How to dilute color in water-based paint proportions. What materials should be purchased for tinting water emulsion

Thanks to modern technology, interior designers are becoming real wizards. In the blink of an eye, they will make any room stylish and original. Recently, more and more attention is paid to color design. The most popular are non-standard shades that can be obtained by mixing colors.

Process Basics

Manufacturers of paints and varnishes presented a fairly wide range on the market. But it is not always possible to choose what is ideal for the interior. Combining multiple shades will save time and money.

In many specialized stores, you can use the services of a specialist who will help you make the right color. But if you know the basic rules of how to mix dyes, you can do it at home with your own hands.

When mixing, you need to remember one important rule: you can not combine liquid products with a dry mixture. They have different indices, so the coloring composition may eventually curl up.

The most interesting part of the process is creating the desired shade. There are four primary colors:

• blue;
• Red;
• green.

By mixing them, you can get any others. Here are illustrative examples:

1. Brown is obtained by combining red and green. For a lighter shade, you can add some white.
2. - the result of mixing yellow and red.
3. If you need green, you need to combine yellow and blue paints.
4. To get, you need to mix blue and red.
5. Red and white will result in pink.

So you can mix ad infinitum.

Mixing acrylic materials

Designers love acrylic paints the most. They are very easy to work with, the finished coating has excellent water-repellent properties. Their use has several nuances:

1. The work surface must be perfectly flat and smooth. To do this, it needs to be sanded.
2. It is important that the paint does not dry out.
3. To get an opaque color use undiluted paint. Conversely, for transparency, you can add a little water.
4. To be able to slowly choose the right color, it is recommended to use. Thanks to him, the tool will not dry so quickly.
5. To distribute the paint, use the edge of the brush.
6. Mixing is best done with a clean instrument. In this case, the colors should be directed towards each other.
7. To make a light tone, you need to add a white dye to the solution, and to get a dark one - black. It is worth remembering that the palette of dark colors is much wider than light ones.

Here are some examples of mixing acrylic-based colorants:

1. Apricot color is obtained by mixing red, yellow, brown and white.
2. The manufacturing recipe involves the combination of brown and white. If you need a bright beige, you can add a little yellow. For a light beige shade, you need more white.
3. Gold is the result of mixing yellow and red.
4. Ocher is yellow with brown. By the way, it is considered popular in the current season.
5. can be done by mixing green dye with brown.
6. Magenta requires three different colors: red, yellow, and blue.

Mixing oil paints

Oil-based paints are more fluid, which necessitates more thorough mixing of the compositions if mixing tones is performed. The specificity and properties of oil colors give the following advantages:

• the tone will be the most uniform, so the paint is perfect for decorating any surface;
• if desired, you can leave streaks in the paint, which will allow you to create unusual effects on a canvas or wall.

Oil stirring

Before work, it is important to evaluate whether it is possible to combine individual tones with each other, what will be the result. If you introduce a little glossy paint into a matte one, the result will be inexpressive. Adding a matte paint to a shiny one helps to make the latter a little more subdued.

brown tones

Red tones

1. The basis for it is considered to be white. Red is added to it. The brighter the desired shade, the more red should be added.
2. To get a rich chestnut, you need to mix red and black.
3. Bright red-orange color - red and a little yellow. The more of the latter, the paler the result will be.
4. You can give the dye a purple tint by mixing a few drops of bright blue and yellow colors and red pigment.
5. To create, according to the recipe, you need to mix bright red + white + brown + blue. The more white, the pinker the shade.

Deep green is formed by combining yellow and blue tones. The saturation of the finished dye depends on the amount of each of them. To create shades, you need to add other colors to green:

1. For need white.
2. To get an olive color, you need green and a few drops of yellow.
3. A shade of grass can be obtained by mixing green with blue. Yellow paint will help even out the color.
4. The color of the needles is the result of mixing green with black and yellow.
5. Gradually mixing green with white and yellow, you can make an emerald tone.

Purple tones

Purple is made by mixing blue and red. You can also use blue and pink paints - the final color will be light, pastel. To darken the finished tone, artists use black paint, which is added in very small portions. Here are the nuances for creating shades of purple:

• for light purple, you can dilute the finished color with white in the right ratio;
• for magenta, you need to enter more red paint than blue.

