Which colours should you buy?

It depends on the projects you intend to do.  If it's a painting with acrylics you want to try out, you will need various colours depending on the subject of your painting - I suggest you try something simple with not too many colours if you have never painted with acrylics before. 

If you are using acrylics for decorating crafts, you need to buy at least the three primary colours.  Read on.

In any case, you can start by buying the three primary colours (blue, red and yellow*).  These three colours cannot be made by mixing any of the other colours together.  On the other hand, you can create a rainbow of different colours from these.

 

Of course, there are different blues, reds and yellows.  So you can buy different versions of the three primaries. For example, blues include cobalt blue, cerulean blue, ultramarine, monestial blue, and Prussian blue. For red you could use altzarin crimson or cadmium red and for yellow you could use cadmium yellow medium, cadmium yellow light, or lemon yellow. None of these can be made by mixing together other colours and are all primary colours, just different versions.

Mixing Colours

When you mix two primary colours together, for example blue and red to make purple, red and yellow to make orange and yellow and blue to make green, you now have secondary colours.

If you mix  these three secondary colours, you get a tertiary colour. The exact colour of your secondary colours and tertiary colour depend on which red, blue, or yellow you have used and the proportions in which you mix them.

You might also need to buy a tube of white and black for lightening and darkening colours but be careful not to add too much of any of the two colours, especially black.  Start by adding a very, very, small amount and work your way until you get the colour you want. But remember: white reduces brightness so although it makes a colour lighter, it removes its vibrancy. If you use white to lighten all your colours, you will end up with a washed-out picture. 

You will find that developing your colour mixing skills will produce hues of varying intensity.  For example, you will find it is better to add some yellow instead of white to lighten a red.  If you add white to red it changes from a warm red into a cool pink!  So remember, adding white to a colour produces a tint of that colour, making a transparent colour (for example, ultramarine) opaque and cools the colour.

Black doesn't so much add darkness as create murkiness.  If you mix black and yellow, you get an unattractive olive green rather than a deeper yellow. Instead try mixing it with a deep purple. Purple, being the complementary colour of yellow, will look more vibrant, especially if used with the primary colour yellow in the same picture.

Improving flow without losing colour

To increase the flow of a colour with minimal loss of colour strength, use flow-improver medium rather than just water.

Experiment

Mix colors together and see what you get. Add some white to a color for a tint, some grey for toning down and black for shading.  

Experiment  - painting is lots of fun, so play with it!