Why Doesn’t Your Color Look Right?

 

Have you ever had a color in your mind and then you go to mix it and you just can’t get it right?

You see other artists mix vibrant purples and greens and oranges and yet you can’t ever seem to get one that’s as bright? ⁠

Ep.11 guest, Mark Eanes says one thing you may want to check is your color’s temperature.

All color sits on a wheel. Some reds, for example, sit closer to yellow and others closer to blue.

That means that some reds, for example, have different temperatures. Some are warm reds and some reds are cool reds.

This matters when you're mixing your paints…especially when it comes to a color’s intensity or saturation. .

Put it Practice

If you mix a secondary color (orange, green, purple) and it’s not as bright as you thought it would be, check the warmth of your colors. A warm red and a cool blue will mix a less saturated color than a cool red and warm blue.

That’s because a cool red and a warm blue are closer on the color wheel and won’t grey each other down as much.

So the next time you’re struggling with mixing the color you see in your head, check the temperatures of your hues. See if you can find two closers that live closer to each other on the color wheel. That may fix the problem.


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