Orange color

When creating a classic orange, they combine one part of yellow and red paint. But for many types of paint, you have to take more yellow, otherwise the color will turn out to be too dark. Here are the main shades of orange and how to get them:

• for light orange, take pink and yellow, you can also add a little white paint;
• coral requires dark orange, pink, white in equal proportions;
• peach needs colors such as orange, yellow, pink, white;
• for red, you need to take dark orange and a little brown.

Important rule

Many people ask the question: is it possible to mix paints and varnishes from different manufacturers? It is desirable that the dyes to be mixed be made by the same company. It's even better if they are from the same batch. Mixing dyes from different companies is not recommended. Often they have different properties, such as density, brightness, etc. Because of this, the finished coating may curl.

If there is a desire to take a chance, you can combine a little bit of one and the other paint and apply the resulting solution to the surface. If it thickens or clumps, the experiment is not a success.

Computer help

You can mix several colors correctly using special computer programs. They help to see the final result and determine in percentage terms how much of one or another tone needs to be added. Such programs will help you figure out what shade can be obtained from the funds that are available. They consist of several elements:

1. A button that removes tones from a set.
2. Color names.
3. Lines of input or output to or from a calculation.
4. Samples.
5. A button that introduces colors into the set.
6. Result windows.
7. New selection window and list.
8. The composition of the finished dye as a percentage.

Mixing several different colors is a fairly common technique among designers. Unusual shades will help to advantageously decorate the interior, make it original or even unique. You can mix dyes even at home. There are many recipes for creating a particular shade. For example, to get beige, you need to combine white and brown, and for pink, white and red.

It is recommended to always have a thinner on hand to prevent the paint from drying too quickly. Do not mix products from different manufacturers, because the result will be a poor-quality coating. To find out the final result of mixing, you can use a special computer program.

Color for acrylic paint is usually selected when there is no ready-made material of the desired shade on sale. By correctly mixing the white base with one or more tinting compounds, you can get any, even the most complex, tone.

Working with color always involves some difficulties, so when starting to create an original shade, it is important to take into account some subtleties and professional techniques.

Machine tinting

In large stores of finishing materials, acrylic paints are presented in a wide variety of colors. You can get acquainted with the various options by looking at the catalog of shades.

It is very convenient to order the paint of the chosen tone in the right quantity without leaving the counter. Thanks to a special computer program, the machine will mix the dye with the white base in the required proportions, and the problem will be solved.

It is advisable to calculate the consumption in advance in order to purchase the material in one batch. Even with machine mixing, there may be a slight difference in the tone of the compositions tinted in one color, which will lead to a visual defect in the decorative coating.

Manual tinting

If among the dozens of shades presented in the store's catalog there is not a single sample that would fully meet the requirements, you should not give up your ideas and compromise, because the color in the interior is of great importance! You just have to be patient and tint the acrylic paint yourself. You will also need this method if there is no store nearby with a computer tinting installation.

What is required?

No complicated fixtures are needed. Decide on a color and prepare everything you need.

1. White base paint. It is taken in an amount sufficient to cover the entire surface to be finished. It is not difficult to calculate the costs, because the manufacturer always indicates the material consumption per 1 sq. meter. It is recommended to add one tenth of the figure to the figure obtained in order to avoid an accidental shortage of composition. Also keep in mind that usually acrylic paint is applied to the surface in two layers, so that the coating is rich and even in tone.
2. Colors (one or more, depending on the complexity of the desired shade).
3. Mixing container. The material is tinted in one large container (bucket or basin), so that in the end a completely uniform composition for coloring the entire surface is obtained.
4. Construction mixer or drill with a special nozzle.
5. Small container for sample preparation.
6. A pipette or syringe, which is convenient to add color, while counting drops (if the bottle with color is not equipped with a narrow spout).

Important: the colorant must match the composition of the base solution or be universal. It is impossible to tint acrylic paint based on an organic solvent with a water-soluble pigment (and, conversely, water-based - organic).

