All art supply stores will carry a wide range of colours in water, acrylic and oils but you often end up with more than you need. It is possible to use just six colours plus white to make any colour you need and if you’re careful make just as much as you need and avoid wastage.
Ok, so all you need is a pot or tube of cool (lemon) and warm yellow, cool (crimson) and warm red, cool (phthalo) and warm (ultra-marine) blue plus white you’ll need a guide for mixing. Using a sheet of art paper put a patch of each of the six colours across the top. To simplify things I’m going to number each colour as follows:-
- Warm Yellow
- Cool Yellow
- Warm Red
- Cool Red
- Warm Blue
- Cool Blue
Mix the colours on the art sheet so that you can keep it for a reference.
You can get four different shades of orange by mixing:-
- 1 and 3
- 1 and 4
- 2 and 3
- 2 and 4
You will get four shades of green by mixing :-
- 1 and 5
- 1 and 6
- 2 and 5
- 2 and 6
You will get brown by mixing 3 and 5 and can change the shade by adding 1 or 2.
Mixing 3 and 6 is a base for dark colours, you can then add the colour you want for a dark shade, it will go to black or to grey when you add white.
You will create purple if you mix 4 and 5 or 4 and 6.
On a six point colour star red is placed on the top, green on the bottom, purple and orange on the two top points, and blue and yellow on the bottom, colours next to each other go well together but opposite colours don’t. For example red and green clash, purple and yellow clash, orange and blue clash but blue and purple go well, red and orange go well and yellow and green go well.
Happy Painting 