Really dumb Premo color mixing question
Edward DiLorenzo
Hi Everyone,
I need some Navy blue Premo, and I'm not quite sure what to mix to get
it. Yes, I'm one of those no-talent, little imagination craft hobbyist
people, and I need help. The Premo is a little too expensive to
experiment with, as I get enough "mud" from what I do anyway.
So please, please help. I have a color wheel, and that doesn't help. I
also have the book, Yellow and Blue Don't Make Green, which is
interesting and has helped me with other mixes, but that was when I was
using Sculpey III, and could afford to make more mistakes.
If I just mix some black into the Ultramarine Blue, will it just look
dirty, or will it really be Navy? What else can I mix in?
Thanks in advance to all my more talented polymer clay friends. BTW, the
other day I saw Sculpey III on sale at AC Moore for 87 cents per 2 oz
block.
Laura DiLorenzo
Rebecca955
I would start with ultramarine blue, add a little alizarin crimson and then add
black.
One suggestion: roll out some thin sheets of each color, then either cut a
bunch of cirles with Kemper cutters, or cut the slabs into 1/2" squares. Use
the squares to mix a sample: say 6 blue, one red, one black. If you do not
like it, add more of whatever... If you keep track of what you are doing, you
can then mix a big batch with more confidence.
It may help to add a little white, too, since the dark colors bake darker.
Lynn Herschberger called this quality of color its translucene--and it seems to
be the reason the blues and reds and dark greens and purples look so much
darker when they bake.
Also, do remember to bake a piece before you mix the big batch, no need for
surprises.
Hope this helps,
Becky
Ceejayland
<<One suggestion: roll out some thin sheets of each color, then either cut a
>>
<<bunch of cirles with Kemper cutters, or cut the slabs into 1/2" squares. Use
>>
<<the squares to mix a sample: say 6 blue, one red, one black. If you do not
>>
<<like it, add more of whatever... If you keep track of what you are doing, you
>>
<<can then mix a big batch with more confidence. >>
What a great idea. : =) I'm going to note that so I remember it. Thanx!!!!!
Ceejay
Sherry Bailey
: I need some Navy blue Premo, and I'm not quite sure what to mix to get
: it. Yes, I'm one of those no-talent, little imagination craft hobbyist
: people, and I need help. The Premo is a little too expensive to
: experiment with, as I get enough "mud" from what I do anyway.
Just because we have philosophical discussions here about art vs craft (about
ever six months or so, I'd say) does NOT mean ANYBODY here is EVER putting
anybody down (other than people who steal copyrighted designs). Nobody knows
everything (except me! JOKE, people JOKE!) and we all ask questions here, EVEN
me, and so defending your need for information is not necessary. Really!
Nobody thinks of you (or anyone) as you describe yourself, so please don't
imagine we do. OK???
OK, onto color mixing. (There are some excellent articles in back issues of
PolyInforMer, by the way, and if you don't have lots of confidence in color
mixing, you might want to try them. (Margaret Maggio and Lindly Huanani wrote
them, and they teach color at Ravensdale and events like that -- people who
are interested in color mixing should consider taking the workshops if they
have the opportunity.) (Is there a video too, I seem to think there is one or
is one being developed, maybe...) Remember, you can do color exercises with
paint as well as with clay if you think it's cheaper. Just choose paint coors
as close as possible to the clay colors, which with Premo is easy.
A few tips.
Learn to stare at a color and mentally break it down to how you get it. (This
does improve with experience, but mental analysis can start even without it.)
Look at a green and think, is that green (made by mixing blue and yellow)
more greenish or more yellowish? Is it bright (mixed from pure colors) or dull
(meaning there is some of the complement in there, in this case red.)
(Complements are the colors OPPOSITE the one you want on the color wheel --
which really works out to a mix of the colors NOT included in the one you
want). Is the color light (transparent or with white added, like pink is
really "light red") or is it dark (like navy blue) with black mixed in.
Is it more warm or more cool, which usually results from specific pigments,
ultramarine blue is cooler than cobalt, for example. Of course, you can have
a color with a lot of these things going on... some of it you will figure out
from experimentation.
Another tip is that flourescent colors are often needed to get a
lighter/brighter color. When you deal with pigments as opposed to sunlight to
get your colors, the qualities of the pigments can mess up "perfect" color
theory. (It's thick stuff, not photons!) So in colors where a lot of light is
reflected in Real Life, sometimes the flourescents compensate for the fact
that the pigments are kind of darkish. (To get the color of an orange, fruit,
you might mix a little cadmium red into yellow flourescent, for example. I
would definitely do this with Sculpey, maybe the yellows in Premo are better.)
