How to Make a Color Chart in Watercolor
Creating a color chart is a great way for an artist to familiarize herself with color mixture possibilities. A color chart will diagram color mixes and the varying differences between colors, such as the difference between a green pigment versus a green made from yellow and blue. The exercise of making a color chart will help the novice watercolorist gain experience using and controlling this somewhat difficult medium. Draw a chart, dip a watercolor brush in some water, mix it with the pigment, and start painting the color onto the chart.
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Things You'll Need
- Watercolor pigment or cakes
- Plastic palette
- 2 small jars
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Watercolor paper
- 7 or 8 flat sable watercolor brushes, one size,
Instructions
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1
Set out the watercolor pigment or cakes, a plastic palette, and two water jars (one for cleaning brushes and one with clear water for mixing color). Start with the colors orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and red.
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2
Set a piece of watercolor paper onto the desk or table. Draw a square with a ruler and pencil, then section the square into seven columns and rows.
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3
Wet a watercolor brush, dip it in the pigment, and fill each box in the left column with one color starting with a white or blank box at the top, then yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green. Do the same for the top row. Be sure to leave some white in between the color-filled boxes so that the colors can easily be differentiated.
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4
Fill in the second column by mixing each corresponding row color into the yellow pigment and applying the mixed colors into the boxes. First mix yellow and yellow, then yellow and orange, then yellow and red, and continue for the remaining colors. This will show the different colors made with yellow.
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Fill in the third column the same way as in step four. Add yellow to orange, then orange to orange, red to orange, and so on.
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Continue the same process as in step four for the remaining colors. This chart will show the many different colors that can be made by mixing one pigment with another.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a clean brush for each color.
Make a chart using complementary colors. Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel: red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. Create a color chart by putting red, blue, and yellow on the left side of the chart and green, blue, and purple on the right side. Gradually mix the opposite colors together and brush the colors into the boxes.
Draw a horizontal single row to create a color value scale. Place one color, such as blue, in the center of the row, then gradually add black to the blue as the color chart moves left, and add white to the blue as the chart moves right.
Make a skin color chart using red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in the left column and yellow ochre, raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw umber, and burnt umber in the top row. Mix the colors the same as above.
The intensity, or saturation, of the color can be heighted by adding less water and more pigment or diminished by adding less pigment and more water.
