Colour mixing is at the heart of acrylic painting. It allows you to create a rich, expressive palette that’s perfectly suited to your style. Unlike watercolour, acrylic paint is more opaque and has greater coverage, which directly affects how colours blend.
Discover how to use primary colours to create secondary and tertiary colours, as well as tips specific to acrylics to master your colour mixing.
What are the primary colours in acrylic paint?
Primary colors are the foundation of any color palette. They cannot be created by mixing and are used to create all other shades.
In acrylic painting, the following are generally used:
- Red
- Yellow
- Blue
Depending on the pigments, you can also work with modern variants such as magenta, cyan, and yellow, which allow you to create brighter, more saturated blends.
In acrylic painting, the choice of primary colors is essential: pure colours will produce brighter blends, while colours that are already “tinted” will result in duller shades.
Creating secondary colours with acrylic paint
Secondary colours are created by mixing two primary colors in equal proportions.
Here are the basic color combinations:
- Orange : red + yellow
- Green : blue + yellow
- Violet : blue + red
Made with acrylic, these mixtures have a unique characteristic:
Because the paint has higher opacity, the colors can quickly become opaque and lose their brightness.
Tip: Build up your mixtures gradually and avoid over-mixing to preserve vibrant colours.
Exploring tertiary colours
Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary colour with a neighboring secondary colour on the colour wheel.
This results in more subtle shades such as:
- Yellow-orange
- Red-orange
- Red-violet
- Blue-violet
- Bleu-green
- Yellow-green
These shades are particularly useful in acrylic painting for:
- creating natural shadows
- enriching a colour palette
- adding depth to a composition
Unlike watercolour, acrylic paint allows you to layer colors easily thanks to its opacity.
Practical Tips for Successful Acrylic Mixing
1. Choose high-quality basic colours
Pure pigments produce more intense and cleaner colours.
2. Work on the proportions
A slight variation can completely transform a shade:
more blue → a cooler colour
more yellow → a warmer colour
3. Pay attention to opacity
Acrylic paint covers quickly:
too much paint = a “muddy” colour
too many layers = loss of brightness
4. Think in terms of temperature
Les couleurs chaudes (rouge, orange, jaune) et froides (bleu, vert, violet) influencent fortement le rendu final et peuvent même neutraliser une teinte si elles sont mal équilibrées.
5. Create your own colour chart
Warm colors (red, orange, yellow) and cool colours (blue, green, purple) have a significant impact on the final result and can even cancel out a color if they are not properly balanced.
Conclusion
Mastering color mixing with acrylics is an essential skill for developing your creativity. Starting with primary colours, you can create an infinite palette of shades, from the brightest to the most subtle.
Thanks to its texture and coverage, acrylic paint offers great freedom for experimentation. By practicing regularly and observing your mixtures, you’ll refine your eye and gain precision to create works that are increasingly rich and harmonious.