Notes on Choosing Your Colors

On Monday, we’ll cover something called color bias - the idea that every color leans either warm or cool. This is one of the most important foundations of color mixing, and it’s what allows you to mix with intention instead of guessing.

Although all colors technically lean warm or cool (with a tiny few exceptions, like cobalt blue), not every pigment is ideal for learning how colors interact. For Color Week, we’re focusing on colors that clearly demonstrate bias and behave predictably when mixed.

Some pigments - while beautiful - are not a great fit for this week:

• Very dark colors (like Prussian blue)

• Very earthy colors (like yellow ochre or Venetian red)

• Natural, soil-based pigments

These colors are wonderful to explore later - and you absolutely will - but for now, they make learning color mixing harder than it needs to be. For Color Week, please choose from the recommended lists above.

You do not need high-quality or professional-grade paints for Color Week. Student-grade paints are completely fine.

Once you choose your six primaries, label each tube or pan with either a C (for cool) or W (for warm) with permanent marker. This will make for a much smoother learning experience!

For example, label your warm blue (ultramarine) with a "W", your cool red (alizarin or carmine) with a "C", etc. Don't worry about potentially labeling it incorrectly, we’ll confirm everything together during Color Week.

Step 2: Prepare your Work Space and your Supplies

Work Space:

For Color Week, you'll need plenty of space to spread out with ample lighting. Stake your claim for the week at the dining room table and open up the blinds!

If you need to find a good lamp or other lighting fixtures to illuminate your space, it's worth it. Dim or too warm of lighting will make it more difficult to learn your colors.

Supplies:

• Paints (selected in Step 2 above)
• Paintbrush - not too big, not too small, not too specialized. A medium-sized round brush works great like #4, #6, #8. A flat, filbert, or mop brush works, too. Avoid specialized brushes like riggers, liners, or fan brushes.
• Palette*
• Palette knife (if mixing with oil, acrylic, or gouache)
• Wash water jars (preferably two so your colors stay nice and clean)
• A rag
• Painting surface (watercolor paper or canvas paper)**
• A pencil

*Palette note: We'll be doing a lot of color mixing so you'll want enough space to mix without your colors running together. If you don't have a large palette with plenty of space to keep your paints separate, you could gather a few extra plates or bowls/containers.

**Painting surface note: An 8.5x11" watercolor journal or loose sheets would be ideal for all mediums so you can take notes on your paintable surface.

You'll want plenty of painting surface(s) to explore colors with (i.e. multiple sheets of watercolor or canvas paper).

If you're using watercolor paper, use preferably a minimum of 140 lb cotton paper.

If you're using oil or acrylic, you can still use the recommended watercolor paper to make swatches and explore mixing. Or, you could use canvas paper sheets. The surface just needs to support the paint (and not dissolve) and be writable as well. Regular writing or printer paper is not recommended and should be avoided.

Step 3: Login to the Pop-Up Community

Color Week is held in a Community. When you purchased Color Week, you were immediately sent an email that granted you access to this community in which Color Week is held. If you haven't signed into your account yet, you'll need to do that.

👉Click here to go to the community.

Once you're in the community, start with the post that says: "📣 Welcome! Start by reading THIS POST."

A Note On Different Paint Mediums ...

Although the principles of color mixing are the same with all pigment-based mediums, they change tactically. We'll cover this during Color Week too, but this will get you aware of specifics of your medium.

Watercolor

• If you're using paint from pans, you must activate them with water for up to a minute before you paint! Otherwise you'll end up using too much water, and your mixes will be too light (watery).
• For your mix to be more saturated and darker, you need more paint and less water.
• To lighten your mix, add water (instead of adding white) and apply thinner paint so the white of the paper comes through.
• When painting, watercolor pigment particles often separate and meander slightly depending on the hues and pigment qualities. Don't worry about this and enjoy the magic!
• When you mix, mix thoroughly (although watercolor is more forgiving with "streaky" colors)!

Acrylic, Oil, Gouache

• You need a palette knife to mix because using just a brush does not ensure a thorough mix.
• When you mix, mix thoroughly! Often painters just mix a bit superficially, which results in streaky colors. Mix your paints completely together to avoid mud and streaks.
• Acrylics dry darker, but doesn't affect understanding mixing principles.
• To lighten your colors, you'll need to add white. If you want to play with lightening colors during Color Week, you'll want a tube of white paint - although it's not required.

If you have any questions, post them HERE in the Community!

That's it - you're ready for Color Week!

You'll receive an email with the link to Monday morning's class! I'll see you there at 9 am MST. I can't wait!