With Ease a 5-Step Approach

WELCOME TO MIX GREENS WITH EASE A 5-STEP APPROACH

Excerpt from my forthcoming book: I Just Want to Paint! Easily Mix the Colors You Want

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 1 “Greens are so hard to mix!” It’s a lament I hear often from painters. You don’t like the greens that come out of tubes and you don’t like the mixtures that result from sincere attempts of mixing blue and yellow.

This e-book Mix Greens with Ease: A 5-Step Approach, will release you from this color mixing frustration. Soon you will love to mix green no matter what your medium is.

Sentinels on the Pond, 36x 24 oil, ©Carol A. McIntyre Notice the variety of greens in this painting.

• Like candy, tubes of paint are irresistible. There are many tubes of green available. The overwhelming choices available in the art material candy store makes it diicult to buy paint with color conidence. I remember being frustrated after buying several greens and none of them worked for me because they look so un-natural. • Green appears nearly everywhere in our environments. Hence, we expect it to be easy to mix. • Seeing the subtle diferences in a landscape of multiple greens is not easy. • There is little instruction available on mixing green that can be applied immediately. • There is an on-going debate: I hale from the latter school of thought.

You are not alone, even Kermit bemoans the challenges of being green, yet ultimately surmises that green is beautiful! Can you mix Kermit’s green? You will be able to if you follow the steps I outline.

“Bein’ Green” (also known as “It’s Not Easy Being Green”)

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold Or something much more colorful like that It’s not easy being green It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things And people tend to pass you over ‘cause you’re Not standing out like lashy sparkles in the water © Jim Henson 1955 Or stars in the sky But green’s the color of Spring And green can be cool and friendly-like And green can be big like an ocean, or important Like a mountain, or tall like a tree When green is all there is to be It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why Wonder, I am green and it’ll do ine, it’s beautiful And I think it’s what I want to be

1. Identify the color bias of your yellows and blues 2. Mix bright greens 3. Mix dull greens 4. Mix a variety of natural-looking greens 5. Choose and simplify your tubes of paint

Step 1: Identify the color bias of your yellows & blues What do I mean by ‘color bias?’ Color bias refers to the color encroachment into a primary color from a neighboring hue on the color wheel. It refers to the additional color the primary color (in this case your yellows and blues), carries or leans toward.

Most primary colors from out of a tube include another color. In other words, they carry a color bias. For example: yellow tubes of paint are either an orange-yellow or a green-yellow and blue tubes of paint are either a green-blue or a violet-blue. There are very few pure colors on the market.

Vocabulary note: the adjectives used to describe color bias are the secondary colors of orange, green and violet. Hence, I use violet-blue instead of a red-blue, and orange-yellow instead of red-yellow throughout this e-book. Using the secondary colors as adjectives is easier to understand when looking at the color wheel.

As you can see in this color wheel, the primary of yellow can be encroached or inluenced by either orange or green. Blue can be encroached by either green or violet.

• How well do you know your tubes of blue and yellow paint? • Do you know the color bias of each?

Now is the time to become intimate and fall in love with your blues and yellows to learn their color biases! They come in all shapes, sizes, and brands. I encourage you to treat every tube of paint as if it is a tool, much like you treat your brushes and palette knives.

• Which ones are encroached by or carry an orange bias? • Which ones are encroached by or carry a green bias?

By identifying the color bias of each tube of yellow, you can start grouping them accordingly.

The best way to evaluate the color bias of your tubes of paint is by comparing color swatches that are side- by-side. Creating a color chart of your yellows similar to the chart below makes it possible to see the color bias of each yellow.

After studying this chart of yellows, can you see their diferences and similarities? Do you see their color biases—they will lean either toward green or orange? It is much easier to see these subtle hue diferences on a chart versus trying to see them on your palette or just looking at the paint tube labels.

Regarding your blues, ask these two questions:

• Which tubes of blue are encroached by or carry a green bias? • Which tubes of blue are encroached by or carry a violet bias?

Here is a sample color chart of blue swatches. As with the yellows, you can see slight diferences as well as similarities between the blues.

Color swatch charts are a great way to become intimate with your paints. Surprises and discoveries often appear because you have all of your colors in one place on a white surface. After you create your chart of yellows and blues, let me know what you discovered. For example, you may notice if you have duplicate hues.

