HELLO!

I'M MAKO

Tired of mixing muddy I'll give you a quick overview of the

color wheel, different terms, the
purples and greens?
differences between the primary
With this watercolor mixing cheat colors and why this matters in your
sheet I'll show you why this happens watercolor mixing journey!
so you can either avoid it or use it to
your advantage depending on what I really hope this will help you!
you'd like to paint!

Mako

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 LET'S TALK ABOUT THE
COLOR WHEEL
THE PRIMARY COLORS
You might have heard that the primary colors are red, blue and yellow or that they're
magenta, cyan and yellow. I like to think of them as part of the same color family because in
painting focusing on just one system can be very limiting or frustrating. You'll see why in this
guide a little bit later.

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS
Complementary colors sit directly opposite each other on the
color wheel. If you place them next to each other, they create a
strong contrast, but if you mix them together, you can create a
dull gray, brown or any other neutral color. Because this way you
actually mix the three primary colors together which always
neutralize each other when mixed together! Yellow mixed with
purple ( which is created by mixing red and blue)

Tip:
To make a very intense color a little bit less vibrant, mix in a little bit of its complementary
color
You can use the complementary color to create shadows

ANALOGOUS COLORS
Analogous colors are close to
each other on the color wheel
and can create a color harmony
because they relate to each
other.

But you can also use them to

darken or lighten each other. You
can add yellow to brighten a
yellow-green or you can add
green to darken a yellow-green
color.

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 COLOR TEMPERATURE

cool warm

You can also divide the color wheel into warm and cool colors.

Yellows, oranges and reds are considered warm while green, blues and purples
are considered cool colors. This color temperature refers to the feeling that
you can get when you look at a certain color.

However, within the color families there are both warm and cool colors
depending on what color it leans more towards to.

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 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REDS, YELLOWS & BLUES
For example if a blue contains more red it’s warmer (reddish blue) than a blue
that contains yellow (greenish blue / looks similar to cyan).  The same goes for
red. If it contains more blue it’s cooler (bluish red / looks similar to magenta)
than a red that contains yellow (yellowish red).

This is important to know whenever you want to mix the secondary colors.
Depending on what red, yellow and blue you use, you either get a vibrant or a
muted version. In the overview of the primaries below you'll see cool blues
(similar to cyan) and cool reds (similar to magenta) that play an important role
next to the their family members warm blue and warm red.

You can remember it like this: If the colors lean towards each other it means
they want to mix the same secondary color (vibrant result). If they lean away
from each other, they want different things (dull result). To train your eye you
can look at different colors in the same family.

Yellows:
Cool - greenish yellows (top): Lemon Yellow, Azo Yellow, Hansa Yellow Light 
Warm - reddish yellows (bottom): Cadmium Yellow Deep, Hansa Yellow Deep, New Gamboge

Reds:
Cool - bluish reds (top): Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Rose, Carmine
Warm - yellowish reds (bottom): Organic Vermillion, Pyroll Red, Pyroll Scarlet

Blues:
Cool - greenish blues (top): Phthalo Blue GS, Cerulean Blue, Manganese Blue
Warm - reddish blues (bottom): Ultramarine, Indanthrone Blue, French Ultramarine 

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 LET'S TALK ABOUT
COLOR MIXING
CREATING A MIXING CHART
A basic watercolor palette usually includes a warm and cool version of each primary color
plus a few additional colors. To find out their full potential, you can create a color mixing
chart! Pay close attention to what combinations create dull and vibrant colors! 
With a mixing chart you want to mix each color in the first row with each color in the first
column one by one to get an overview of all the possible mixtures.

COMPLEMENTARY MIXING CHARTS

Another tip, to make colors darker, you can either simply mix the analogous colors as
mentioned earlier, or you can also mix the complementary colors together. This will not only
help you to neutralize the colors but it’ll also help you create darker colors that you can use
for shadows.

CREATE YOUR OWN COLOR RECIPES

If you want to take this even further, you can also create an overview of all the different
purples, greens and oranges you can mix. This way you'll have an overview of all the
secondary and tertiary colors! Experiment with different ratios of different colors and find
your desired result!

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 CREATING PURPLES, ORANGES AND GREENS
To show you that you can easily create multiple purples, oranges and greens using
a limited color palette, I created a few versions using the same colors, but with
different ratios. These mixtures included both warm and cool primary colors. They
allow you to either mix vibrant or more natural colors that you could then use in
your landscape paintings for example!

MIXING PURPLES
French Ultramarine (warm blue) French Ultramarine (warm blue) Quinacridone Rose (cool red)
+ Pyrrol Scarlet (warm red) + Quinacridone Rose (cool red) + Phthalo Blue GS (cool blue)

MIXING ORANGES
Hansa Yellow Light (cool yellow) Hansa Yellow Light (cool yellow) New Gamboge (warm yellow)
+ Quinacridone Rose (cool red) + Pyrrol Scarlet (warm red) + Pyrrol Scarlet (warm red)

MIXING GREENS
Hansa Yellow Light (cool yellow) Hansa Yellow Light (cool yellow) New Gamboge (warm yellow
+ Phthalo Blue GS (cool blue) + French Ultramarine (warm blue) + Phthalo Blue GS (cool blue)

Now go ahead and experiment with your different yellows, blues and reds to see what
colors you can create!

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 DO YOU HAVE MORE
QUESTIONS ABOUT COLORS?
If you need more info or guidance when it comes
to watercolors or watercolor mixing I'm here for
you! In order for me to know exactly how I can
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