Unlocking the Power of Colour Mixing with My Palette (Patreon)

Hi everyone,

One of the most powerful skills you can develop as a watercolour artist is mastering colour mixing. It’s amazing how a few well-chosen colours can unlock a huge number of hues.

When I decided on the colours for my palette, I specifically chose ones that would mix well together to give you a wide range of tones and shades.

 I spent two days in the studio mixing colours, swatching them, and photographing the results to make sure the palette offered as much versatility as possible without being overwhelming. Whether it’s vibrant greens, muted earth tones, or soft skin tones, you’ll find plenty of mixing options to explore.

For example, mixing Prussian Blue with Transparent Yellow creates vibrant greens that are lively but still subtle, without being overly bright or artificial.

If you’re after something more muted and earthy looking, try mixing Indian Yellow with French Ultramarine.

One of my favourite violets is a blend Ruby Red with French Ultramarine.

Or for a more muted violet you can mix Madder Red Dark with French Ultramarine.

I used this colour combination (of MRD and FU) for this Octopus painting that I’ll be posting next month as a tutorial here on Patreon.

If you want to dive deeper into colour mixing combinations, I’ve just published a blog post where I explore lots of colour mixes from my personalised Schmincke palette.

You can read it here: https://www.louisedemasi.com/tips/2024/10/22/exploring-colour-mixing-with-my-schmincke-watercolour-set

I’ll be using the colours in my new palette as much as possible in future tutorials but don’t worry if you don’t have these colours because I will always provide substitute colour suggestions in both the Winsor & Newton and Daniel Smith paint ranges.

In the ‘Ask Me Anything’ post for September, Jeanette asked for ideas on setting up a palette. I’m happy to share that I’ve written a blog post on the topic, which you can find here: https://www.louisedemasi.com/tips/2024/10/18/setting-up-a-watercolour-palette

I hope you enjoy experimenting with these mixes in your own work!

Louise