Color Tip: Unlike the yellow and blue charts I have displayed here, I recommend that you label each color swatch with its tube color name and manufacturer when you create your own color chart.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 5 When mixing green, seeing the subtle color bias diferences in the yellows and blues is important in order to determine which ones to use. To the untrained eye, this can be a challenge. With practice and study it becomes easier. Seeing is a skill which does not take long to acquire. Soon you will be in a grocery store noticing the variety of greens in the produce section or looking up into an open blue sky and seeing the gradation of green-blue to violet-blue.

The more you paint and mix colors, your skills in seeing will increase. Stopping to consciously observe the world around you will also build your skills. When mixing, pay more attention to color bias of each primary tube of paint and less to its name. For example, say to yourself, “I need a green-yellow for this mixture.” Don’t say, “I need my cadmium yellow light.” When you start consciously stating the color bias of primary you need, your color mixing will become more proicient.

Disclaimer: Because you are reading this document on the computer, you may not be seeing the colors as I describe them. This is usually caused by an inaccurate calibration of your color monitor.

Color bias is the key concept to mixing color because it directly impacts the results of your color mixing. It will make the diference between mixing clean colors versus muddy colors. Once you experience mixing clean colors your levels of frustration will decrease signiicantly.

Let me explain why.

This understanding begins with remembering the pairs of color opposites: The opposite of Yellow is Purple The opposite of Blue is Orange The opposite of Red is Green

What happens when you mix the color opposites of green and red? They start to dull each other, right? The parent colors of red and green decrease in intensity as soon as a bit of its opposite is mixed with it as seen here. Ultimately, they mix into a brown or a black as evident in the middle swatch.

Herein lies the secret! It isn’t a secret per se, but it is crucial to successfully mixing greens.

Color Tip: When the yellow and blue used to mix green carry some red in them, the resulting green will not be bright and clean because you are mixing color opposites.

When I learned this secret, I experienced a wonderful sense of relief, release and elation! I never dreaded mixing greens again.

As mentioned, comparing swatches of color within the same hue family will further develop your ability to see color. To expand upon this, consider creating a color bias color chart like the one at right.

I have grouped my yellows and blues according to their color bias. From this chart, choose two yellows and two blues—each carrying a diferent color bias. Also, the color bias of these paints needs to be obvious—the more extreme the better. You want: a green-yellow, an orange-yellow, a green-blue and a violet-blue. If you do not have one of each, you need to buy what you do not have. The need for these four tubes of paint is explained further in Step 3.

Color Tips: Cobalt is not is good choice for one of your blues because it does not carry a strong obvious color bias. Most blues on the market carry a green bias. Very few blues carry a violet bias.

Now that you know the color bias of all of your yellows and blues and have chosen your paints, you will begin mixing natural-looking greens with ease. It’s a delightful color journey.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 7 Step 2: Mix bright greens When mixing greens that relect our natural world, we need a wide variety of hues. This includes bright clean greens as well as dull and dark greens.

Starting with mixing bright greens, which yellows and blues are going to result in the brightest greens? A or B?

A. Mixing a green-yellow with a green-blue? OR B. Mixing an orange-yellow with a violet-blue?

The correct answer is A.

Why? Because neither of the primaries in A carry the color bias of red which is the color opposite of green.

Here are three bright greens I mixed with a green-yellow and a green-blue. The second green from the left has a larger quantity of yellow in it, whereas the second green from the right has a larger quantity of blue. This is a dual color mixture aiming to create variations of hues with diferent ratios of a green-yellow and a green-blue.

Now, mix a green-yellow with a green-blue from YOUR assortment of paints.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 8 Try diferent combinations of your green-yellows with your green-blues. For example, mix cerulean blue with a cadmium light or a Prussian blue with a Hansa yellow. You are in store for some delightful surprises. Enjoy the discoveries and let me know what you learn.

Another variation would be to mix with just one green-yellow, but then mix it with all of the green-blues you have. Notice which combinations you prefer. The following image shows various bright greens working with watercolor. In the right hand column, I mixed the same yellow with cerulean made by two diferent manufacturers. You can see the slight diference in the bright green.

Color mixing charts like these help you to decide which yellows and blues you prefer. In my opinion, it’s a lot more satisfying making your own paint choices versus following what an instructor or another artist says to do.

The image at left shows you a variety of bright greens using oils. The green in the second row is not as light because I used a very dark green-blue, yet it is a clean green.