Create a probe

In order not to make a mistake with the color and not spoil all the purchased material, it is better to tint its minimum amount, while calculating the proportions. This is done like this:

• pour 100 ml of white paint into a small container;
• draw liquid pigment into a pipette and drip, counting each drop, into a future sampler (start with a small portion of color);
• write down the numbers on paper;
• mix thoroughly;
• add color until you get the right shade, and each time fix the number of drops on paper to make the final calculation.

It is advisable to prepare the probe in the room to be finished, and under the usual lighting for this room. The fact is that natural daylight and a chandelier or sconce “beat” the same shade in different ways.

Make sure that the lighting and the shade you created do not "argue" with each other. To do this, apply paint on a piece of plywood or thick cardboard, let it dry and look at it from a distance of several meters and from different angles. Everything is fine? Then it's time to take the next step.

Getting the right shade

When the sampler is ready, you can start mixing the main volume of paint.

The calculations will be as follows: for one liter of white composition, you need to take 4/5 of the amount of color spent on the sampler, multiplying them by 10.

For example: to 100 ml of paint you added 10 drops of one dye and 5 drops of another. So, per liter of white base you will take 80 and 40 drops, respectively. The amount can be reduced a little more if in doubt, because it will not be difficult to add brightness if necessary, but it will not be possible to whiten the tone.

Now the composition must be mixed very carefully. Use a construction mixer or a nozzle on a drill, so things will go faster. Turn on the appliance at low speeds (it is undesirable to whip the paint).

Tinting can also be done independently, by calculating the proportion first on a small part, and then mixing the entire volume.

It is quite difficult to stir it manually by hand, small errors may remain, which will appear on the surface in the form of stains, spots and stripes.

What should be considered when self-tinting?

Before tinting the white composition to the chosen color, take into account the following:

1. Acrylic paints intended for interior decoration differ in the degree of whiteness (this is especially true for aqueous dispersions). The higher this indicator, the better the base material, as well as the cleaner and juicier the tone will be when tinting.
2. On the packaging of materials, manufacturers often mark "for ceilings" or "for walls." These recommendations should not be neglected, since the technical characteristics of such compounds are always different. The walls are finished with paints that create a coating that is more resistant to abrasion and pollution, and the ceilings, as a rule, are treated with vapor-permeable coloring agents.
3. On a large area, the color looks brighter, and on a wall with a window opening, it looks darker. A textured painted surface will also look darker by a tone or two.
4. A glossy finish “plays” with the shades present in the interior, reflects light, while a matte finish usually looks more restrained and monotonous.

Features of colors for acrylic paint

Pigments for acrylic paints are produced on organic and inorganic bases. The former have a rich palette of colors, and the shades created using them are as bright as possible (sometimes even "poisonous"). The latter are more suitable for tinting paint in delicate, natural, pastel colors. They are used in the decoration of children's rooms and bedrooms.

Organic dyes are unstable to fading, therefore, over time, they lose their brightness under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Inorganic pigments are lightfast, so they can be used for facade work.

Colors are available in the form of liquids, pastes and powders.

Liquid pigments, when mixed with a white base, give shades of almost any complexity. They are usually used for artistic painting of walls and ceilings. If the drawing needs an exceptionally bright color, you can apply liquid color in its pure form.

Pastes are quite easy to use, but their saturation and color characteristics are very inaccurate, and sometimes absent at all, so the result of tinting can be unexpected.

It is inconvenient to work with powders: it is difficult to determine the right amount of pigment, it is difficult to mix with paint. The choice of colors is small, but dry colors are the most affordable.

Attention: when mixed with acrylic paint, the amount of colorant should not exceed 8% of the total volume of the finishing material.

Working with paints is a fascinating process. Remember how you played with watercolors as a child, mixing paints. You can also play now. Mixing colors can be useful for renovations, hobbies, etc.

Primary and secondary colors

As you know, there are three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and three secondary colors (purple, orange, green). These are the base colors. By combining them, you can get all other colors and their shades (theoretically yes, in practice the situation is slightly different). In the figure, the primary colors are represented by circles, and the additional ones are formed at the intersection of the pairs. These pairs show how mixing the colors of the main row gives additional ones.

