Mixing oil paints is a skill that takes practice, but once you get the basics, it opens up endless possibilities.
Knowing how to mix oil paints properly allows you to create the exact shades and tones you need without wasting paint or time.
Whether you’re aiming for vibrant hues or subtle transitions, understanding the role of primary colors, complementary colors, and mediums like linseed oil is essential.
In this article, you’ll learn the core techniques for achieving clean, controlled mixes, avoid common mistakes like muddying your colors, and get practical tips for handling the drying times and consistency of oil paints.
We’ll also dive into topics like choosing the right colors, mastering glazing techniques, and ensuring your mixes maintain their vibrancy.
By the end, you’ll have a solid grasp on how to mix oil paints effectively, ensuring your work has depth, harmony, and richness.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Color in Oil Painting
Primary and Secondary Colors
In oil painting, everything starts with the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. You can’t mix these from other colors, but you can combine them to create secondary colors.
Mixing cadmium red with ultramarine blue, for example, gives you a range of purples. Combine cadmium yellow with blue, and you’ll start getting green. The purity of these colors plays a huge role in the intensity of your final mixtures.
When you’re mixing, keep in mind the subtle variances between brands. Winsor & Newton and Sennelier brands may have slight differences in how they formulate their pigments. The specific pigment properties of each color will influence how they mix, which leads to slight changes in hue and saturation.
Tertiary Colors and Muted Tones
Once you’ve mastered mixing primary and secondary colors, you’ll inevitably deal with tertiary colors. These are combinations of primary and secondary colors, like red-orange or blue-green. They’re essential for creating more natural tones and expanding the color palette.
But the real mastery in oil painting comes when you start to mute colors intentionally. This involves mixing in a small amount of a color’s complementary (opposite on the color wheel) to tone it down. Want to mute a vibrant hue like cadmium red? Add a bit of green to it. You’ll find yourself needing these muted tones more often than you might think.
Warm and Cool Colors
Understanding the temperature of your colors is vital. Some colors are inherently warm, like burnt sienna and cadmium yellow, while others are cooler, like ultramarine blue or alizarin crimson.
But what’s crucial here is that any color can be pushed to appear warmer or cooler depending on what you mix with it. For example, mixing a cooler burnt umber with a touch of white can give you a cool, earthy highlight, whereas adding a warmer pigment like burnt sienna might shift the balance.
Color Saturation and Transparency
Color saturation is all about how vibrant or muted your colors are, and you control this primarily through mixing. A color in its pure form, straight from the tube, is highly saturated. As you mix in other colors—especially those that are opaque—you start muting it.
Transparency is another important concept in oil painting. Some colors, like zinc white or certain blues, are naturally more transparent.
This becomes particularly relevant in glazing layers, where you apply thin, translucent layers of paint to achieve depth and luminosity. Knowing which colors are more transparent or opaque is key when you’re planning your oil painting techniques.
Pitfalls to Avoid in Color Mixing
One common mistake beginners make is over-mixing. Mixing too many colors together often results in a muddy, neutral tone that lacks vibrancy. Another issue is neglecting the fat-over-lean rule.
Failing to follow this principle can lead to cracks in your painting because the upper layers dry faster than the lower ones. Also, avoid using too much white when mixing. Many think adding white will brighten a color, but it can often desaturate and dull the intensity of your mixtures.
Lastly, be cautious with your use of solvents like turpentine or mediums like linseed oil. Too much solvent can weaken the structure of your paint, while over-reliance on mediums can alter the drying times, making it difficult to manage wet-on-wet techniques.
Techniques for Successful Oil Paint Mixing
Choosing the Right Colors
Start with a limited palette. Less is more, especially when you’re beginning. Think of colors like cadmium red, ultramarine blue, and yellow ochre. These are solid choices to create a range of hues without getting overwhelmed.
Mixing primary colors to achieve secondaries is where you’ll spend most of your time. Don’t jump straight to every color in the box; the subtle variations from mixing your own will teach you control.
Using high-quality paints like Winsor & Newton or Sennelier can make a difference. Different brands have different pigment loads, so it’s worth experimenting to find which offers the right intensity for your work.
Layering and Glazing
Glazing is about transparency and depth. Thin, transparent layers of color add luminosity to the work, creating depth that you can’t get from just one thick layer.
Use linseed oil or cold wax medium to thin your paint, but keep in mind the fat-over-lean principle: each subsequent layer should have more oil than the one below to avoid cracking.
When layering, colors like ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson can be good for building transparent layers. Zinc white, being more transparent, works for soft highlights without overpowering the layer underneath.
Controlling Consistency
The consistency of oil paint is key. Too thin, and you’ll lose the vibrancy. Too thick, and the colors can turn muddy, especially when mixing on the canvas.
