Let’s get out our paints and practice mixing luminous, rich blacks.
For these exercises I used the following pigments by Daniel Smith:
- Hansa Yellow Light – a cool lemony yellow
- Quinacridone Rose – a cool magenta red
- Phthalo Blue GS – a cool blue
- New Gamboge – a warm golden yellow that leans toward orange
- Transparent Pyrrol Orange – a true transparent warm red
- French Ultramarine – a warm blue that leans toward red
- Burnt Sienna – a warm brown that leans toward orange
Mixing a deep, dark, cool black
For this easy black that leans toward the cooler spectrum, we’ll use almost equal parts Hansa Yellow Light, Quinacridone Rose and Phthalo Blue GS. Here’s how:- With a wet brush, pick up plenty of Phthalo Blue and make a nice pool of pigment on a mixing plate.
- Then, rinse your brush, pick up an equal amount of the Quinacridone Rose and mix them together to create a really deep, rich violet.
- Finally, rinse your brush and pick up plenty of the Hansa Yellow Light and begin to mix them all together.
Basic watercolor instructions