Another tip, important one, always mix the darker color (or more "concentrated
color") into the lighter one. Always add color to white to get a pastel, never
white to the color (unless you have a ton of white to use up!) Always add a
color to yellow, never yellow to a darker color. (Generalities, of course --
if you have green that is just a BIT too blue, you would of course mix in some
yellow, but if you are starting from scratch, you will waste much less clay or
paint if you add the darker to the lighter. Think of it as staining power.)
To get navy blue, first think about the color you want. (Actually, what navy
means to me might be a bit different from what it means to you, anyhow. "Teal
almost certainly does!) OK, I see a very dark blue, maybe a bitsy bit purple,
but close to black. No greenish cast at all (that's why I say leaning toward
purple, th opposite direction from green.)
Start with blue. (I would choose Ultramarine since it is cooler and less
greenish than cobalt.) For TEST mixing, I'd work in small amounts, like half a
marble's worth of Ultramarine. Whatever you start with, consider that a "unit"
and then when you try adding amounts, try to see them as numbers of "units" or
as "fractions of units". That way you can reproduce your successful
blend. (Keep track on paper if you don't tend to remember.)
I would take a unit of ultramarine blue and start by adding less black than I
think I really want, so say a quarter unit. (Black might darken the blue
faster than I expect.) If it's not quite dark enough, I might add another
quarter unit. My guess is that should be about right, but if not, add more
black.
If it seems dark enough, but not quite right, as has been previously posted,
you could try adding a tiny bit of white. (Start with a quarter unit maybe.) I
don't recommend this with paint or anything but polymer clay -- but
Ultramarine and Alizarin crimson (for two examples) are very saturated colors
with a lot of staining power (true in paint, too, but there you would thin
another way, probably). The white helps bump them back up to a more even level
to the other colors.
If the color seems not quite blue-violet enough, add a tiny bit of alizarin
crimson. (Not cadmium, which is too yellowish, and therefore closer to green
than to blue.)
Don't forget to take half your mixed sample when you get it right (and by all
means STOP when it suits you, don't add more colors just because they are
suggested!) and bake it to see how well it stays stable in the oven. If it
bakes a bit darker or lighter or something, you might want to adjust your
mixture to compensate.
I had a lot of color mixing training in college (with paint) and now I can
look at any color and just "know" how to get it, almost always. (I may not
know the exact ratio in amounts, but I can mix it as I go.) This is just a
learned skill that comes from practice and observation and getting a feel for
your clay/s of choice. Meaning anyone can do it, unless you are color blind or
something like that... (I find it useful, but you know something -- those of
you who DON'T have this skill yet might have an advantage -- going through
color mixing exercises makes you create samples, and having the samples to
look at seems like it would inspire you to use those colors. Since I know how
to get any color I want, pretty much, I have to *need* the color and mix it
beforehand -- so I may be less likely to use cool colors than those of you who
make chips and play with the results! Just a random observation!!)
(I was writing a book on color theory when I taught art -- can you tell I'm
"into" it?!)
Sherry
Dorothy Mcmillan
Try mixing some Premo Ecru into the Ultamarine and see what you
get. Use small balls and do it in increments and keep track of how many
parts of one to the other.
I was at the San Diego Guild's clay day all day today. (wow,
that's a lot of "days" isn't it?) Marie Segal told us that if we wanted
muted, soft colors for such things as "desert" colors, then just add Ecru.
Haven't tried it, but Marie is usually right on the mark. It should
have the same effect on the Ultamarine, muteing it to a Navy.
Dotty in CA
scott & irene
Dorothy Mcmillan <VBC...@prodigy.com> wrote
Ecru.
Yes, adding Ecru to any color makes a lovely muted color.
Regarding Navy Blue, I reference my color mixing strand (see separate
thread) for the following formulas that achieve a dark Navy Blue:
1 part Purple (CFC #61) and 1 part Sea Green (CFC #33)
1 part Violet (CFC #60) and 1 part Sea Green (CFC #33)
4 parts Cobalt (CFC #30) and 1 part Black (CFC #90)
4 parts Ultramarine Blue (CFC #31) and 1 part Black (CFC #90).
These are all slightly different; try them all to see which is the Navy
Blue you want.
Irene
--
to email, remove first x from address
Dorothy Mcmillan
Good golly, Miss Molly!!! I must have been really tired when I
posted yesterday. What I should have said was try adding ecru, violet,
and black to ultramarine. Not just the ecru. Eight parts of the
ultramarine, one part violet, one part ecru, and one part black makes a
very interesting shade of navy. As Sherry said, every ones idea of navy
is different. So why not take small samples and try a lot of mixtures
and see what you like best. All the suggestions I've read seem great and
each would give you a navy. You just have to decide which one suits you.
One part ecru and one part ultramarine make a lovely, dusty
denium!
Daffy Dotty in CA