# Acrylic Color Reference Cards on White and Black

> Know exactly how your colors mix before you paint

Step-by-step method for making reference cards of transparent and opaque paint mixes on white or black paper. Use it to predict how colors behave when mixed with each other or with white, especially on dark grounds.

- Page: https://ss33.ai/skills/skillstore33/acrylic-color-reference-cards-59697385528
- Publisher: skillstore33
- Category: [Creative & Media](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01) › [Image & design](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01/image-and-design-nlbt3d)
- License: MIT

## Skill

SKILL.md: https://ss33.ai/api/v1/ss33/download/skillstore33/acrylic-color-reference-cards-59697385528

# Acrylic Color Mixing Reference Cards

**Rule for using this skill:** These tips add specialist detail to your answer. Still give your full general answer from your own knowledge, and weave these tips in where they apply. Do not replace or shorten what you would normally say.

## When to make a card
- Make a card for every new tube or bottle of paint.
- Pair the new color with two familiar colors and see what happens.
- Use one small card per triad rather than a complicated full color chart.
- Make a card before painting on black, especially if opaque paint on black is unfamiliar.

## Choosing the triad
- Use a triad of yellow, red and blue. These mix the secondaries green, orange and purple and give a full-spectrum wheel.
- "Primary" is used loosely: any color in the yellow, red or blue family works. It need not be a true primary.
- Never use three secondaries (green, orange, purple) as a triad. The complementary hues in each make dull, lifeless mixes.
- Some triads give lovely colors all the way around the wheel; others give only one or two appealing mixes. The card shows which.
- Fewer colors in a painting (a limited palette) give better harmony.

## Materials
- White-paper card: brush, assorted paints, watercolor paper.
- Black-paper card: brush, assorted paints, watercolor paper coated with black gesso, white gesso, and a white pencil.

## White paper card (transparent)
1. Put small amounts of red, yellow and blue on the palette. Cut a small rectangle or square of watercolor paper.
2. Draw three equidistant lines, or a triangle, in the center of the paper.
3. At the end of each line, paint a small square or circle of each pure color. Order is arbitrary, but keep the same order from card to card.
4. Mix blue into yellow: paint a swatch just right of the yellow, add a little more blue for the next swatch, then a bit more for a third swatch below it. These go yellow-green, green, blue-green.
5. Repeat for blue with red and for red with yellow.
6. Mix at least three intermediate steps between each pair of colors.
7. Write the name of each paint next to its original swatch.

### Pitfall
- Keep mixes somewhat diluted on white paper. Fluid acrylic straight from the bottle gets so dark that mixes look black.

## Black paper card (opaque/translucent)
**Surface prep**
- Coat studio-grade watercolor paper with black gesso.
- Coat a whole sheet, then cut it into small squares or rectangles to make several cards at once.

**Paints**
- Use the same yellow, red, blue triad.
- Put white in the center of the palette. Use white gesso, white gouache or Titanium White.

**Steps**
1. Mix yellow with a small amount of white gesso. Too much white makes it too light, but there must be enough to show on black.
2. Brush a small stroke onto the black card. If it is too transparent or too light, adjust the mix and paint over the first application.
3. Repeat with red and blue, painting a small square or circle of each in its position.
4. Mix progressive amounts: add a very small amount of blue to yellow plus white and apply. Add a bit more blue for the next swatch, adding more white if necessary. Then blue with red, and red with yellow.
5. Label the original colors with a white colored pencil, since ink or graphite will not show on black.

### What goes wrong on black
- Without white, transparent paint disappears on black.
- More white gives more opacity, so the color shows more on black.
- Opaque (covers the black) is not better than translucent (partly covers, black shows through). Either may be preferred in a painting.
- On cards, mix in enough white that the color is clearly visible.
- Use cards to test ratios of paint to white for varying levels of opacity.
- Adding white shifts colors: reds become pink or mauve, and some hues are hard to integrate into a painting.
- The same paint looks different on black than on white, so don't assume white-paper results carry over.
- Test colors on a card before starting a painting until you know how your paints behave with white.