Foundation Colors
Regina uses 11 Colors as the backbone to creating vivid mixes. You can make ANYTHING with these.
All mixtures created with these are called Convenience Colors...because it's just so handy to have lots of the exact color you want without painstaking mixing-especially if you didn't mix enough and are halfway through a painting...good luck matching that mixture again!
More details for those who want to know....
Most watercolor guides will tell you to build your color collection with "pure" or "single source" pigments.
WHY? Traditionally, when you start with colors that contain multiple pigments and blend them together-it can create a muddy (brown/gray) effect and sorting out how colors might behave when mixing can get a bit complicated.
Do our Foundation Colors contain some mixed pigment blends? YES
Is it a problem? NO
CONFUSED?
We use a specially formulated modern organic pigment color system developed by DR. PH. Martin's ® that has been certified Non-Toxic, Lightfast, Archival, Transparent, Blendable and Intermixable.
Our Foundation Colors are made with the Hydrus ® Fine Art Watercolor Pigments (set 1). When mixing these colors you will achieve vibrant results and be able to follow a CMY color system mixing book. Our 30 Convenience Mixes are proof of concept and we will teach you all of our recipes (videos on YouTube).
WHY? Traditionally, when you start with colors that contain multiple pigments and blend them together-it can create a muddy (brown/gray) effect and sorting out how colors might behave when mixing can get a bit complicated.
Do our Foundation Colors contain some mixed pigment blends? YES
Is it a problem? NO
CONFUSED?
We use a specially formulated modern organic pigment color system developed by DR. PH. Martin's ® that has been certified Non-Toxic, Lightfast, Archival, Transparent, Blendable and Intermixable.
Our Foundation Colors are made with the Hydrus ® Fine Art Watercolor Pigments (set 1). When mixing these colors you will achieve vibrant results and be able to follow a CMY color system mixing book. Our 30 Convenience Mixes are proof of concept and we will teach you all of our recipes (videos on YouTube).
Convenience Color Examples
Limited Color PaletteYou might hear people throwing around the term "Limited Palette" and wonder what they are talking about.
More experienced painters have had some practice mixing different colors together to make all the extras... some of us are as proud as peacocks about how good we are at mixing colors and can forget what a hassle it can be for those who don't have a lot of practice. |
Color Charts
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Warm Primary Palette
Whether you're on a tight budget or hesitant about mixing colors, this combination will give you a lot! We have selected the warm primaries as they will combine to make beautiful oranges, purples and greens without too much effort.
Cool Primary Palette
If you like a challenge and want more range, you can try our Cool Primaries. It can take more effort and tweaking to make the Fuchsia (a shade of Magenta...great pink color) turn red, but it is possible. You can mix these colors together in varying combinations to create the Warm Primaries above...the Cool Primaries in this set are the "True Primaries" because there is nothing you can mix together to get these colors. If you start with bright colors, you can darken them up (or nature-fiy them) but if you start with a dark earthy palette-you can't brighten it up.
Fairly Limited Palette
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What might cause a "Muddy Mix?"Generally, if you start blending warm and cool colors together that can lead to less vibrant mixtures. Mixing Complementary Colors (AKA Color Opposites) tends to create grey/black/brown and a loss of intensity occurs. You can see this happen between Aquarium and Poppy. Mud or less intense colors can be a desirable result that brings a natural feel to your art or causes a focal area to pop more due to the contrast it creates.
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Basic Mixing Chart-Foundation Colors
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Consider our Convenience Colors as the mixed pigments to combine with others carefully as these may lead to muddy/muted results. For example, if you should start with Strawberry (a mix of Foundation Colors: Rose, Poppy, Sunflower) as your "Primary Red" and mix it with a Blue color (Foundation Colors like Blueprint or Delphinium) it may create a very disappointing purple. You will get FABULOUS purples if you mix any combination of our Foundation "Reds" Rose/Fuchsia with Blueprint/Delphinium.
To assist with all this mixing stuff-we send a pamphlet along with our watercolor paints that lets you know what colors are mixed together to create each Convenience Color. You can adjust Convenience Colors by adding more of the Foundation Colors originally used to create them.
For Example, Storm (a convenience mix of Violet and Aquarium) can create a range of beautiful colors; add more Aquarium or Violet to the mixed color and experiment. Feel free to add other Foundation Colors just to see what happens with Storm or any other mix-you might create something new and weird that you love.
To assist with all this mixing stuff-we send a pamphlet along with our watercolor paints that lets you know what colors are mixed together to create each Convenience Color. You can adjust Convenience Colors by adding more of the Foundation Colors originally used to create them.
For Example, Storm (a convenience mix of Violet and Aquarium) can create a range of beautiful colors; add more Aquarium or Violet to the mixed color and experiment. Feel free to add other Foundation Colors just to see what happens with Storm or any other mix-you might create something new and weird that you love.
Videos to Inspire
Links to free downloads on YouTube in this video's description, on our Free Printables Page or just click the button here to download (note you must be signed into Google for access):
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