"The Poulsbo Rock" plein air painting and mixing green by Robin Weiss

"The Poulsbo Rock"   9x12 oil on panel   $600

 

Let's talk about green.  As a painter living in the Pacific Northwest it's of great benefit to get a handle on how to mix a variety of greens because lets face it , green can be boring if there is too much of it and you don't take the time to study the subtleties.

One painter is quoted,  "What spells green relief"? ... and answers R E D!"

While that's true, there's more to it than that.  There is also orange....but there is more to it than that!

I'm going to list some of my recipes for green but there is no substitute for careful observation, getting outside and painting from life. Remember that the eye loves variety in everything including color. 

If you need to go dark green fast and your looking for that northwest blue/green fir tree shade start by mixing Ivory Black and Cad Yellow Light.  Ivory Black has a lot of blue and can make a rich, dark green.  Tweek it with Cobalt Blue for more distance or a little red for deep shadow.

While I use mostly M Graham paint and love it for many reasons there are a couple other colors from other brands that I use. For a spring green that really pops I mix a modern yellow such as Azo or Hansa with Gamblin's Radiant Turquoise. Adjust with orange or red to taste.  

When I am painting the ocean around here or the Puget Sound I usually make a mix of Cobalt Blue and Viridian to start and adjust from there. Remember, to gray a color start by mixing in a little of it's compliment. ( opposite on the color chart )

There are many other ways to approach mixing greens and you can mess around yourself. If you want to see some great examples of green variety check any of Richard Schmid's landscape books.