Little color mixing tip

Visual Realm

Skull King
Just thought id share one of the ways i go about mixing up a custom color that youre trying to match. Sometimes the color will just be a hair darker than the usual colors used. What i do is i find the darkening color that i need to use and just simply overreduce it to break down the dominance of the darker color to mix in. Depending on how dark you need to make this color, depends on how much you reduce it. I do this a separate mixing cup before mixing the color together. Then i will just add a little bit of this darkening color as i mix it to bring it up to the tone im looking for.

For example, if i have say a yellowish, brownish color, i will take a cup off the yellow and set it off to the side. Then i a separate cup, i will mix up say an umber and really overreduce it. Then just add a drop or two at a time to bring it up to the tone i want. Using a separate piece of paper to gauge the tone to the tone im looking for. The moral to this is sometimes when using a darker color it can become to dominant even when using just one drop in your mix of the base color. Thus resulting in having to start over in the mixing process, and wasting paint cause you went a bit to dark than what you wanted.

The moral to this is to give you a bit of room to work and have more control in the color youre looking for. Hope this helps anyone who has ever encountered this problem for the future. :encouragement:
 
This kind of info. is invaluable to anyone who is airbrushing with color...
 
Great Tip VR! I do something similar with my black. I have a separate bottle that has a 4 to 1 ratio of Trans Base and Black. Since one drop of black can make a huge difference, it helps to have a bottle of it way over reduced. :)
 
thats almost the same as my technique! Great advice VR!!!
 
Yeah i just thought this might help with the beginners cause i remember when i first started out, i wasted sooooo much paint trying to get a certain color right lol Glad to hopefuully assist!
 
You can go too dark sooo easily. I do something similar to VR, but (particularly when mixing tiny amounts of colour), I dip a fine paintbrush into my darker mix, and then stir the brush into my lighter mix, I may do this a few of times until I get the shade I want, and make a note of how many times I need to do it, in case for some reason I need to match it later. Sometimes a whole drop of paint is just way to much, and this gives me the control to gradually build to the colour I want.
 
Yeah that definetly a good way too Squishy when mixing smaller amounts. I just thought of telling the way i do it for larger amounts when needed for larger areas. For the smallers amounts like you are saying i will just take a little stir stick and dab the side of the mixing cup with the color and and swirl it to catch a little bit at a time to mix it in.
 
I mix while spraying, as Svee said in one of his clips with 'slightly colored water' in many, many layers. You can still go left or right during the process and many layers gives a glacis appearance of depth and brilliance (the hairy brush masters of old used similar techniques, as do the clear lack masters - just put layers on top of each other).
 
Thats doesnt always work in my opinion Ignis, kind of a shot in the dark in that method for what im saying. What i mean is for a certain base color or something of the like that doesnt require layering.
 
Yep, red is one of those colors that I've found is dominant. Try making a very light pink and it is something like 40 drops of white to 1 drop of red.
 
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