I used to have Buff Titanium but I don’t anymore. Its light tan color is useful and convenient because it’s common in nature, but I didn’t like the opaque, chalky way that it mixed. It is basically white, after all. Still, many artists like it. Jane Blundell talks about using it for sand, along with Goethite Brown Ochre. Claire Giordano uses buff titanium for desert/canyon scenes, as a base for sandstone rocks. It works really well, and while working one of her Capitol Reef scenes, I actually went so far as to put another tube of Buff Titanium in my cart… but then I challenged myself to make some light tan mixes with colors I already had, just to see if I might like them better.
Mixes
Spring Triad Variations
In Seasonal Triads, I landed on a triad of Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), Imidazolone Lemon (PY175), and Cobalt Turquoise (PG50) for my spring triad. But this isn’t the only one I tried. Here are my spring triad outtakes. Because I changed the colors one-at-a-time, they provide an object lesson in how subtly one color change can change the triad.
Seasonal Triads
Awhile back, I proposed green mixes for all four seasons, based on my observations of foliage in the Northeast US. Recently I thought, hey, I’m two-thirds of the way to a triad there, why not just fit a red to each of those? So I did. Here are my seasonal triads!
Pinks Revisited
Last year, I made a post exploring different pink colors I could make with my paints. My palette has changed a lot since then and it’s cherry blossom season again, so I decided to give it another shot.
Mixing Dark Reds
Dark red is a hue I often have trouble mixing. Adjacent colors, like brownish brick red or deep violet, are easier, but I struggle with that juicy, velvety, true dark red – think wine, roses, and black cherries. Or for a less poetic-sounding option, skunk cabbage!
Mix Your Own Bordeaux Lookalike
When I was recently trying to mix a Perylene Violet hue, Bordeaux (PV32) was one of the colors I used. Then I realized I had it backward: Bordeaux is LF2 and not as lightfast. Anyone trying to replace less-lightfast colors with more-lightfast colors would be trying to go the other way round. So I thought I’d try and make a Bordeaux hue with more lightfast colors.
Mix Your Own Perylene Violet Lookalike
Occasionally I come across color mixes that look like “perylene violet” to me. I’m also not the biggest fan of the paint, so I’m motivated to find a way to replace it. Here are some color mixes I’ve tired to emulate a Perylene Violet hue. In the upper left is Daniel Smith’s Perylene Violet. From … Read more
Mix a Chromium Oxide Green Lookalike
Chromium Oxide Green (PG17) is an extremely opaque, lightly granulating single-pigment dull green. It’s a nice color for desert plants, but not the only nice color, and I haven’t found another use for it. So, I’ve been wondering if I want to remove it from my extended palette. I sometimes feel when I’m making color spotlights that I accidentally mix a hue. So let’s try mixing a hue on purpose.
Mix Your Own Alizarin Crimson Hue
Alizarin Crimson is a notoriously beautiful and fugitive pigment. Many people now use Quinacridone Rose (PV19), Carmine (PR176), or other alternatives, but the color is often pinker and not as deep. So how can we mix a hue?
While I don’t have the original Alizarin Crimson (PR83) to compare to, I’m using Da Vinci Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19) as a point of comparison (upper left).
Here’s what I came up with.
Mixing Mauve for Watercolor Clouds
Last time I looked at purple mixes, I fell most in love with the vibrant ones. Recently, though, in my efforts to make more subtle watercolor sky & sunset colors, I’ve been trying to find my favorite mixes for mauve, aka dull purple.