Use solvents like turpentine sparingly to thin your paint for underpainting but be cautious not to overdo it. Linseed oil or a medium like Gamsol helps to maintain the paint’s structure without making it too runny.
Adding white to lighten a color? Careful. Too much and you’ll end up with a chalky result. Instead, try adding yellow ochre or burnt sienna to warm and adjust the tone.
Avoiding Muddy Colors
Mixing too many colors together will inevitably result in a murky, lifeless mess. Stick to complementary colors to create a sense of harmony in your mixes. If you’re trying to mute a color, add a small amount of its complement.
Burnt umber and ultramarine blue, for example, create a neutral black without the overpowering flatness of store-bought black.
Watch your palette. Clean it often. Old paint can lead to muddier mixtures, especially when blending on the fly.
Mixing on the Palette vs. Canvas
When mixing, it’s easy to blend too much directly on the canvas. Doing this can flatten the colors and lose the dimensionality that makes oil paint so unique. Instead, mix your main tones on the palette first.
Then, when applying them to the canvas, use a palette knife or your brush to softly blend them in place, keeping the integrity of each individual color intact.
Palette knives are especially useful for mixing on the palette. They allow you to blend larger amounts of paint and keep control over the texture.
Pitfalls to Avoid in Oil Paint Mixing
Using too much white to adjust colors is a classic mistake. It desaturates the color, and while it seems like a quick fix, it’s better to explore other options like using complementary colors or adding lighter shades of your existing hues.
Another pitfall is forgetting the drying times of oil paints. Oil paint doesn’t dry like acrylic, so if you’re impatient or layer too quickly without considering drying times, you’ll end up with unwanted cracks in the paint.
Layering and Underpainting Techniques
Importance of Underpainting
Underpainting is the foundation, the first step. You start with a thin wash of paint, often using burnt umber or a neutral tone. This sets the value structure of your piece—think of it as a blueprint.
Some prefer using gesso to prime the canvas before this, but once the canvas is ready, underpainting begins. Grisaille (a monochromatic underpainting) is one approach, where you use shades of gray to define the forms.
It helps to create a depth that your layers of color will build upon later. Keep it simple, though. Overcomplicating the underpainting can result in competing layers later.
Fat-Over-Lean Principle
The fat-over-lean rule is non-negotiable when working with oils. Early layers should contain less oil (lean), and as you build up the painting, each new layer must contain more oil (fat).
This prevents cracking as the paint dries. In practice, this means that you might use a solvent like turpentine in your first layers to thin the paint, while in later layers, you’ll add more linseed oil or another medium to enrich the paint’s texture and body. Skipping this step? Cracks.
Wet-on-Wet vs. Layering
There’s a difference between wet-on-wet (alla prima) and the traditional layering technique. Wet-on-wet is great for more spontaneous, fluid painting. You can mix colors directly on the canvas without worrying about drying time.
But layering requires patience. You apply one layer, let it dry, then move on to the next. This allows for more control, especially when you’re looking to create depth with glazing techniques.
For glazing, colors like alizarin crimson or ultramarine blue are perfect. They’re transparent and build beautifully when layered. Zinc white works well for subtle highlights in the later layers without overpowering the transparency of the previous ones.
Creating Depth with Glazing
The idea behind glazing is simple: thin, transparent layers that let light pass through, giving a sense of depth and richness that opaque layers can’t achieve.
You’ll need a medium like Gamsol or linseed oil to thin the paint, allowing you to apply each layer in thin washes. This technique works especially well when you want to enhance the luminosity of certain areas without repainting them entirely.
But be careful—don’t rush this. Each layer must be fully dry before applying the next. If not, you risk disturbing the lower layers, and the entire effect can be ruined.
Pitfalls to Avoid
One major pitfall with layering is not waiting for the paint to dry between layers. Oils take time, and rushing leads to unwanted texture or smudging.
Also, avoid too many thick layers, especially in the early stages. This breaks the fat-over-lean rule and can lead to cracking later on.
Another issue? Overuse of white in the early layers. It’s tempting to lighten everything up immediately, but this can lead to chalky, flat results.
Strategies for Effective Color Mixing
Understanding Color Bias
Mixing colors isn’t just throwing primary hues together. Cadmium red is not just red, and ultramarine blue is not just blue. Every color has a bias, a subtle lean toward warm or cool. This matters when you’re aiming for clean mixes.
If you mix a warm red with a cool blue, you might expect purple, but you’ll end up with something dull and muddy instead. For a vibrant purple, you need to pair a cool red, like alizarin crimson, with a cool blue like ultramarine blue. Simple adjustments, but crucial.
Mixing Complementary Colors
Complementary colors can either give you a rich neutral or a muddy mess, depending on how you handle them.