In practice, mixing colors is an interesting process, but often the result is difficult to predict. We work with paints, and they are a mixture of a coloring pigment and a binder base. That is, they have their own properties due to the presence of that very base. After all, paints are different - oil, acrylic, aniline, etc. Accordingly, the result will be slightly different. When you work with paints of the same company for a long time, you can almost accurately predict what will happen if you add this or that component.

It is also worth remembering that if you mix not paints, but light, the result will be different. Paints are only a reflection of light and not all laws work with them in the same way.

Obtaining additional colors: orange, purple, green, their shades and brown

The pairing of primary colors gives us additional shades:

• Orange is obtained by mixing red with yellow.
• Purple is obtained by adding blue to red.
• Green can be obtained by mixing yellow and blue.

Mixing colors should be in equal proportions. In this case, we get a "neutral" tone. If the result does not suit you, you can add one of the components, "shifting" the shade in one direction or another.

Please note that red with blue does not always give purple. Often this mixing of colors results in a "dirt color". This is because your red contains yellow, that is, it is not the main one, but only one of the shades. To get purple, it must be pink or purple instead of red. On the other hand, mixing pink and yellow does not make blue. So to get a certain color, first experiment with a small amount of colors. After making sure of the result, you can repeat in the right amount.

If we add to the obtained additional colors the main ones that are already present in them, we will get the same color, but of a different shade. We have not introduced new colors, just changed the concentration of one of the existing ones. So we get mixed colors: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and light green.

What happens if you add one that is not in it to additional colors? We get a mixture of all the available primary colors, and it will give us a brown color (when working with light it will be gray, but with paints it will be either brown or very close to it). So, to get brown, you need to mix all the primary colors: yellow + red + blue. Or add "missing" to one of the additional ones:

• add yellow to purple;
• to green - red;
• add orange to blue.

That is, to get a brown color, you can mix the three primary colors or add the missing of the primary colors to the additional ones. Interestingly, if we mix the same light waves, we get gray light. But colors are just a reflection of light, so there are certain differences.

Color wheel - how to make it

If the colors - primary and secondary - are arranged in a circle, according to how they turned out, we get the traditional color wheel. The circle is divided into 12 parts. At the vertices of the triangle, fill the sectors with primary colors.

Their derivatives, obtained from equal proportions of neighboring colors, are in the center of the sector. They are called "secondary colors of the first level". To the right and left of them we place the shades that we got by adding another part of the corresponding component. So we get our own color wheel.

Please note: mixing paints from different companies gives different shades. Therefore, creating a color wheel is useful if you are going to be working with certain paints for a while. Looking at the result, and knowing how you got it, you can understand what you can add to get the desired shade.

Receiving shades

All colors found in nature are called chromatic. This is all the variety of colors and their shades. In nature, three colors are not found in their pure form - white, black and gray. They are called achromatic. By adding achromatic colors to others, we get different shades.

For example, pink is obtained by adding white paint to red. For blue - add the same white to blue. And so with all the colors that are present in the color wheel. The lighter we want the shade, the more white paint. Sometimes - for very light shades - it is easier to get it by adding the desired dye to the white paint. Such light shades are called pastels.

To obtain pastel shades with a "dusted" effect, gray is added to the primary colors. Note that multiple achromatic colors can be added. For example, we got the desired “degree” of pale purple, then added a certain amount of gray to it. Got a slightly more subdued tone.

If it is necessary to make a dark color from a saturated color, black is added to the base color. Here you should be very careful, add a little, stirring thoroughly.

How to mix paints to get the right color

Everything described above is easily implemented in practice if you need "simple" colors, which are obtained by mixing primary and secondary. Adding achromatic to them will not be difficult. By experimenting with the amount of "additives", you can, in the end, get exactly the shade that you wanted. By the way, try to find your color on a small amount, mixing on the palette. At home, the palette can be replaced with a plastic plate. If you are mixing paint for interior use (on walls, for example), once you get the color you like, apply it to a small area and let it dry. You will see that the color has become a couple of tones lighter. And this must be taken into account when creating your shade.

