WHICH PAINT COLOURS DO I NEED?

When you go into an art shop or look online you see an enormous range of paints and paint colours.  It is hard to know which ones to buy to get you started.  This is not an exact science so I am just going to keep it fairly simple but tell you my personal preferences and why I like them. 

Of course in times gone by, sourcing pigments and making paints was a major part of any artist’s work.  All we have to do today is buy them but they are expensive and we don’t want to waste paint. 

The makes that I have suggested are top quality and are expensive so look for special offers.  If your budget doesn’t run to those then buy a student version or cheaper paints.  Just get yourself started.

THE COLOUR WHEEL

Colour Wheel

PAINT COLOURS TO GET YOU STARTED

In the online Colour Mixing Course we obviously go fully into paint colours and why we use each one.  

We learn why the Colour Wheel to the left helps us know which colour to use.

So first of all we want to look at the colour wheel and the 3 primary colours:-

REDS, BLUES AND YELLOWS.

REDS.  We want a red from each end of the red section so a bright scarlet red which sits at the yellow/orange end of the reds, e.g.  CADMIUM RED MEDIUM and a magenta which sits at the blue/purple end of the reds, e.g. MAGENTA.

BLUES.  We want a blue from each end of the blue section so a green blue that sits at the green end of the blues, e.g. TURQUOISE OR TEAL and a blue that sits at the pink/purple end of the blues e.g. ULTRAMARINE BLUE which is also called French Ultramarine Blue.

YELLOWS.  We want a yellow that sits at the red/orange end of the yellows e.g. CADMIUM YELLOW MEDIUM and we want a yellow that sits at the green/blue end of the yellows e.g. LEMON YELLOW or CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT.

The above 6 make our basic mixing colours.  

Then we can add WHITE, BURNT UMBER (brown) and YELLOW OCHRE or RAW SIENNA.  Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna are very similar and they are very useful for muting and softening colours as is Burnt Umber.  Strictly speaking there is no true white watercolour as it is opaque and therefore really classified as a gouache.  Add black as well if you like using it.  It is not needed for colour mixing but can be used as a stand alone colour.  My preference to using black is to mix Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue.  Perhaps give that a try.

In watercolour, my favourite make is Winsor and Newton and in Acrylics my favourite make is Golden.  Every manufacturer names their colours slightly differently so these would be my exact choices.

WINSOR AND NEWTON WATERCOLOURS

GOLDEN ACRYLIC PAINTS

CADMIUM SCARLET

QUINACRIDONE MAGENTA

CADMIUM YELLOW

CADMIUM LEMON

COBALT TURQUOISE

FRENCH ULTRAMARINE

TITANIUM WHITE

BURNT UMBER

RAW SIENNA

LAMP BLACK – optional

CADMIUM RED LIGHT

QUINACRIDONE MAGENTA

TEAL

ULTRAMARINE BLUE

CADMIUM YELLOW MEDIUM

CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT

TITANIUM WHITE

BURNT UMBER

RAW SIENNA

CARBON BLACK – optional

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