- 1). Put an equal amount of red and blue on your palette, several inches apart. Add another blob of white and one of black.
- 2). Divide one of the color blobs into six small piles by flattening the tops of the blobs of paint and forming the paint into a rectangular shape with the back of your palette knife. Cut the rectangle with the edge of your knife into thirds vertically and then in half horizontally. You should have six equal piles. Repeat for the other three colors on your palette.
- 3). Pick up two of the small piles of blue and two of the red piles and mix them together on another area of your palette, creating a true purple. Since very few flowers have the exact same shade of purple, you can choose the basic color you want to create. Look at the flower or a picture of the one that you want to paint, and select the color of the petals where neither direct light nor any shadows hit them. Observe whether this purple is lighter or darker than the one you mixed, and whether it has blue or red overtones.
- 4). Add a half of one of your little piles of blue to the mix if the petal color you strive for has blue overtones or half of one of your piles of red if the color has red overtones. Keep adding, a little bit at a time, until you achieve the correct tone of color. Make note of how much extra of the red or blue you have added.
- 5). Mix a half of one of the little piles of white into the color if the color you strive for is lighter than the color you have mixed. Continue lightening until you have achieved the correct intensity of color. Alternatively, add black, the same way, if the color is deeper. Note how much white or black you have added so that you’ll know your correct proportions to make more paint.
- 6). Mix two more portions of the petal color in two separate spots on your palette. Add white to one for the areas that direct light will hit the flower, and black to the other for where the petals fall into the shadows. If your flower is fairly flat, such as a zinnia, add only a little black or white to the paints. If it is a flower of depth, with many contrasting shades, like a tulip, the color differences will be more dramatic.
SHARE
