Mix Paint with the Convenience Green Strategy
One way to make sure all your greens are harmonious with each other
Greens are tricky! Have you noticed how easily they can be jarring and overpower a
painting, especially when used for foliage? This has to do with how our eyes see and
our brains work. You may ask yourself, ‘What’s the best green to use in a painting?’
Well, it’s the one that fits the context of your painting:
1. Overall values (lightness & darkness) in your painting,
2. What plants you are painting (fertilized lawn is a different color from cactus),
3. Brightness (chroma or saturation) & hue (color) of the light that’s shining on it.
So how do you make greens that will work in your paintings? Try the ‘Convenience
Strategy! Start with a pre-mixed green paint, called a ‘convenience green’. This
becomes your base for mixing.
Experiment with mixing single pigment paints into the base to:
• Make it duller– Try Dioxizine Violet, PV23 (Pigment Violet 23)
• Shift it to a warmer color, - Try your reds, burnt sienna
• Shift it to a cooler color. Try your blues.
Keep a chart of your results, as a reminder! [see chart below]
If you choose a convenience green off the shelf, remember – there is no one-to-one
correspondence between marketing names and pigments! For example, marketing
names of convenience greens include: emerald green, permanent green, hookers
green, sap green, olive green, bright green, vivid green, and leaf green. These don’t
really tell you what you are buying! Some have one, two or three pigments in them,
depending on the brand.
Read the labels! Get out your magnifying glass and check the pigment numbers listed
on the tube! These are standardized abbreviations for pigments, and there is a one-toone
correspondence for pigment numbers and pigments! Most convenience
greens include Phthalo Green, PG7 (Pigment Green 7). Make sure the other pigments,
particularly the yellows in your paints, are lightfast. (See www.Handprint.com, my go-to
resource on pigments and paint properties by brand.)
These are my three favorite yellows for botanical greens.
• Nickel Azo Yellow (Winsor Newton ‘Transparent Yellow’) PY 150
• Benz Yellow (Winsor Newton ‘Winsor Yellow’) PY 154
• Quinacridone Gold (Daniel Smith – ‘Quinacridone Gold’) PO 49
It’s fun to experiment! Enjoy!
Check out over a dozen of Marsha Mason’s “Watercolor 101” video tutorial series on the
Rancho Cordova Arts’ YouTube Channel.