How to get shades of red

Remember that red is one of the three primary colors. It is impossible to get it by mixing some paints. It can be obtained as a pigment from natural sources. Using it as a base, adding other tones, and we get its various shades. How to mix paints to obtain the desired colors (chestnut, raspberry, plum, pink, etc.) is indicated in the table.

Please note that some shades based on red - plum, for example, are difficult to attribute to its shades. However, it is in red that the remaining components are added. In contrast, raspberry, which we used to consider one of the red shades, is made on the basis of blue. These are color games.

Separately, it is worth mentioning how to get a burgundy color. Its base is blue, add yellow and red. By changing the number of different components, we get different shades. For dark tones, add brown or black, for brighter variations, add more red.

Shades of the green palette: mixing colors to get shades

As we remember, green is not a base color. This is the primary color, which is obtained by mixing yellow and blue paints. And therein lies the difficulty: a different number of components gives different colors. Getting the same one is extremely difficult. If you don't have the base green and you get it by mixing, then it should be enough to complete all the work.

Please note that in the paint mixing table, somewhere the base is green, somewhere yellow is prescribed with the addition of blue. The difference is in the amount of color. If the base color is yellow, there should be more of it.

There is no mint color in the table, but it is quite popular. In fact, mint is a lightened shade of turquoise. Turquoise is obtained from blue by adding green. By mixing white with it, we get its various gradations. You can add a little (just a little) yellow, blue, green to them. All this will be the same color, but with a different “sound”.

But colors are strange. You can try other options as well. It all depends on what you are mixing - paints, clay, plasticine ... So, for a light mint, here are some of the options you can try:

• white + blue + green + a bit of emerald or brown to muffle;
• white + emerald + blue (blue);
• beige + turquoise + white + a little light green.

There are many options, as already "tinted" colors are used. If you have them (in paints, for example), then why not. You can go in stages - create the same emerald or turquoise, and then add others. In general, it is easier for beginners in color to work with basic colors. Then experience and intuition will come. And so you can have a lot of material to lime for experiments.

Blue and its shades: mixing colors

As we remember, blue refers to the main ones - this is one of the three basic colors, on the basis of which we get all the richness of the palette. Moreover, “blue” can be dark or bright. Accordingly, the result is different. This is the case when, depending on the base, really different colors are obtained.

Not all options are included in the table. Let's add some:

• Light blue is obtained by adding white paint.
• Cornflower blue - we get it if we add red-brown to purple and a drop of blue and black.
• To get blue-green, mix yellow (1 part) and green (2 parts).
• We get classic blue by mixing purple with blue in equal proportions. If you add some more white, it will be light blue (or blue-white).

Of the blue palette, turquoise is of particular interest. It is obtained by combining blue and green. Shades should be "pure", then the result will be spectacular. This color is on the verge of blue and green. Some shades are predominantly blue, some are green.

To get a dark shade, add brown or gray. The result will be different. For a warmer and lighter shade, you can try introducing beige.

Mixing colors: how to get purple

As they wrote at the very beginning, mixing blue and red, we get purple. In theory, everything is fine, but when you start, mixing colors does not give the same result at all. And it's all about what shades of red and blue to take.

For example, if the blue is dark, the result will be very saturated, almost black (in the figure below, the first line). If you add white to it, it will lighten, but as a result we get a gray-violet. Even if you add more red, it will only “clear up” to eggplant. But we won't get a brighter one.

If we add blue to the same red, we get medium purple. And again, it is not bright, but dark, saturated. By introducing more red, we get plum. If it is lightened with white, it will be already warm, but still a soft shade. This is a little more interesting, but still not the same.

A more cheerful light lilac is obtained by mixing pink and blue. Doubling red gives amethyst. These colors are well diluted with white, a whole range of pastel shades is obtained.

But how to get bright shades of purple? This is difficult to achieve by mixing base colors. A bright lilac is taken as the basis, to which different colors are added.

Blue-violet or cornflower blue will turn out if you add blue to the lilac (far left). Paired with indigo, we get a cold version, adding pink, we have amethyst. By adding red, we will have a berry. All of these colors can be made lighter by adding white paint.

