Painting: How to Know What Colors are What

Paint Colors Can Be Confusing. Here is How Know What Colors You Are Buying

Why is Buying Oil Paints So Confusing?

If you have ever had a to buy paints, gone to the art store and found yourself  staring at the paints wondering why so few have the same names for their paint colors. It's a problem that has plagued the art world since they began manufacturing oil paint over 150 years ago. Companies are more interested in great sounding color names than accurate color descriptions. So let's demystify some of the ambiguity.

Here are some ways of buying the correct colors

1. Every paint color lists the pigment or pigments used to make that tube color(it's required by law). Not only the pigment name is listed but also the color index number. So for instance I need to find a paint color Phalo Blue,  the problem is the manufacturer paint names for this color varies. Here are some of the common names across manufacturers : Thalo blue, Monestial Blue, Winsor Blue, Monastral Blue, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phalo Blue,  Heliogen Blue, Intense Blue, Old Holland Blue, Rembrandt Blue. I however know the color  pigment name is Copper Thalocyanine  and that color index number is PB15 or PB16(either works but one is greener and the other slightly bluer). By looking at the pigment name or the color index number listed on the paint tubes you can be sure you have the right color no matter what. 

Below I list some of the paint colors whose names vary the most between manufacturers

The paints that vary the most in terms of paint names are the following:

Thalo Blue - copper phthalocyanine - PB 15 or PB 16

Hansa Yellow Light - Arylide yellow - PY 3

Hansa Yellow Medium - Arylide yellow PY 74

Hansa Yellow Deep - Arylide yellow PY 75

Thalo Green - copper phthalocyanine -PG7 or PG36

Thio Voilet - Quinacridone  - PR122

Thalo Rose- Quinacridone  - PV19

Dioxizine Purple- carbazole dioxazine - PV23

Be Aware of Color Hues

"Color Hues"- Cadmium, cobalts and Chromes are all paints made with metals. Many companies make paints that look similar to these colors they are less expensive but don't mix the same as the real paints. These are named "hues" such as Cadmium Red Light Hue. These paints don't actually contain any cadmiums, cobalts or chromes. Don't buy the "hues" if you can avoid it. They are harder to control as a beginning or intermediate painter.

Metal Paints are Always named Accurately

The good news is the Classic metals paints are always named by their pigments names. So for example it will says it's Cadmium Red Light or Cadmium Red Light Medium, Cobalt Blue or Chrome Yellow and so forth, you will know you are buying the actual metals based paints. Use these tips and save yourself a lot of headaches at the art store.

Painting: How to Mix Sensitive Grays

Mixing those Wonderful Grays

Colors in nature are rarely straight out of the tube. Your primary and secondary colors are too intense to look natural. When painting, you are constantly modifying your colors and graying their intensity to create paintings that are harmonious.

First, lets look at the definitions of color.

Primary Colors - These colors cannot be mixed. They are the colors from which all other colors are made. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.

Secondary Colors - These colors are mixed from the primary colors. The secondary colors are orange, green, and purple.

Tertiary Colors - These colors are the steps between the primary and secondary colors. The tertiary colors are red orange, yellow orange, red purple, blue purple, yellow green, and blue green.

Complimentary Colors - Colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel. The compliment of red is green. The compliment of blue is orange.

Analogous Colors - Colors near one another on the color wheel. Analogous colors of red are purple and orange. Analogous colors of green are yellow and blue.

 

Color wheel with Primary and Secondary Colors

Each color has three characteristics.

Hue- The hue of a color is what color family the color belongs to. Is it red, yellow, blue, green, orange, or purple?

Value - How dark or light a color is.

Chroma - Is the intensity of a color, how bright or dull a color is.

Grays are essential to give your painting structure and depth. Grays are more than those neutral battleship grays. Every color has its highest saturation point or intensity. As the intensity of a color drops, it is referred to being "grayed down". Browns are actually dark reds or oranges, where the intensity and value have been lowered.

"The Color Red as it Moves to Gray"


 Anytime you want to knock down the intensity of a color, in other words create "grayed color", add the color's complimentary color. For instance, if you want to make a red less intense add green and you will get grayed reds. Continue adding green and you will get brown, which is also a grayed red.

"Red as You Add More Amounts of Green"




Pushing a color more towards neutral gray is a multi-step process (and can be tricky for beginners). First add the color's compliment (such as green added to red), which will give you a red-brown. Next add its analogous color (in this example, blue or violet will work). Adding the analogous color will neutralize your mixture's intensity even more. Then add white to lighten the color, because most neutral grays are a middle to light value. To simplify: Primary + compliment = brown. Brown + analogous color = more grayed, less intense color. Add white to change its value (lighten). This takes practice and experience. In our example above, where we grayed a red by adding green (its compliment) we can push it more towards neutral gray, by adding an analogous color, such as blue, and white. Again, with white you change the mixture's value, with the analogous color (blue in this example) you change the color's hue slightly. Keep going and eventually you will get a neutral gray, but notice the range of color between red and neutral gray. Use this technique to achieve colors in that range.

Get out your paints and practice mixing color with their complimentary colors. See the variations of color you can make. The possibilities are endless.

"Red to Green color Mixtures"

"Orange to Blue color Mixtures"

"Purple to Yellow Mixtures"


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