I am painting this pink paint splatter from this reference pic. Curious if anyone has any suggestions on mixing these colors. For the general pink area I am using quinacradone magenta mixed with white which seems to match fairly close. However I am having a big problem with the darker shadows. I tried adding some blue to this mixture but then it turns purple. If anyone has any suggestions on the darkest areas and shadows please let me know. Thx so much.
My follow up question is much of the paint such as the first splatter on the left seems the same color pink throughout except for the highlights and the very edge. I know this paint isn’t flat and parts of it are closer to drawing a sphere but it all just seems like one color to me (except for obvious shadows and highlights). I know that light is hitting it at a different angle bc it isn’t flat but I guess maybe the shift is too subltle for me to see. Hate to ask another question but any help on this would also be great. Thx
What a cool issue to bring up Mark—my gut reaction would be to build out from a Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Cad. Red. There are definite hue shifts throughout so I don’t think just “one red” (without other colors) will give you what you want.
However, there are some cool tools out there to help you find a pretty good starting point if you feel lost. One such tool is Zsolt M. Kovacs_Color 2 Drop._
I shared a post about it here a while ago: RESOURCE:Zsolt Color Mixing Tools
You can pull up your image in Photoshop and sample some of the target colors:
Then you can take the RGB, HVC, or Lab values, enter them into the appropriate field, select a relatively appropriate paint set (or you can just choose a generic one) and the program will give you a few options on how to mix that color.
It can be very helpful if you feel like you are floundering in finding a starting point.
Unfortunately the program cannot be simply downloaded from Zsolt’s site. Here is the instructions on how to get it:
TO ACCESS THIS FREE SOFTWARE:
If you would like to use my Color Mixing Tools and download the system, please send me an e-mail message, so I can send you the access info. You’ll need two files: MCRInstaller.exe and ColorMixingTools.zip. You should download them together, because the version numbers must match. Please note that you are authorized to use the system only according to the Disclaimer below and you are not allowed to put the MATLAB libraries on the internet for any reason. However, please feel free to give the two files to your colleagues or friends, but only for educational purposes.
LINK: http://zsolt-kovacs.unibs.it/colormixingtools10
Here are some suggestions from Color2Drop for moving into the shadows (w/ Rembrandt Oil Colors):
Let me know if this helps! (and PS—never hesitate to ask a question. I guarantee you that your questions help many that are struggling with the same thing! :-))
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Amazing Anthony. So helpful. There are apps that I use also for this but don’t go as far as your tool. One is called “color id” which uses your phones camera lenses and tells you the exact color you are looking at with hex tag. The other is called “true color”. Which tells you what % of each primary to use in order to mix it. Not perfect as you say but good way to get started when I am completely lost.
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