The Oil Paint Website

Oil Paint Colors

Primary colors

Primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. You can mix virtually any color using these three primary colors. Of course, you can get other colors to help you mix and obtain the colors you desire such as Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, and Naples Yellow.

Many colors are mixed using just two colors. For example, green is mixed from yellow and blue. To make that green a browner green, you add red to your mix.

When mixing colors, you must first put the predominant color on your mixing area first. For example, if you want to mix a reddish orange, you must first put red on your mixing area first, then add yellow. Add a little yellow into the red little by little until you have the desired color. If you put yellow on your mixing area first, then add red, you will end up with a yellowish orange. You then need to add a lot more paint to your mix to make the reddish orange. This will waste more paint than necessary.

White

In oil painting, white paint is often used to make colors lighter. Titanium white is one of the most used in oil painting than other colors.

If you are mixing a light color, you must start with Titanium white and mix into that. If you start with the other color, you may end up having to use a lot more Titanium white than you plan.

Mixing colors come with practice.

After a while you will get the hang of mixing colors. It comes with practice and it does not matter if you color is a little off or if mixing the second time the color is different from the first. Just keep adding to the predominant color until you get the right color.