Home Forums The Learning Center Color Theory and Mixing 1500 color mixing recipes for oil, acrylic & watercolor by William F Powell

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  • #455853
    Mario_K
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        Hi all,
        I just received my copy in the post today.
        Someone here recommended this to me.
        Does anyone use this book?
        Thoughts? Did you find it helpful?

        My paintings are shown on the following:
        https://www.instagram.com/mario_knez_artist/
        https://www.facebook.com/marioknezartist

        #620045
        Gigalot
        Default

            Color mixing is unpredictable. Books can help about nothing! :lol:
            The most useful recommendation for me is scientific article about “how to use Phtalo Blue paint and Phthalo Green paint”
            Do not add weak paint into strong paint. Always add a touch of Phthalo into a paint pile of Yellow Ochre for example. Unless you can waste a lot of paint. If you can’t mix Phthalo green or Phthalo blue with Yellow ochre anyway, then mix Phthalo and Yellow Ochre 1:1 and then use such mixture to mix proper color instead of using pure Phthalo pigment.
            Another good way is to mix 1 part of Phthalo Blue with 2 parts of Calcium Carbonate/linseed oil paste. Then use such mixture for your color mixing purpose. I can’t find anything better for portrait underpainting color mixing.
            If anybody will say to you that Phthalo paint is “overpowering”, then always remember this scientific Phthalo mixing recommendation! :)

            ”If you can mix Phthalo Blue or Phthalo Green, then you can mix successfully any color from any paint”

            #620040
            Patrick1
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                Thanks Giga. Yeah.

                Mario, I checked page samples online and it looks very good. William Powell is an awesome artist, so it would be useful to have insight into his color usage. I am one who believes in the value of making permanent color mixing samples for reference, in the medium(s) you use. Reading is good – using real paint is better! Try some of the exercises with paint, for future reference. They will help guide you in the years to come. I’m not a fan of using precise numerical mixing ratios (as in this book) because tinting strength varies among brands/lines, and the usefulness of tweaking a color mix according to need. Nonetheless, these recipes are valuable, and often offer ways to mix a needed color in ways you might never have thought of.

                In the painting process, you 1) first decide what color you want (this is the creativity, the hard part), 2) then you decide how to mix it. Knowing how to easily mix the color you want, rather than fumbling through lots of trial & error, is what knowledge of color mixing will enable. Color mixing in practise is part knowledge of how colors mix in color space, part recalling previous mixing results.

                #620047
                Humbaba
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                    Hi,

                    I own this book, and I used it several years ago, it was helpful for what I was trying to accomplish, but now is just in a drawer just in case I am in a really big hurry.

                    The recipes are not 100% accurate due to the different brands of paint I use.

                    The book can spoil your creativity, and self sufficient intellect. I ended up purchasing a color theory book to actually learn to do it myself:
                    “Teoria del Color” by Parramon (Color Theory).

                    #620052
                    Docpro
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                        None of us are wise!

                        Gigalot is correct! I’ll add: Most-all coloring books seem to me written by lazy arm-chair theorists, not true scientists nor seasoned artists. I’m a lazy 61 y/o hypocrite to be sure … but who loves color laws, color precepts, and color judgements.

                        I can barely mix drippy Prussian blue with nice warm colors … let alone filthy drippy staining phthalo blues (no longer welcome on my palette (after 40+ years of blue-painting))

                        And … take into account natural-blue-lighting and hue-tint changes … and all the recipe books may be duly rejected … and nigh unto cursing … whose end is to be burned.

                        IOWs:

                        For limited palette: Use something like Delo’s color ‘primary’ triad to be safe from gan-greens and muddy mayhem:

                        PW6 (Tit white) … PY110 (Iso-Indian transparent yellow) … any Prussian … + your fav PR101 (burnt red or such)

                        … and my latest fav: Holbein’s Cad-Orange-Red-Shade (to scumble back in some lost inner-glow from chalky pigment residues)

                        Utmost blessings!
                        Philip

                        #620048
                        marksmomagain
                        Default

                            I like his books, and those of many other artist/authors, also. I have several by Parramon, in fact lots of color theory and technique books. I find most all of them at thrift stores, estate sales and the like, as they tend to be out of print. To me they are almost like gold. I learn from them all, and of course, experiment on my own. I have charts according to what Powell, Parramon and other artists recommend and teach, and I have charts I made up myself.

                            I read my first Powell and Parramon books 25+ years ago. They still hold a prominent place on my shelf. Neither has ever spoiled my creativity (no other book has, either).

                            It’s all good. keep reading and experimenting on your own. They all offer something.

                            #620041
                            WFMartin
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                                In my experience, “recipes” for mixing colors usually fail miserably.

                                There are several reasons for this. One is that colors of paint vary quite substantially from brand to brand, as someone has already mentioned, I believe. So, “one portion of Raw Sienna” from one company may not even be the same color as that from another company.

                                But, the major problem with the “recipe approach” is that of determining the quantities. How in the world would one actually measure “one portion” of Thalo Blue? There is not a measuring device small enough to be able to measure the small quantities of Thalo Blue that would be practical when mixing a recipe requiring Thalo Blue as one of its ingredients.

                                Combine that with the fact that quantities of color, and quantities of paint are two quite different factors. We need to be working with quantities of COLOR rather than with quantities of PAINT, and I would not even be able to invent a way of doing that in such an academic fashion.

