Part two: Project 3 - Stage 3: Exercise 1

Recording Colours Accurately:
The paints have returned, the workspace is clear. 

I often find it hard to make a start when everything has been cleared - but having moved upstairs with my work things, it is slightly easier. 
The paints are where I left them - nobody has "tidied" and I can clear away when it suits me. 
The downside is having carpet on the floor - but, if I can find something to put down to cover it up, then I can relax. For now though, I'm just going to have to be careful!

Exercise 1:
We have worked through exercises which helped us to see colours more accurately, now we tackle the next important step of mixing colours.

At the start of project 3 we mixed colours and created a colour wheel.
The colours shown in the colour wheel were all intense saturated colour.
In this exercise we are asked to mix duller, paler, more dilute colours; we are asked to do this in the following ways:

1. Dilute colours with white to obtain paler tints:

Red, Yellow and Blue Primary Colours with White

With this sample I added the saturated colour to the white, this is far simpler and more economical with the paint than adding the white to the colour.
It took longer for red to reach the white than it did with the blue or yellow saturated colours. (The red line carries on a lot further than is shown in the picture)
With the addition of white, the colours became softer and lighter - a tint.
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2. Mix colours with black to take the light out of them and make them much duller:

Red, Yellow and Blue Primary Colours with Black

With this sample I added the colour black, very slowly, to the saturated colour, this is far simpler than trying to add the colour to the black.
It took longer for red to reach black than it did with either blue or yellow.
With the addition of black the colours became duller and darker - a shade.
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3. Mix colours with grey to make them less intense:

Red, Yellow and Blue Primary Colours with Grey

With this sample I mixed a large amount of grey and gradually added the colour.
With the addition of grey, the colours became softer and less intense.
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4. Mix pure colours with their complementary colour to make all the darker, duller tones of a particular colour:

Red, Yellow and Blue Primary Colours with their Complementary Colour

With this sample I added the complementary colour to the pure colour.
Yellow slowly became purple; blue slowly became orange; red slowly became green.
With the addition of the complementary colour, darker, duller tones were produced.
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Conclusion:
I enjoyed this exercise, carefully adding a mixer colour (white, black, grey, complementary) in order to avoid 'jumps' in colour.
An example is shown below:

The addition of black

I used gouache paints to complete these samples due to the opaque coverage of the paper that this type of paint allows.

My favourite sample of the 4 is the one in which I added the complementary colour to the primary - the colours produced were interesting and lively.
Some of the tones produced would make an interesting addition to a painting, they are dark enough to be used instead of black.
Black seemed to deaden a colour whereas a colour toned down by its complementary seems to be livelier.

This exercise really proves you should never (if you can help it) use a colour straight from the tube.
Mixing colours will always produce something nicer and more natural than the straight unmixed colour.

I think this exercise is a great one to do to improve your colour mixing, it takes away some of the fear of using colour in your work.
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Finished pages:

Mixing colours: adding black and white

Mixing colours: adding grey and complementary