Free Art For All - Basics of Watercolor - Secondary Colors

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You have played with the primary watercolor: blue, red, and yellow, hopefully you had a wonderful time letting the paint flow and move.  Now it is time to see what the differences are between secondary colors that are mixed and secondary colors that come out of a tube or a cake of watercolor.  This lesson is concentrating on how secondary colors happen and allows you to feel comfortable making the colors that come out of a tube sing with life.  


  1. Master Touch 140#  watercolor paper
  2. Water
  3. Daniel Smith Quinacridone Burnt Orange
  4. Daniel Smith Undersea Green
  5. Daniel Smith Carbazole Purple
  6. Daniel Smith Ultra Marine Blue
  7. Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium
  8. Daniel Smith Perylene Red
  9. Size 10 watercolor brush
  10. Salt
  11. Watercolor tray

We start out by watching a demonstration on how to tear an 11” x 14” piece of watercolor paper and divide it into 2 pieces (5.5” x7”).  Watercolor water should be clean when mixing into your colors.  Always keep a container for rinsing your brush and one with clean water.  Your wet brush should never be left standing hair down in the water.  Always leave it either laying flat or with hair end up.  

  1. Paint a strip of orange (then green and purple).
  2. Paint a strip of the Secondary color and then on the edge put another primary color and let it “run” into the other color.
  3. Note the difference between the color out of the tube and the mixed color.
  4. Paint the color out ofd the tube and on each side of it strip add the primary colors that made it.  You now have a strip that has depth and highlights
  5. Do a wash on a 5.5”x7” piece of watercolor paper using the techniques from step #4.  Let it dry flat.
  6. Repeat with the other colors.  

This is what I call playing with watercolor.  Before you can paint a masterpiece you need to know and understand your watercolors, paper, brushes and the color relationships.  Right now playing is the best way to learn and enjoy the properties of watercolor.