Creative & Culture

How To Mix Oil Paint

Learning how to mix colours and create your own unique shades means you have an almost infinite colour palette to work from when painting. In this guide, artist and tutor Marcia Kay Ellis gives you some tips about how best to mix oil paints. Enlarge

How To Mix Oil Paint

Learning how to mix colours and create your own unique shades means you have an almost infinite colour palette to work from when painting. In this guide, artist and tutor Marcia Kay Ellis gives you some tips about how best to mix oil paints.

You Will Need

  • linseed oil
  • palette knife
  • brush
  • palette / old plate
  • paints

Top Tips

  • Always blend from the lightest colour to the darkest. It is easier to make a colour darker than it is to lighten a colour that is too dark.
  • Try to avoid using black as it will deaden colours, and make your painting look muddy. Make darker shades by consulting a colour wheel and using complementary colours - red and green for example. Of course, if muddy is the look you are trying to achieve, then using of course black is perfect!
  • Mix linseed oil or white spirit into your paints to thin them and create a wash, similar to watercolours. This will lighten the colour as well, so be aware than you may need to darken a colour first before making it into a wash to achieve the same shade you started with.