Watercolor Mixing Mastery – Use a Primary Palette to Create Unlimited Colors

Class Overview: Learn how to create a multitude of colors from just 3 cool and 3 warm primary watercolors: Brights, Neutrals, Darks, Secondary Colors, and everything in-between can be made from this introductory 6-watercolor tube set made by Daniel Smith. Simplify your watercolor practice without needing to purchase every color separately, and by learning to mix your own colors, it will help you create more harmonious paintings!

PLEASE NOTE: The Daniel Smith watercolors set is NOT a requirement for this course, as just by watching the demonstrations and following along with the paints you have available, you will still get a thorough understanding of mixing colors to create other colors, and you will learn to create more harmonious paintings by limiting your color choices.

What You Will Learn: I will demonstrate creating various colors with these 6 primaries (red, yellow and blue in warm and cool tones), and give you a foundational understanding of color theory and how it helps your paintings.

I will show you how to create bright and subdued secondary colors by creating a warm and a cool value color wheel.  You will also learn how to create vibrant and subdued neutrals in a variety of hues, and even how to mix your own luminous and interesting gray and black colors.

You will learn how to achieve these colors by pre-mixing paint from the tubes, as well as letting them blend wet-into-wet, and also by glazing (transparent layers over dried paint.) 

For the final project, you will learn how to paint an Autumn Leaf by using many of the skills, techniques, and color-mixing knowledge you learned in the previous lessons.

Why You Should Take This Class

If you want to practice fundamental watercolor techniques including wet-in-wet, charging, glazing, and of course learning to mix your own gorgeous colors while learning a little more about color theory, then this course is for you!

You will learn how to create lovely colors that don't turn muddy, just by understanding how these warm and cool colors work with (or against) one another.

When planning colors for your next painting project, you will be able to mix from just 2 or 3 colors, and this will help to bring more color harmony to your artwork.

Who Am I?

I am a self-taught artist, and I have been painting in watercolors for over 20 years.

Although I work fluently in many mediums (watercolors, colored pencils, acrylics, oil paints, and mixed media) my art all expresses a love of color, the natural world, and (quite often) the fantastical and unexpected.

As much as I am in love with creating, I also have a passion for helping other artists through my tutorials on YouTube and courses on my website. I especially love to help beginner watercolor painters go from overwhelmed and frustrated to confident creators who love to paint!

Who This Class is For

This course is suited for beginner to intermediate watercolor painters. Though I teach some fundamental watercolor skills in this course, it is intended for those with at least some understanding of and experience with using watercolors.

Recommended Materials

• Daniel Smith Introductory Paint Set (or other paints you prefer/have on hand)
• 1 -2 quality brushes, round or oval
• Watercolor Paper: Cellulose/Student Grade is fine for color mixing practice, and I recommend cotton paper for the final project

Resources Provided

• A complete materials and supplies PDF, with links to purchase (optional)
• Outline of the Autumn Leaf for the final project
• Large PDF image of the Copyright-Free reference photo of the leaf, from Pixabay.com
• Hi-Res image of my completed leaf painting, for you to refer to as you paint your own!