Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Watercolour Cheat Sheets
Watercolour Cheat Sheets
Cheat Sheets
fo r
Wat e r co lo u r i s t s
lemon
yellow
hansa
yellow
light
new
g a mb o g e
yellow
ochre
quinacridone
gold
2 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
Mixing GreYS
u lt r a m a r i n e pthalo cerulean co b a lt pay n e s
blue blue blue blue grey
burnt
sienna
cadmium
red
raw
u mb e r
warm
sepia
light
red
3 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
M i x i n g S K IN C OLOURS
Th ere are poten tially an inf i ni te numb e r sk i n co l o ur s, whi ch can mak e t hin gs over w h el m i n g.
Th ese 7 mixes use com mo n co l o ur s to cre a te t he v a st ma j o r i t y o f sk i n to n es yo u l l e ver n eed a n d a re u s ed by
many top watercolour por t r a i t ar t i st s.
4 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
C OLOR B IAS O F P RI M ARIES
5 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
TRANS P ARENT &
O P A Q UE C OLOURS
KEY
Wa te rcol ou rs have var ying degrees of t r a nsp are nc y. K nowi ng how t r a nsp are nt o r
opa q ue a col ou r is can h elp you when pai nt i ng l aye r s o r g l a ze s. T = Transparent
ST = S e m i - T r a n s p a r e n t
B e a r in mind that some colours may be c l asse d a s t r ansp a re nt by o ne ma nuf ac t ure r S = Semi-Opaque
a n d s e mi- opaqu e by another and you can che c k t hi s o n t he si d e o f t he p a i nt t ub e. The
O = Opaque
l i s t s b e l ow are c olours that are general l y c o nsi d e re d t r ansp a re nt , se mi t r a nsp are nt ,
opa q ue or s e mi o paq ue across most brand s.
6 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
How to make a personalized
c o l o u r ch a r t
cadmium alizarin light permanent burnt burnt warm indigo pay n e s neutral
red crimson red rose sienna u mb e r sepia grey tint
u lt r a m a r i n e b lu e
pthalo blue
cerulean blue
co b a lt b lu e
n e w g a mb o g e
yellow ochre
quinacridone gold
r a w u mb e r
lemon yellow
7 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
STEp 1
cadmium alizarin light permanent burnt burnt warm indigo pay n e s neutral
red crimson red rose sienna u mb e r sepia grey tint
u lt r a m a r i n e b lu e
pthalo blue
cerulean blue
co b a lt b lu e
n e w g a mb o g e
yellow ochre
quinacridone gold
r a w u mb e r
lemon yellow
9 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
limited pale t te
suggestions
Ye l l o w O c h re ( w a r m ) H a n s a Ye l l o w
Le m o n Ye l l o w ( c o o l ) Raw Sienna
New Gamboge or
C a d m i u m Ye l l o w
10 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
wat e r co lo u r
brush marks
11 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
limited brush set
R ou n d brush
no.10
I n t h e s ame way th at a limited palette ca n
h e l p to mak e watercolour pain tin g easier,
s o c a n a l imite d brush set.
f lat brush
1/2
M O P brush
3/8 (1cm)
R i g g er
no.1
12 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
wat e r co lo u r pa p e r g u i d e
sur f a c e wei g ht ty p e
13 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
h o w t o s t r e t ch
wat e r co lo u r pa p e r
Sturdy, flat wooden board about 3/8 (1cm) thick , at least Sponge or sof t clean cloth
2 larger all round than the paper Old, clean towel
m aterials Watercolour paper Drawing pins
n eeded Shallow tray a little larger than the paper Staple gun (optional)
Brown paper gummed parcel tape
(not self-adhesive t ype)
Cut or tear four pieces of gummed paper ta pe Lay the dampened paper on the towel and fold Place the paper flat on the drawing board, so
so the y are all at least 2 - 3 longer than each it over the front of the paper. Then gently pat you have at least 2 of visible board all round.
side of the paper. D ont wet them yet! it down, so the excess water is removed from Tak e one of the gummed paper str ips and
both sides. dampen it with the sponge or cloth. D ont soak
Put some water in the tray and place the paper it as this might dilute the glue. Place it along
in it for 15-30 seconds so both sides are covered. one edge of the paper so it s approximately half
You can use the sink or bath if you havent got on the paper and half on the board. Smooth it
a suitable tray, or you could use the sponge or down, stretching out the paper if necessar y so
cloth to apply the water gently to both sides of it lies flat.
the paper so it s completely wetted.
