I recently posted a blog about colour wheels, and in that post, I focused on three colours and how they mix together – ultramarine blue, cadmium-free yellow medium and cadmium-free red medium. Today, I’m creating a painting using just those three colours. This is a great exercise to help understand the range of colours you […]
Unlock a limited landscape palette using just three colours Read More »
Years ago, I was taking a painting class and the instructor raved about quinacridone/nickel azo gold. I bought myself a tube, then promptly forgot about it. Recently, I heard quinacridone/nickel azo gold was taken off the market. A while later, Golden came out with an alternative paint: azo gold. I picked up a tube to
A replacement for quinacridone/nickel azo gold? Read More »
I’m looking at two pink acrylic paint tubes with the same pigment: PV19, but with different names: quinacridone red and permanent rose. One of the interesting things about learning about pigments is that once you start looking closely at pigments, the more complex you learn they are. Two paint manufacturers may use the same pigment
Choosing the Perfect Pink Acrylic Paint: Quinacridone Red vs. Permanent Rose Read More »
Understanding the basic colour wheel, including its limitations, is a great first step to understanding colour theory and colour mixing. A store-purchased colour wheel shows three primaries, plus the secondaries and tertiary colours. It’s misleading though, so don’t expect to be able to mix the exact colours on the wheel – it’s a guide. There
Colour Wheel 101: First steps to master colour theory Read More »
I’ve had a couple versions of pyrrole red in my pile of acrylic paint colours. When standing in the art store as an absolute beginner, both enticed me with their beautiful reds, each seeming to be a “classic” red. I’ve used them occasionally, but mostly relied on cadmium red and quinacridone magenta as my “warm”
Is pyrrole red acrylic paint worth trying? Read More »
Choosing a green-leaning blue for your palette can be tricky. Do you go for the dark phthalos? Or the paler ceruleans? This blog post looks at cerulean blue and a similar colour: cerulean blue chromium. Both paints are a middle value – not overly dark or pale. Landscape artists particularly love them because they are
Cerulean blue and cerulean blue chromium acrylic – what’s the difference? Read More »
Today I’m taking a closer look at two pale neutral acrylic paints – N8 neutral gray and titan buff. I’ve used titan buff quite extensively and have just recently added N8 neutral gray to my collection. Both are quite pale – they land at about 8 on a value scale from 1-10, with 1 being
When to use N8 Neutral Gray and Titan Buff acrylic paint Read More »
I’ve been examining different similar acrylic paint colours, testing out colour mixes to see how the slight differences in hue might be useful (or not) as an acrylic artist. Today, I’m looking at titanium white and zinc white acrylic paint. These two white colours are the most common white acrylic paints. If you’re a beginner
Titanium white and zinc white acrylic paint – what’s the difference? Read More »
Which gray is the best gray for your paint palette? I’m examining two versions of gray acrylic paint, including one of the most popular: payne’s gray. The second shade of gray is N5 Neutral Gray. Not every artist likes to have a gray paint as part of their acrylic palette. Many do, though, as a
The perfect gray acrylic paint? Read More »
To many, black paint is black paint. They aren’t necessarily that different. But for an artist, you might want to get to understand the different versions of black paint available to you so you can make a worthwhile choice for your palette. In this post, I’m getting to know bone black and ivory black acrylic
Bone black and ivory black acrylic paint – what’s the difference? Read More »
