By Jim Hingst @hingst_jim
Many painters paint with what is called a limited palette, which
consists of a small selection of primary colors.
Vincent Van Gogh proclaimed that all he needed was red, blue, yellow, white and
black. This really is a limited palette. Some feel that you don’t even need
black. Using these basic colors, Van Gogh believed that he could mix more than
70 colors, which was all that he needed.
The modern “expanded” limited palette
is typically comprised of a few additional colors. This expanded version
includes warmer and cooler versions of the primaries. One such limited palette
is listed below.
Cadmium Red
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Phthalo Blue
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Light
Titanium White
Ivory Black
Having a color wheel handy helps in mixing additional colors. Think
of the traditional color wheel as the spectrum of colors arranged in circle.
The value of a color wheel is as tool to aid you in mixing of colors.
The three
primary colors on wheel are red,
yellow and blue. By mixing two adjacent
colors on the wheel, you create a secondarycolor. Mixing red and yellow produces orange. Yellow and blue creates green.
And, red and blue yields purple. By combining a primary and an adjacent
secondary color on the color wheel, you produce a tertiary color. For example, mixing red and orange produces red
orange. In naming the tertiary colors, the primary color is always given first,
and then the secondary color.
The
theory involved in mixing colors is very simple. The reality of color mixing
can be a little trickier. Here’s why. A rose is a rose is a rose. But not all blues
look the same. And neither do reds and yellows. That’s why when you mix colors,
you can get some funky results.
Getting
the exact color that you want will take a little time and patience. Your reward
is that you will gain a better knowledge of color basics including color saturation,
hue and color temperature.
About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 400 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.
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