What you should not do is add yellow paint to purple. We get the "color of dirt" - slurred and incomprehensible. Very neat with black. He quickly reduces all the resulting shades to dark gray. If you need a darker shade, it is better to add dark indigo.

How to get gray by mixing colors

One of the most desirable colors is grey. It is added to bright colors for less saturated shades, it is used as a base, as it is neutral and serves as an ideal tone. But "grey" is not just one color. There is also a whole range of them. First of all, we get a gray color if we add a little black paint to white. But this is far from the only way to get gray. Mixing the colors of an additional level also gives it, and with different “backlighting”.

And that's not all. Gray has no less shades than blue or red. They are not as bright as others, but the difference is also there and quite noticeable.

Getting gray from white

Similarly, there are neutral, warm and cold tones. If you want to have warm shades, add orange or pink to gray. If only a subtle shade is needed, there should not be a lot of color. By adding more of it, you get "dusted" or pearl shades. These are called gray-blue, gray-pink, etc.

The resulting colors can be made lighter by adding white paint. Such "mixed" colors will be a good background for creating an interior. In a lighter version, they can be used as a base, adding accents that match with the tint.

Mixing paints to get yellow and orange

Yellow is one of the primary colors, but it can be obtained by mixing green with orange. But usually yellow comes in a set, it is almost always there. Another very popular color in his palette is orange. It lies on the border of two colors - red and yellow. By mixing these colors in different proportions, we get the whole gamut of shades. By adding white, lighten it to the required level.

To get darker shades, add brown to orange or yellow. Not black or gray - they quickly extinguish the color, turning it into something incomprehensible. Sometimes you can get a darker shade by adding dark red paint. Interestingly, you can get a bright light orange by adding yellow to pink.

By the way, orange is also often included. It is usually brighter than what can be obtained by mixing primary colors. If you need bright shades, you will have to use it. For example, coral. It belongs to the red group, but the mixing of colors is carried out on the basis of red-orange. Pink and white are added to it. All paints are taken in approximately equal quantities. The second option for obtaining a coral color is simpler - add white to scarlet. But it turns out it is not so bright.

Such a tricky brown

Brown can be obtained by mixing the three primary colors in equal proportions. We get the "medium" brown. It cannot be attributed to either warm or cold.

But mixing colors of the second and third levels can also give one of its shades.

• When combining red and green, we get almost the same shade.
• Orange and blue in equal proportions make tan.
• Almost the same color, but colder, is obtained from gray and orange, mixed in equal quantities.
• We get chocolate if we add dark indigo to light brown.
• We get red-brown if we mix green and bright orange in equal proportions, add a little less lilac.

Dark brown can be obtained by mixing yellow and red, and adding a drop of black. In order not to be too dark, add some white.

Interesting shades can be obtained if the brown, obtained by mixing the primary colors (red, blue and yellow), increase the "presence" of one or two components. By adding white, we get interesting options.

Often the design of the premises requires an unusual shade of paint, which is difficult to find in the building departments. Usually, a standard palette of finishing materials is released for sale. Do-it-yourself paint tinting saves in such cases, it allows you to get a rare and unusual color of the material. The article will consider methods and technologies for obtaining unique shades, including machine and computer methods.

Purpose of tinting

Tinting is the process of mixing coloring compositions and paintwork materials to obtain the desired colors. Construction firms often order this service from professional companies. However, in the absence of such an opportunity or independent finishing work, tinting can be done by hand.

The process of selecting and mixing colors is indispensable in the following cases:

• obtaining color to match the furniture or decoration of the room;
• repairing a small area of ​​a wall or ceiling when it is necessary to obtain an accurate shade for spot restoration of a damaged area;
• if there is a shortage of a rare type of paint, it is difficult to purchase a few more jars of material, it will be easier to do an independent tinting or order paint from a special company;
• selection of an individual palette for the interior.

Tinting is indispensable for cosmetic repairs. It allows you to reduce the scope of work many times over. When choosing the right shade, it is enough to restore small scuffs and defects.

