Keep your palette simple by learning to mix colours
'The chief function of colour should be to serve expression' - Henri Matisse
1 Buy a few good quality paints and learn to mix the colour you want. Start with black, white and the primaries - blue, red and yellow. These are all the colours you need - from these you can make any hue or tone you will need.
2 Practise by making your own colour chart - you will learn how to make any colour. Make it a fun project - It is worth spending time on this.
3 Do not always use black to darken and white to lighten. Try using dark blue or purple for richer, darker values and yellow to lighten.
4 Too many vivid colours can be jarring and look unprofessional - add a little grey or the colour opposite to the one you are using - add a little red to your vivid blue to tone it down a little. This will make for a more elegant painting.
5 Mix on the palette, not the canvas and take your time to get it right. Use a piece of card or paper to test you have it right before applying to the canvas.
Experiment with mixing colours
