding white and making it a pale yellow.
        • Bright blue is naturally dark and low on the light scale, while dark blue is even lower.

   Mixing paints

   1. Follow these instructions to get any color you want. Magenta, yellow and cyan are primary subtractive colors, which means that they can be mixed to create any other color, but they themselves cannot be obtained from other colors. Primary subtractive colors are used when mixing pigments such as inks, dyes and paints.

      Low saturation colors (soft colors) come in three main types: light, dark and muted.

      Add white to get lighter colors. Any color can be lightened by adding white to it. To achieve a very light color, it is better to add the base color to the white a little at a time so as not to waste excess paint.

      Add black to get dark colors. Any color can be darkened by adding black to it. Some artists prefer to add a complementary color that is opposite a given color on the exact CMY/RGB color wheel. For example, green can be used to darken magenta and magenta can be used to darken green because they are opposite each other on the color wheel. Add black or complementary color a little at a time so as not to overdo it.

      Add white and black (or white and a complementary color to the original) to create muted, grayish colors. By varying the relative amounts of black and white added, you can achieve any desired level of lightness and saturation. For example: add white and black to yellow to get light olive. Black will darken yellow, turning it into olive green, and white will lighten that olive green. Different shades of olive green can be achieved by adjusting the amount of color added.

      • To achieve a desaturated color such as brown (dark orange), you can adjust the hue in the same way as to achieve bright orange - by adding small amounts of colors nearby on the color wheel: magenta, yellow, red or orange. They will make the brown brighter while changing its shade. But since brown is not a bright color, you can also use colors on the other sides of the triangle, such as green or blue, which will darken the brown while changing its hue.

   2. Get black. This can be done by mixing any two colors that are mutually complementary, as well as three or more colors that are equidistant from each other on the color wheel. Just don't add white or any color containing white unless you want a shade of gray. If the resulting black leans too much toward a particular color, neutralize it by adding a little complementary color to that color.

      Don't try to get white. White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. Like the three primary colors - magenta, yellow and cyan - you will have to buy them, unless, of course, you are working with materials like watercolor, for which paper itself is used instead of white if necessary.

      Develop an action plan. Think about the hue, lightness, and saturation of the color you have and the color you want, and make adjustments accordingly.

      • For example, the shade of green can be brought closer to cyan or yellow - its neighbors on the color wheel. It can be lightened by adding white. Or darken it by adding black or a complementary color, namely purple, magenta or red, depending on the shade of green. You can tone it down by adding black and white, or make the desaturated green a little brighter by adding (bright) green.
      • One more example. You mixed red and white to make pink, but the pink came out too bright and warm (yellowish). To correct the warm shade, you will have to add a little magenta. To tone down hot pink, add white, a complementary color (or black), or both. Decide if you want a darker pink (add only the complementary color), a grayish pink (add white and the complementary color), or just a lighter pink (add only the white). If you plan to adjust the hue with magenta and tone down the pink with green or cyan (complementary to magenta and red), you can try combining the two by using a color between magenta and cyan, such as blue.

   3. Mix paints and start creating a masterpiece! If all of this seems overwhelming, you just need a little practice. Creating a color guide for your own needs - good way Practice using the principles of color theory. Even by printing it from your computer, you will provide yourself useful information for a time when you do not yet have practice and cannot work on an intuitive level.