Note: Some of you may want to know exactly which yellows and blues I am using. It isn’t really necessary because we all have a diferent set of paints in our paint box. It’s essential that you become intimate with your tubes of paint. This is the best way you can learn to mix color while expressing your unique visual message.

Ode to be Joyful Campground, 14” x 11” oil, ©Carol A. McIntyre

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 10 Step 3: Mix dull greens Before I describe how to mix dull greens, I want to explain how your primary colors, which carry obvious color biases, relate to one another on a color wheel.

This color wheel is referred to as a Two-Primary Palette because it has two yellows, two blues and two reds. They are strategically chosen because the color bias of each is obvious. As mentioned, you don’t want to use a yellow or blue if it is diicult to see its color bias. The reason for this will soon become apparent.

In Step 2 of my approach, I demonstrated how to mix bright greens. When referencing the color wheel on the previous page, the bright greens were achieved by mixing #2 with #3—a green-yellow with a green-blue.

Referring to the color wheel below: #1. Is an orange-yellow #2. Is a green-yellow #3. Is a green-blue #4. Is a violet -blue

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 11 Referring to this Two-Primary Palette color wheel, which combination of yellows and blues are going to produce the dullest greens? The answer is #1 with #4—an orange-yellow with a violet-blue.

Why does mixing an orange-yellow with a violet-blue create duller greens? Because both the yellow and the blue used carry red in it. In this scenario, the color opposites are hard at work dulling each other as they are mixed.

These greens in the next chart can look muddy and sometimes we do not like them because it wasn’t the color we had in our mind’s eye. However, they are perfectly legitimate greens. It’s marvelous when we know how to mix a dull green! Nature is full of dull greens.

How often have you wanted to mix a dull green, but did not know how? Or you dipped your brush into yellows and blues by trial and error hoping for the best? Now you have a strategy.

The left chart shows mixing dull/olive greens working with oils, the right with watercolors. These are luscious natural-looking greens.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 12 Because both of the parent primary colors carry an orange or violet bias—#1 orange-yellow with a #4 violet –blue, you can understand how just a little bit of color encroachment (color bias) impacts your color mixing results.

Which orange-yellow and violet-blue tubes of paint do you currently own? Go ahead and mix them. A typical example would be mixing cadmium yellow (which carries an orange bias) with French ultramarine blue (which carries a violet bias) as seen here. Now you know why you can never achieve a bright clean green using either of these tubes of paint.

Here are additional color charts of bright and dull greens. Try experimenting and discover the potential of your tubes of green-yellow and green-blue.

A Grape Bounty, 22” x 14” watercolor, ©Carol A. McIntyre

There are even more greens to mix using this Mix Greens with Ease Approach. I want you to be able to mix a full range of luscious natural-looking greens.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 14 Step 4: Mix a variety of natural-looking greens In the previous steps, we mixed #2 with #3, and #1 with #4 to achieve bright and dull greens respectively. Let’s expand upon this knowledge.

There are two more yellow and blue combinations to explore.

What hue of green is going to show-up when you mix #2 with #4—a green-yellow with a violet-blue? Will it be bright or dull or somewhere in between?

And what will your greens look like when you mix #1 with #3—an orange-yellow with a green-blue?

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 15 In this green color chart below, I have sectioned a piece of 16” x 12”canvas paper— watercolor paper can also be used—into four quadrants. The four sections relect the four yellow and blue combinations I have described.

Try mixing these yellow and blue combinations using all of your tubes of yellows and blues. Did any surprises surface? Isn’t it fun to see all of the possibilities? Now the trees, leaves, plants, green abstract shapes, landscapes, etc., in your paintings can have lots of variety.

As you look at this chart, perhaps you have discovered how the four diferent combinations relect the four seasons of the year—summer, spring, fall and winter.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 16 I developed this Mix Greens with Ease Approach to make the low of my painting go more easily. I also wanted to mix a variety of natural-looking greens conidently. Teaching and sharing this method with other painters is a joy. I could not have painted “Dancing with Light,” without knowing and implementing this green mixing strategy. No tubes of green were used in this painting.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 17 Step 5: Choose and simplify After reading and working through the previous four steps and creating the corresponding color charts, you: • Know the importance of seeing all of your yellows and blues. • Identiied the color bias of each yellow and blue tube of paint. • Understand how color bias impacts the results of your color mixing. • Mixed and discovered a variety of greens with a few tubes of paint. • Know how color opposites play a role in mixing color.

