Welcome to justpaint color theory
Interactive pages on how watercolor makes color. Each one takes a single question and answers it with what the light, the water and the pigment are doing.
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01
Glaze vs. mix
Yellow glazed with orange, or the same two paints mixed first. Why don’t they come out the same color?
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02
Complementary colors
Mix orange into blue and both fade toward gray. What happens to the light when complements meet?
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03
Transparent vs. opaque
Paint yellow over a dark line. Some yellows let it show through and others hide it. What decides which?
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04
Why paint dries duller
A wash glows while it’s wet and goes duller as it dries. Where does the color go?
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05
Why washes dry with dark edges
Leave a wash on dry paper and it dries with a darker line around it, like a coffee stain. Who drew the line?
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06
Why some paints granulate
Cerulean dries speckled in the paper’s tooth, phthalo blue dries smooth as ink. Same water, same paper. What’s different?
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07
Tea, coffee, milk, cream, butter
Watery paint on half-dry paper blooms into a cauliflower; thick paint stays put. Why match the paint to the paper?
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