                                The best way to be capable of mixing a “target color” in the most efficient, and effective way is to merely learn the behavior of the 3 primary colors, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Then learn how to more accurately estimate the contribution of those 3 colors by every tubed color you own! That approach requires a bit of accumulated knowledge, but once learned, you can put your “recipe book” for mixing colors into retirement! The same goes for time-consuming “color charts”. I have never felt the need for either, actually.:)

                                wfmartin. My Blog "Creative Realism"...
                                https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com

                                #620054
                                Mario_K
                                Default

                                    In my experience, “recipes” for mixing colors usually fail miserably.

                                    There are several reasons for this. One is that colors of paint vary quite substantially from brand to brand, as someone has already mentioned, I believe. So, “one portion of Raw Sienna” from one company may not even be the same color as that from another company.

                                    But, the major problem with the “recipe approach” is that of determining the quantities. How in the world would one actually measure “one portion” of Thalo Blue? There is not a measuring device small enough to be able to measure the small quantities of Thalo Blue that would be practical when mixing a recipe requiring Thalo Blue as one of its ingredients.

                                    Combine that with the fact that quantities of color, and quantities of paint are two quite different factors. We need to be working with quantities of COLOR rather than with quantities of PAINT, and I would not even be able to invent a way of doing that in such an academic fashion.

                                    The best way to be capable of mixing a “target color” in the most efficient, and effective way is to merely learn the behavior of the 3 primary colors, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Then learn how to more accurately estimate the contribution of those 3 colors by every tubed color you own! That approach requires a bit of accumulated knowledge, but once learned, you can put your “recipe book” for mixing colors into retirement! The same goes for time-consuming “color charts”. I have never felt the need for either, actually.:)

                                    The book comes with a reusable mixing chart at the back, like a ruler with grids. Thanks for the tip!

                                    My paintings are shown on the following:
                                    https://www.instagram.com/mario_knez_artist/
                                    https://www.facebook.com/marioknezartist

                                    #620055
                                    Mario_K
                                    Default

                                        Thank you all for your replies.
                                        I am new to painting so this is all new to me.

                                        My paintings are shown on the following:
                                        https://www.instagram.com/mario_knez_artist/
                                        https://www.facebook.com/marioknezartist

                                        #620044
                                        wal_t
                                        Default

                                            I have no comment on the book as I didn’t read it … I find the books on color mixing in general not so useful to learn anything …. you might want to have a look at the video from Mark Carder from the “DrawMixPaint” website (many other usefull videos there too)

                                            Walter

                                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNB3XY67Q-I

                                            #620056
                                            Mario_K
                                            Default

                                                Thanks Walter.
                                                Yeah I’ve checked out his videos before.

                                                My paintings are shown on the following:
                                                https://www.instagram.com/mario_knez_artist/
                                                https://www.facebook.com/marioknezartist

                                                #620062
                                                rorow
                                                Default

                                                    I’m new to painting too Mario. I bought this book and it sat unused for months because when I followed the recipes it didn’t match the colours in the book.
                                                    But now, I finally found a way to make it work for me. I recently found Paul Foxton’s video https://youtu.be/TPDmhcKZhjU he uses munsell chips to check his mixture against, which is what I use the book for. When I plan out my colours, I use the book as a target reference. I mix till I hit the colour, value and chroma.
                                                    This allows me to practice mixing while having a wide range of colours because as a newbie, colours in my reference pics still get the better of me. Practice makes better I guess.

                                                    #620060
                                                    sykirobme
                                                    Default

                                                        My girlfriend bought me this book as a birthday present several months ago. I used it primarily as a guide to making certain colors rather than a set of prescriptive recipes…not “oh I need this much alizarin crimson” but “ok, I start with a gob of a cool red, what in my palette fills that role” for example. It helped me learn some fundamentals of color mixing.

                                                        I will say the section on skin tones was helpful, too.

                                                        #620051
                                                        bongo
                                                        Default

                                                            did Mr. Powell personally mixed all 1500 receipts?

                                                            http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/18-Sep-2019/1999899-sigsmall.jpg
                                                            STUDIOBONGO

                                                            #620059
                                                            Ted B.
                                                            Default

                                                                But now, I finally found a way to make it work for me. I recently found Paul Foxton’s video [url]https://youtu.be/TPDmhcKZhjU[/url] he uses munsell chips to check his mixture against, which is what I use the book for. When I plan out my colours, I use the book as a target reference. I mix till I hit the colour, value and chroma.

                                                                Paul Foxton’s videos were a revelation a year ago to me, changed my view about Color entirely. I had already seen Mark Carder’s on mixing paint and color-checking, but Paul’s changed my worldview on “seeing color” when it came to oil painting. It also favorably changed my appreciation of Mark’s videos as-well. Both series are worth re-watching a few times as you’ll appreciate the subtleties more in retrospect.

                                                                I’m still digesting and synthesizing how it applies to watercolor. But it’s made me more aware of how landscape is much lower in chroma and value than it appears. I’d recommend buying one of the student Munsell books over a recipe book …you don’t need the expensive big book… and experimenting and learning how your paints mix on the palette and canvas.

                                                                Even just printing-out good quality Munsell charts for yourself is valuable. It’s as much how to “see” color as whether-or-not your 5YR page exactly matches the ones in the book precisely. It’s how the color changes in hue-value and chroma that’s relevant. Some of the manufacturers are now labeling their paint’s Munsell notation or have the information availble online. Several now have tube-grays available that are accurate Munsell neutrals in oils and in acrylics.

                                                                Radical Fundemunsellist

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