For example, mixing cadmium red with viridian green will give you a deep, earthy brown. But too much of one color overpowers the mix. Start with a tiny amount of the complement, and adjust from there. This strategy helps tone down overly vibrant hues without killing the color.
Controlling Saturation
Saturation is the intensity of color. Want to knock back a bright cadmium yellow without turning it into mud? Don’t reach for black or white. Instead, use a bit of its complement, purple, to neutralize the intensity.
This is how you control your colors, making sure your painting doesn’t scream at the viewer but still holds depth. Overuse of white or black can flatten your painting quickly, leading to a loss of vibrancy.
Using a Limited Palette
A limited palette forces you to think more creatively. You don’t need 30 tubes of paint. Stick to ultramarine blue, cadmium red, yellow ochre, and a couple of others. This reduces the chance of muddying your colors.
You’ll also get more coherent color schemes because every hue on the canvas is related. With a limited set of colors, you focus on how to mix oil paints efficiently, relying on skill rather than a crutch of pre-made colors.
Pitfalls to Avoid in Color Mixing
One common pitfall is over-mixing. The more you blend, the closer you get to gray. Each time you add a new color to the mix, you move further from the vibrant tones you started with.
Mix on your palette, but stop short of total integration. You want those subtle shifts in color—imperfection is what makes oil painting breathe.
Another mistake is not cleaning your brushes enough between colors. A little bit of leftover burnt sienna in your brush will ruin an otherwise perfect mix. Clean often, and clean thoroughly.
Advanced Techniques for Mastering Color Harmony
Using Complementary Colors for Balance
Complementary colors sit across from each other on the color wheel. When used together, they create balance, not chaos. Mix cadmium red and ultramarine blue, you get a deep purple.
Now, bring in a little yellow ochre—just enough to neutralize, not dull. The result? A color that vibrates, but doesn’t shout. Balancing complements is a controlled way to keep harmony without losing the energy in your painting. But control is key. Too much of one and it’s chaos.
Glazing for Subtle Shifts
Glazing is where color harmony truly shines. Thin layers of transparent paint, using mediums like linseed oil or Gamsol, let the underlying hues peek through. Think of alizarin crimson washed over burnt sienna.
That’s depth. That’s richness. Ultramarine blue glazed over a warm underpainting brings coolness without erasing warmth. It’s about creating relationships between colors without blending them into oblivion. Glaze. Let it dry. Glaze again. Harmony is built slowly, layer by layer.
Split-Complementary Schemes
Sometimes, straight-up complementary colors can feel too harsh. Enter split-complementary schemes. Instead of using just cadmium yellow with purple, try yellow ochre with a touch of burnt sienna and a cooler blue like cobalt blue.
You’re still in the complementary world, but with more nuance. It allows for contrast without the tension. This works especially well when you need a harmonious background to let the focal point stand out.
Temperature Control: Warm vs. Cool
Controlling the warmth and coolness of your colors is essential for harmony. Cadmium red next to alizarin crimson might feel like an explosion, but balance it with ultramarine blue or a touch of burnt umber and you’ve got contrast without discord.
Warm colors push forward; cool colors recede. Use this to create a natural flow in your painting, guiding the viewer’s eye without forcing it.
Pitfalls in Color Harmony
Over-reliance on white to lighten colors is a common pitfall. Zinc white and titanium white can easily flatten your painting, killing the harmony.
Instead, lighten with yellows like yellow ochre or even a bit of cadmium yellow. They keep the vibrancy alive without desaturating everything.
Another mistake? Not cleaning your palette knife or brushes thoroughly between mixes. A little leftover burnt umber in a clean cerulean blue mix will throw off the entire balance. Clean tools, clean mixes.
Practical Tips and Troubleshooting for Oil Paint Mixing
Avoid Overmixing
Mixing too much on the palette can kill the vibrancy. If you’re blending ultramarine blue and cadmium red, you want a range of purples, not a uniform mass of dullness.
Overmixing erases those subtle transitions. Stop before the colors fully merge, and let your strokes on the canvas do the rest of the blending.
Managing Paint Consistency
If your paint feels too thick, don’t drown it in linseed oil. Use a bit of Gamsol to thin the consistency, especially for initial layers.
But remember the fat-over-lean principle—later layers need more oil to prevent cracking. Balance is everything. Too much medium and you lose control of the texture; too little and your brush will drag across the canvas like mud.
Palette Knife vs. Brush Mixing
Use a palette knife when mixing large quantities of paint. It keeps the colors clean and vibrant. Mixing with your brush?
It’s fine for small amounts, but it’ll muddy your colors fast if you’re not careful. Plus, it’s easier to scrape the knife clean between mixes—your brush will just hold onto the last color you used.
