Free Watercolor Lessons & Techniques

"Getting Color Compability Into Your Paintings"

By Robert & Sharon Long

In the early going we seem to want to get exactly the same colors from our reference photograph into our painting. The writer was one of those. At one time more than 70 pigments were ready for use so that matching the colors was possible. Something about a painting like that makes it resemble a photo more than looking like a painting. Wiser, more experienced painters said my paintings weren't "painterly." That was a sort of non-descript term to me and I asked for clarification. All the answers I received and respected contained the words "color compability."

I learned that to achieve this color compability I needed to choose a palette of igments to paint which was limited to 4 to 6. Which this number of pigments one doesn't choose any greens or purples or oranges. Any green in the painting is made from blue and yellow used in the painting. The blue of your sky will be compatible with the green of your trees because the blue was used to make the green rather than using tube green, tube purple or tube orange. Those would be made from the other pigments on your palette.

It is a good idea to start your palette with two pigments which are complementary to each other. These are often two pigments which look as if they would produce purple when mixed but make black instead. Most paintings require some black or gray. Good examples of complementary colors are Burnt Sienna/French Ultramarine and Brown Madder/Antwerp Blue. When choosing one of those, you will have a blue and a red or a rust red. If you will have green in your painting choose a blue which produces good greens. In this case, it's Antwerp Blue. So now you have a blue, a red, a black and a gray. Choose a yellow which when combined with Antwerp makes good greens. Only three pigments so far.

If your red (Brown Madder) needs help, add a red such as Winsor Red, Alizarin Crimson or Opera by Holbein. We frequently use both these pairs. Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine produce such an array of browns, grays and blacks. Burnt Sienna is a functional yellow and yields beautiful greens when combined with Antwerp Blue. Add Lemon Yellow, New Gamboge or Winsor Yellow to that cool green and you have a myriad of warm greens.

One more pigment may be added if you have flowers or a blouse with a unique color. You will find that by limiting your palette to 5 or 6 pigments, your paintings will have a painterly look. Meanwhile, you will have learned a lot about color mixing. If you have questions email us at If you have questions email us at rlwatercolor71@aol.com.. We will give you a prompt reply.

Enjoy painting!

Robert and Sharon