14 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
h o w t o s t r e t ch
wat e r co lo u r pa p e r
ste p 4 ste p 5 ste p 6
R epeat on the other three sides and smooth all Dr ying paper can pull away from the gummed R emove the pins or staples once the stretched
the str ips down so the y are stuck fir mly to the paper str ip. To avoid this, place drawing pins paper is dr y, pr ior to painting (a small pair of
board, as well as the paper and each other at through the paper and gummed str ip about pliers will save your finger nails when removing
the cor ners. Leave to dr y for se veral hours at e ver y 3 (8cm). Leave enough pin showing so the staples!). Now go and paint your master piece
room temperature, preferably over night. the y can be easily removed later. on a sheet of drum-tight, beautifully flat paper!
15 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s
colour mixing terms
p ri m ary There are three pr im ar y colour s w hich cannot be created by mixin g ot h er colours.
c olours The y are: red, blue and yellow
tertiary
The si x colour s created by m ix ing a pr i m ar y w ith a secondar y i.e. b lue + green to create a b lue - green or t urquoise
c olours
Col o ur s opposi te each other on the colour w heel. For ex am pl e, oran g e is op p osite b lue on t h e colour wh eel an d so
b eco m e each other s com plem entar y colour. Com plem entar y colours are said to en h an ce each ot h er wh en p laced
c o m p le m e n tary nex t to each other. W hen m ixed w ith each other the y have the op p osite ef fec t , creat in g a d ull, n eut ral ton e.
c olours
Complem entar y colour s include: O r ange and blue, Yellow and p ur p le, Green an d red
Thi s i s the br i ghtest, m ost v i v i d ver si on of a pr i m ar y, secondar y or ter t iar y colour. S o red for examp le, wit h n o ot h er
hue col o ur m i x w i th it and undiluted i s a hue. Pai nting only w ith h ues would result in a ver y b r ig h t an d g ar ish p ain t in g.
Ad d ing w hite to a colour to lighten it, creates a tint of that co lour. I n watercolour p ain t in g, ad d in g water to a colour
ti n t mi x allow s m ore of the w hite paper to show through thereby t ur n in g it in to a t in t .
Ad d ing black to a colour to dar k en i t, creates a shade of th at colour. I n watercolour p ain t in g, ad d in g a colour s
complem entar y to i t has a sim ilar effec t ( i. e. addi ng pur ple to yellow h as a similar ef fec t as ad d in g b lack to t h e
shade yel l ow ) . You could also m i x a black colour by m ix ing the three p r imar y colours tog et h er an d t h en ad d t h at b lack mix
to another colour ( spar i ngly ) to create a shade.
Ad d ing back and w hite to a colour, creates a tone of that colour. Obviously b lack an d wh ite mak e gre y an d so a ton e is
gre yer ver si on of a colour. These are also refer red to as pastel c olours, or n eut ral colours. Youll use ton es a lot in your
to n e w atercolour painti ngs because the bulk of any subj ec t m atter is mad e f rom t h em. You can t h en use sh ad es for sh ad ow
area s, tints for hi ghlight areas and a touch of br ight hues w here you really wan t t h e colour to z in g.
Thi s is the lightness or dar k ness of a colour. W hile i t m ight seem obvious t h at b lue h as a d ar k er value t h an yellow, a
VALUE ver y light blue m ight be li ghter than a dar k yellow. The best way to jud g e t h e values in a p h otograp h or p ain t in g is to
mak e it back and w hite. Thi s w i ll m ak e it obv i ous w hich colou rs are d ar k er an d lig h ter t h an ot h ers.
16 C o lo u r M i x i n g C h e at s h e e t s f o r Wat e r c o lo U r i s t s