Tackling Muddy Colors
Muddy colors usually happen when you mix complements too carelessly. Like blending cadmium yellow with alizarin crimson and suddenly getting brown where you expected orange. The trick is subtlety—add tiny amounts of the complement, adjusting gradually. And clean your palette often. A dirty palette is a recipe for unwanted browns and grays.
Dealing with Drying Times
Oil paint dries slowly, and that’s both a gift and a curse. When you’re layering, burnt umber or raw sienna dry faster than whites or blues. Plan accordingly.
If you’re working in wet-on-wet, embrace the slow drying time, but if you’re layering, make sure your base is dry before you add that next glaze. Otherwise, the colors will mix, and you’ll lose the transparency that makes glazing so effective.
Pitfalls to Avoid
One big pitfall: reaching for titanium white every time you need to lighten a color. It’s powerful but can easily flatten the entire mix. Use zinc white for more subtle adjustments—it’s lighter and more transparent, keeping your mixes alive.
Another common issue is adding too much medium too early. Early layers need to stay lean; too much linseed oil will leave the paint tacky, and the subsequent layers won’t adhere well.
FAQ on How To Mix Oil Paints
What colors should I start with when mixing oil paints?
Begin with a limited palette: ultramarine blue, cadmium red, yellow ochre, and titanium white. These will give you the ability to mix a wide range of colors without overwhelming yourself. From these basics, you can mix secondaries and even more complex hues without muddying the paint.
How do I avoid muddy colors when mixing?
Stick to mixing colors with similar temperatures. Warm reds with warm yellows, cool blues with cool greens. Also, clean your brushes frequently and avoid over-mixing on the palette. Complementary colors can mute each other, so use small amounts to prevent unintended browns or grays.
What is the best way to lighten oil paint?
Use titanium white for strong opacity, but be careful—too much white will flatten the color. If you want subtler lightening, add zinc white or mix with yellow ochre. Avoid over-relying on white alone. Instead, explore lightening with other close tones to preserve richness.
Can I mix oil paints directly on the canvas?
Yes, you can. But be cautious—wet-on-wet techniques require a light hand to avoid over-blending. It’s more common to mix on a palette first, then apply to the canvas, allowing more control over the color before committing it to the artwork. This keeps colors purer.
How do I know when my oil paint mix is the right consistency?
You’ll know it’s right when the paint flows smoothly but still holds its shape. If it’s too thick, add a bit of linseed oil or Gamsol. If it’s too thin, it’ll slide and lose pigment. Aim for the middle: thick enough to manipulate, thin enough to layer.
How long should I wait between layers?
It depends. Thin layers mixed with turpentine dry quickly, while thicker, oil-rich layers can take days. Always follow the fat-over-lean rule—start with lean (less oil) layers and build up to thicker, oilier ones. Letting layers dry fully will prevent cracking and smudging.
What is glazing in oil painting?
Glazing involves applying thin, transparent layers of paint over a dry layer. Use transparent colors like alizarin crimson or ultramarine blue, mixed with a medium like Gamsol, to create depth. Glazing is key for adding richness and altering the undertones without losing the detail beneath.
How can I make my oil paints dry faster?
Mix in a drying medium like Galkyd or use fast-drying pigments like burnt umber or raw sienna. Keeping your layers thin also helps. If you need speed, stick to these pigments in early layers and avoid adding too much oil or heavy mediums early on.
What mediums should I use for mixing oil paints?
Start with linseed oil for flexibility and richness. For faster drying, add Gamsol or turpentine. If you’re glazing, use a mixture of linseed oil and Gamsol to create a fluid, transparent layer. Keep in mind, mediums affect drying times and paint flow significantly.
How do I clean my palette and brushes after mixing?
Clean as you go. Use Gamsol or turpentine to clean brushes, but wipe them often while painting to avoid contamination. For the palette, scrape off excess paint with a palette knife and wipe it down with solvent-soaked rags. Don’t let paint build up—it’ll affect future mixes.
Conclusion
Mastering how to mix oil paints is essential for any artist looking to bring depth and richness to their work.
By understanding the basic principles of color mixing, avoiding common mistakes like over-mixing, and knowing when to use complementary colors or glazing techniques, you gain full control over your palette.
Remember to respect the fat-over-lean rule, carefully manage your drying times, and make thoughtful choices with mediums like linseed oil and Gamsol.
As you experiment with different pigments—whether it’s adjusting the vibrancy of cadmium red or creating transparency with zinc white—you’ll see how small changes can dramatically affect the final result.
Clean your brushes and palette frequently to keep your mixes pure. Ultimately, your ability to mix oil paints effectively will open up endless possibilities in your paintings, from creating subtle transitions to bold, dynamic contrasts.