   Samples of colors and methods for obtaining them

   • Select the color you want and follow the instructions below. Each sample provides a range of possibilities; you can adjust the amount of paint you use to get exactly the color you want. For example, any light color can be lightened or darkened by adding more or less white. Complementary, or complementary, colors are colors that are opposite each other on the RGB/CMY color wheel.
   • Red: Add a little yellow or orange to the magenta.
     • Light red (salmon pink, coral): Add white to red. Use less white and more red to get coral.
     • Dark red: Add a little black (or cyan) to the red. Cyan is complementary to red.
     • Muted red: Add white and black (or cyan) to red.
   • Yellow: Yellow cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You'll have to buy it.
     • Light yellow: Add white to yellow.
     • Dark yellow (olive green): Add a little black (or purple-blue) to the yellow. Violet-blue is complementary to yellow.
     • Muted yellow (light olive): Add white or black (or violet-blue) to yellow.
   • Green: Mix cyan and yellow.
     • Light green: Add white to green.
     • Dark green: Add a little black (or magenta) to the green. Magenta is complementary to green.
     • Grey-green: Add white and black (or magenta) to green.
   • Cyan (turquoise blue): Cyan cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You'll have to buy it.
     • Light cyan: Add white to cyan.
     • Dark cyan: Add a little black (or red) to the cyan. Red is complementary to cyan.
     • Grey-blue: Add white and black (or red) to the cyan.
   • Purple Blue: Mix magenta with cyan or blue.
     • Light violet blue (lavender): Add white to the purple-blue.
     • Dark violet blue: Add a little black (or yellow) to the purple-blue. Yellow is complementary to violet.
     • Grayish-violet-blue: Add white and black (or yellow) to the purple-blue.
   • Violet: Mix magenta with a little cyan, blue or violet blue.
     • Light purple: Add white to purple.
     • Dark purple: Add some black (or lime green) to the purple. Lime green is complementary to purple.
     • Muted purple: Add white and black (or lime green) to the purple.
   • Black: Black can be created by mixing any two complementary colors or three equidistant colors on the precise CMY/RGB color wheel, such as red, green and blue. If instead of pure black you got dark color, correct it by adding a color that is complementary to it.
   • White: White cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. You'll have to buy it. For a warm white (such as cream), add a little yellow. To get a cool white, add a little cyan.
   • Grey: Gray is a mixture of black and white.
   • When mixing paints, add a little at a time to adjust the color. You can always add more. This is especially true when working with black and blue, which tend to dominate other colors. Add a little at a time until you achieve the desired result.
   • To find out if a color is complementary, use your own eyes. It's an old trick: look closely at a color, then look away at a white surface. Due to “color fatigue” in the eyes, you will see the opposite color.
   • Choosing primary colors when purchasing can be difficult. Look for magenta that does not contain white or blue pigments (PW and PB). The best pigments are violet and red pigments such as PV19 and PR122. Good cyan PB15:3. PB15 and PG7 are also good. If you need artist paints or glazes, you can try using a printer to match the colors. Print a sample from your computer to take with you to the store, or look for primary colors on the sides of a cereal or cookie package.
   • You need one color triangle of colors that provide visual balance to the painting, and another color triangle to identify pairs of colors that neutralize each other, since the complementary colors for these tasks are slightly different. So, ultramarine goes well with lemon yellow and other beautiful yellows, but to darken those yellows, use purple. More information on this subject can be found online.
   • How many tubes with different colors actually needed to paint a picture? In Jean-Louis Morell's book about watercolor painting shows how, using the cyan-yellow-magenta color triangle, you can get almost any desired color from just four or five, but this can also be done using the above three plus white (paper is used as white in watercolor painting)!
     • The best range of shades can be obtained by mixing colors close to the CMY primary colors, but to get a darker shade, one - or better yet, two - must be darker than these primary colors, for example, Persian blue or cobalt blue, alizarin crimson.
   • What are you writing? The colors you need depend entirely on what you're writing. For example, ultramarine, Neapolitan yellow, burnt sienna and whitewash are useful for distant landscapes if bright greens and yellows are not needed.

   What you will need

   • Palette - a disposable paper palette works well.
   • Palette knife (any size)
   • Watercolor paper or primed canvas (you can buy these from your local art store; ready-made primed canvas works well)
   • Containers with water or solvent for washing brushes
   • Synthetic brush of your choice (#8 round or #6 flat works well)
   • Spray bottle to keep water-based paints from drying out
   • Paper towels for removing dirt and cleaning brushes
   • Color circle
   • Paints
   • A robe or an old shirt that you don’t mind getting dirty
   • Gloves

To get purple, you need to mix red and blue, or red and blue containing tones, the main thing is that they do not have a yellow undertone, which, as an additional color to purple, will give a grayish or brown undertone to the resulting paint.
To get purple you need pure colors, and even then the result will be paler than its derivatives, and if you need to lighten and darken the paint, the resulting product will be of the third order and even paler. Based on this, it is better to create shades of purple from the purple paint included in the kit.

How to get purple dye?

Mix red and Blue colour and we get dark purple
Bright red and rich, dark indigo result in a dark, almost black purple. Moreover, even diluting it with white, it will reluctantly lighten to a gray-violet hue.

Dark blue “devours” all the lightness and saturation of the brightness of red, and even if we increase the influence of the second (adding red to the resulting violet tone), we will not get purple or rich red-violet, but an almost barely visible eggplant color in its darkening. If you dilute it with white, you get a grey-red-violet color.

Mix red and blue to create a medium purple

Deep reds and strong blues result in a medium violet, which is much more sensitive to the addition of undertones.

From medium purple you can already get rich plum and its lighter colors:

Mix pink and blue colors to get lilac, amethyst
To achieve lighter yet richer shades of purple, the best option to obtain it is to mix warm pink and rich blue, as a result we will get a light lilac that is easy to whiten and will not significantly lose its expression.

This way you can create a whole spectrum of pastel colors.
Red will help you achieve amethyst tones.

How to create vibrant shades of purple when mixing colors?

All shades of purple obtained using red and blue containing tones do not differ in brightness. Therefore, in a set of 12 colors there is always a bright lilac from which you can build the entire diverse range that the purple palette contains.
A rich, cool dark purple can be created by mixing bright purple and dark indigo.

Rich blue-violet or cornflower blue is obtained by mixing with blue.

Pronounced amethyst is produced from warm pink.

Purple, berry - from the main tone + rich red.

Bright cormorant will be a derivative of lilac + red + indigo.

You should not use yellow and all yellow-containing tones (orange, green, brown, etc.) in constructing shades of purple, since it is an additional color, as a result of mixing which we will get brown.

Light shades are also much more convenient to obtain from the paint available in the arsenal.

It is better not to use black to obtain dark purple shades, as it quickly clogs the shade to dark gray. Dark indigo is more suitable for this.

Table for obtaining purple shades when mixing colors

This table will show you how a color should theoretically behave when mixed with other tones. This will help you navigate your experiments with beauty.

In the center is the color from which the construction is based, around it there are colors that will subsequently be mixed with the main one in the indicated proportions: the first circle of purple flowers are mixed with the front ones in a forgiven ratio of 100% to 50%, the next circle after them: at the end of the beam tint from 100% to 20%, from it the darkened and shaded tones are 20% white and 20% black.

How to get other colors and their shades: theory and practice. Click on the icon.