Toucan do it!

[lanagoesart@pixelfed.art]

Toucan do it! A little mixing exercise using gouache.

A while ago I was asked how to actually mix bright colors with gouache using only primaries plus black and white. The trick is actually to avoid black and white to some extent. If you want bright colors, it's easier to mix with the three primaries and start off those.

And just as with oils to begin with a middle tone and then work your way to the darks and after that the lights. Putting white in too soon will muddy down colors.

It's because of color theory. The white we use to mix is often Titanium white, it's a beautifully opaque pigment, which also is a cool white. It has a blueish tint to it, only noticeable in comparison. When mixing with it, the coolness shows though and will shift even your warm colors ever so lightly into the cool tones and sometimes mute them down a bit. It can swallow the brightness of your middle tones. But it's a great white to add highlights and truly white areas to your paintings.
Which I did too in the beak and some of the white feathers.

Nevertheless... it's a little lesson, but I hope you enjoy the painting more than my rambles.
Color theory is something that excites me and I like to be able to consciously use it to create whatever I want to create. And I hope to share some of the passion with others.
Yay for creative nerdyness I guess.

#art #gouache #traditionalart #painting