How to Mix Watercolor Tubes
Among the various types of painting mediums, watercolors provide a diverse and fluid agent to depict landscapes, portraits and more. Mixing watercolors from tubes of pigment is similar to mixing acrylic or oil paint. However, watercolor paint tubes consist of almost straight pigment, which offers a highly intense color. Therefore, artists need only use a small amount of paint from each tube to mix strong, bold colors. Different hues can be created from the basic colors of these tubes with a little careful mixing and preparation.
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Things You'll Need
- Container of water
- Painter's palette or muffin tin
- Scissors
- Mixing knife
- Small to medium paint brush
- Plastic wrap
Instructions
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Fill a container with water. Designate a glass jar, small plastic container or other similar vessel as a water container for your painting projects.
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Place a depressed painter palette, muffin tin or other similar palette on a flat work surface. Unscrew the cap of the colors you plan to mix. Most watercolor tubes are sealed with a thin sheet of aluminum foil. Puncture this foil with the opposite end of the cap or with a small pair of scissors.
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Squeeze a very small amount of each color into one of the cups of the paint palette. Use a mixing knife to blend the colors together. Add more of each pigment in small amounts until you achieve the hue you desire.
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Thin your mixed watercolor hue by dipping a small- to medium-sized brush into the jar of water. Soak the brush until all bristles are wet. Tap the handle of the brush against the side of the water jar to shake off the excess water. Mix the wet brush into your hue to thin it out. Repeat the process, dipping the brush in the water, shaking off the excess and mixing it again in the paint until it reaches the desired consistency.
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Tips & Warnings
Protect your paint from drying out by wrapping your palette in plastic wrap.
Rehydrate dried watercolors by adding water and mixing gently with a paint knife or wet brush. Do not use paint that is chunky or full of dirt and debris.
References
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
