When learning Chinese painting, the learners will face the difficulties of color mixing. However, if you have understood some basic rules or theories about color in painting, the process could be more pleasant and easier.
When
learning Chinese painting, the learners will face the difficulties of
color mixing. However, if you have understood some basic rules or theories about color in painting, the process could be more pleasant and easier.
Referring to color mixing, it contains four categories, including the three primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors and complementary color.
Three primary colors
In color mixing for painting, the fundamental rule is that there are three colors that cannot be made by mixing other colors together. They are red, blue, and yellow, which are called three primary colors together.
If you mix two primary colors together, you create what is called a secondary color. Mixing blue and red creates purple; red and yellow make orange; yellow and blue make green. The exact hue of the secondary color you've mixed depends on which red, blue, or yellow you use and the proportions in which you mix them.
Black and white can also not be made by mixing together other colors, but as they aren't used in color mixing to create colors, they get excluded from color mixing theory. If you add white to a color you lighten it and if you add black you darken it.
It's not a question of there being a right or wrong primary to use, but rather that each blue, red, and yellow is different, and produces a different result when mixed. Each pair of primaries will produce something different, sometimes only subtly different.
Secondary colors
Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors together: red and yellow to get orange, yellow and blue to get green, or red and blue to get purple. The secondary color you get depends on the proportions in which you mix the two primaries. If you mix three primary colors together, you get a tertiary color.
Red and yellow always make some kind of orange, yellow and blue a green, and blue and red a purple. The actual color you get depends on which primary you're using (for example whether it's Prussian blue or ultramarine you're mixing with cadmium red) and the proportions in which you mix the two primaries. Paint a color chart where you record which two colors you mixed and the (approximate) proportions of each. This will provide you with a ready reference until you get to the stage when you instinctively know what you'll get.
The proportions in which you mix the two primaries are important. If you add more of one than the other, the secondary color will reflect this. For example, if you add more red than yellow, you end up with a strong, reddish orange; if you add more yellow than red, you produce a yellowish orange. Experiment with all the colors you have - and keep a record of what you've done.