Selecting Primary Colors in Watercolor

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	"Your three primary colors; yellow, red, and blue, can produce over 50 colors."

	Home Basics and Skills Selecting Your Primary Colors
		Selecting Your Primary Colors
		Which yellow, red, and blue to use? Soft and delicate primaries Medium strength primaries Bold and strong primaries
	To fully understand how to mix various colors in watercolor, you must first begin with your primary colors; yellow, red, and blue. Named primary, as there are no two colors you can mix together that will create these colors. But, from these three colors, you can mix all colors found in the spectrum.

Selecting Three Primaries

		Probably the best way to choose primary colors is to browse through various art instruction books until you find an artist that sees, and interprets, color in the same way as you do.	Deciding on which three primary watercolors to begin with can seem quite daunting, especially if you are new to watercolor.
			Once you discover which three primary colors the artist uses consistently throughout their paintings, create a color wheel based on those three colors. Study the colors. Are the colors still appealing and similar to what you envision in a painting? If the majority of them are, then you are ready to begin.

Which Primary Watercolors to Choose?
	To help you with your selection, I set up three popular primary triads (or trios as I fondly call them), showing them as a primary color on the color wheel, along with the secondary and tertiary colors they make when mixed.

		Rose Madder Genuine Auerolin Cobalt Blue
		For a soft and delicate look, these three primaries are a good choice. They offer luminous transparent color, are all non-staining, and mix extremely well other non-staining colors.
		Yellow to Orange Orange to Red Red to Violet Violet to Blue Blue to Green Green to Yellow Mixing all three Warm to Cool Gray

This soft trio contains a primary blue with strong sediment			This soft trio contains a primary blue that is opaque
	Raw Sienna Rose Madder Manganese Genuine Blue		Raw Sienna Rose Madder Cerulean Genuine Blue

		Permanent Rose New Gamboge French Ultramarine Blue
		For a look that is neither soft and delicate, or bold and strong, these three primaries would make a good choice. They offer a luminous deeper color, all non-staining, and mix extremely well other non-staining colors.
		Yellow to Orange Orange to Red Red to Violet Violet to Blue Blue to Green Green to Yellow Mixing all three Warm to Cool Gray

		Permanent Alizarin Crimson Winsor Yellow Winsor Blue *
		For a look that is bold and strong, these three primaries would make a good choice. They offer deep, luminous, transparent color, and are all highly staining. They mix extremely well other staining colors, but dominate non-staining colors.
		Yellow to Orange Orange to Red Red to Violet Violet to Blue Blue to Green Green to Yellow Mixing all three Warm to Cool Gray	*Also known as Phthalo blue.
	If you are new to watercolor, I would recommend beginning with either the soft or medium primary colors as they are non-staining. Once you become more familiar and confident painting with non-staining watercolors, then slowly introduce yourself to the staining colors.

NEXT: How to Use Color In a Painting

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