Fun! Now what?

You may be asking, “I have all of these swatches of greens. How do I remember how I mixed them?” Creating the 4-quadrant green chart is one way to help with this. It’s a great reference. Keep it handy when you paint.

Let’s simplify:

Pick a yellow-green and a blue-green that resonates with you. Next, paint what I call a ‘chromatic scale’ with this pair. Mix a scale of greens using diferent ratios of yellow and blue as shown here. Painting chromatic scales are a great way to explore and discover the potential of your tubes of paint. This exercise also increases color mixing conidence.

The next step of simpliication necessitates mixing an orange with your favorite pair of a green-yellow and a green-blue.

Now, as you can see at left, the green mixtures in the bottom row have become duller greens just by mixing orange. With only three colors—only 3 tubes of paint—many variations of green can be mixed.

Color Tip: When orange is mixed with green, the green immediately becomes neutralized or duller.

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 18 Do the same with your favorite pair of orange-yellow and violet-blue paints. With this pair, mix the greens with an orange. The green becomes even duller, right?

By choosing one pair of yellow and blue that mix into bright greens and one pair that mix into dull greens, you end up with just four tubes of paint. This simpliies color decision making because you have fewer choices. A set of paints could be: Hansa yellow light and cadmium yellow medium, and Prussian blue and ultramarine blue.

A wonderful variety of greens can be mixed with these four tubes of paint. Then by adding a little orange, your green possibilities have expanded signiicantly.

Experiment mixing greens using these four combinations and discover how it opens up possibilities and colorful doors! By simplifying— choosing a balanced number of yellows and blues—you can mix green with ease!

In this palette knife painting, again I mixed a variety of greens while letting some of the orange show through.

When painting on location, I need to pack fewer tubes of paint because of my balanced palette; this is another beneit of knowing this approach to mixing green.

Are you excited about trying out this approach to mixing natural-looking greens? In summary, you have learned to: 1. Identify the color bias of your yellows and blues 2. Mix bright greens 3. Mix dull greens 4. Mix a variety of natural greens 5. Choose and simplify It’s time to be in control of your greens. Now you know what the outcome will be when you select a particular yellow and blue to mix. Hopefully learning how to mix natural-looking greens efectively will convince you that you don’t need to own any tubes of green. For example, you now know how to mix sap green.

When you are ready to buy your next tube of yellow or blue, you’ll go in knowing the color bias you need. By being strategic in choosing the tubes of paint, you will experience more color mixing success. Also, you will be less tempted to buy a sparkling tube of color that you don’t need. LOL!

Color Tip: Remember that few primary tubes of paint—yellows, blues and reds—are pure. In other words, nearly every yellow, blue and red carries a color bias.

These are more examples of my paintings demonstrating how greens can be mixed with ease and conidence when using a balanced palette of strategically chosen yellows and blues.

Thank you for joining me on this colorful journey. Gratefully and colorfully yours, CAROL A. MCINTYRE Artist & Color Expert

© Carol A. McIntyre. All Rights Reserved 21 Good news! Everyone on my e-book list automatically gets irst notiication when my new book— I Just Want to Paint! Easily Mix the Colors You Want—is released. www.CarolAMcIntyre.com • www.CelebratingColor.com/blog • [email protected]

In 1987, Carol McIntyre traded her corporate suits in for an artist’s smock, unlocking the artistic vault she had kept sealed for over 15 years. Driven to develop her painting skills, she became frustrated when she could not ind a color theory instructor. Not to be deterred, she studied color independently which led her to develop live and online courses. Visit www.CelebratingColor. com/blog where she frequently writes about color. As a ine artist, Carol’s watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings have received multiple awards including the cover artist for Watercolor Magazine. She is passionate about helping painters end their frustration with color.

Together, let’s bring more beauty into the world!

Do you want to learn more about color mixing and how to avoid making mud? If so, you are invited to take my online video course produced by Craftsy.com. Click http://craftsy. me/2igakVk to view the introductory video. The course is entitled Acrylic Color Mixing Made Easy! It always sells for less than $40.00. It’s applicable for painters using any tube-based paints—watercolors, oils, water-mixable oils— not just acrylics.