So … I’ve been playing with my new gouache paints lately. As I’ve written in my first Schmincke gouache blog entry, I bought eight single pigment paints (a warm and cool version of each primary, and two secondaries):
- Lemon Yellow (PY3)
- Indian Yellow (PY153)
- Vermillion Tone (PR255)
- Purple Magenta (PR122)
- Quinacridone Violet (PV19)
- Ultramarine Deep (PB29)
- Helio Blue (PB15:3)
- Helio Green Bluish (PG7)
For tinting purposes, I’m using Winsor & Newton Permanent White (PW6) at the moment.
I have intentionally limited my color palette to force myself to learn about color theory and mixtures. I think the number one mistake I made when I started painting a couple years back was buying too much paint. I find that using a limited selection of single pigment paints and mixing them produces a more unified painting rather than having a hodge-podge of convenience colors that looked out of place on the paper.
After experimenting with my gouache paints, I’ve come up with a color chart:
Schmincke Horadam Gouache Color Mixes
I made the chart using my Pentel Aquash waterbrush, which has a fast water flow to the nib. That is why the colors look a bit diluted.
I have limited my mixes to a maximum of only three pigments to avoid producing muddy colors. Using my basic palette of eight pigments, I can produce a variety of browns. This is my reason for not getting Schmincke’s earth paints, because since they are listed as convenient colors, I could do better and mix my own.
My favorites among the mixes are the oranges. Tinting them with titanium white produces some nice peach hues that I can use for skintones. Another favorite is Ultramarine Deep + Indian Yellow, a very complex warm grey.
As for blacks, I can use Vermillion Hue + Helio Green Bluish or Quinacridone Violet/Purple Magenta + Indian Yellow + Ultramarine Deep.
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