Types of tinting systems

It is very difficult to achieve the desired shade simply by adding paint “by eye”. To facilitate the search for colors, so-called tinting systems are used. Color mixing technology is a mixture of base and color in exact proportions. Color concentrates are called color concentrates, which have a very rich tone. Pigments in such compositions can be either organic or inorganic. The former allow you to get rich shades, but have some disadvantages:

• may not be used on all surfaces;
• susceptible to fading on contact with ultraviolet light.

Pigments of inorganic origin have a wider color palette, and most importantly - they are highly resistant to atmospheric phenomena. Such dyes are used to mix bright shades - orange, purple, green and others.

They produce colors in the form of powders, more often pastes. They may contain binder resins. In the construction industry, universal pastes are common that can be used with a large number of paints. For narrow categories of paints and varnishes, highly specialized colors are used.

Universal compositions can be used to mix paint shades for walls, facades and other things, while specialized compositions are used exclusively for those types of compositions with which they are compatible.

The advantages of such a composition include simple application and the ability to change the shade during kneading. However, color pastes are not without drawbacks: they have an uneven intensity, which can cause an inaccurate shade after mixing colors.

The composition of coloring paints is identical to the paintwork materials with which they must be mixed. There are acrylic, water-based and other types of pigment materials. By adding such compounds to white paint, you can get the desired color. To achieve a clear saturated color, a concentrated colorant is used.

Dry pigments are cheaper than other coloring compounds, but at the same time they have a narrow range of shades. The main disadvantage of bulk compositions is the difficult adjustment of the shade during the mixing process (it is not recommended to add a dry composition to the paint during tinting).

Characteristics of famous colors

The construction market offers a wide selection of domestic, European and American colors. Of foreign materials, it is worth noting the compositions of Tikkurila and Huls. Domestic manufacturers are famous for their good quality, many colorants from Russian manufacturers are distinguished by excellent color quality and low cost. The leading positions in this area are occupied by the Izhevsk manufacturer Palitra, the St. Petersburg company Olki-Uniloker and the firm Dli.

Tikkurila

Tinting with pigments from this manufacturer is carried out according to the Tikkurila Symphony system, it is designed taking into account chemical compositions. The company assures the consumer of a 100% successful shade search. The system from Tikkurila is used to obtain shades for general work and household paints. The palette from this company includes about 2300 shades, 10 of which are white.

A separate section of the company is dedicated to the development of compositions for painting facades. This line is available in 230 colors for processing different types of materials. When working with surfaces treated with varnishes and antiseptics, compositions from a separate section of Natural Color are used. This name is used for Swedish and Norwegian standards. The system is considered generally accepted throughout the world. The basic set of shades of the system includes white, red, yellow, blue and green. Other tones are reduced to coincide with the main ones and are indicated by codes. The presence of a letter in the name indicates compliance with some basic shade (W-white, Y-yellow, etc.). The numbers in the code indicate the percentage of color in the shade.

Tex

Firm Tex produces compositions using foreign pigments. The production of the material is carried out on high-tech German equipment. The compositions have two forms of release: pastes and paints.

Pastes from Tex are considered universal, they can be used in tandem with different types of finishing materials.

Note! The percentage of Tex color content in paintwork materials should not exceed 10 percent of the total mass of the composition. Remember that the shade depends on the quality of the base.

Tex Color Paint is available for use with waterborne paints and is weather resistant, including low temperatures. The composition can be used for both indoor and outdoor use.

Aqua Color

The St. Petersburg company is engaged in the production of universal colors. Pigments from this company can be added to all types of paintwork materials, including cement and lime mortars. Aqua-Color colors do not change the original characteristics of the base. The price of the brand is available to any consumer.

Rogneda

Dali colors, produced by the Moscow company Rogneda, are designed for:

• independent use of the material in the finishing of various kinds of surfaces;
• tinting of decorative plasters and water-based materials.

The advantages of Dali dyes are their resistance to temperature extremes and sunlight. Among other things, the compositions have a high degree of adhesion to the painted surface. The company's palette has a huge number of shades with varying degrees of intensity.

The difference between computer and manual tinting

To obtain the desired shade, both machine and manual methods are used, each of which has its pros and cons.

To get the tone manually, you need a base (base white paint) and a colorant kit. The mixing of the color starts right before the application of the material. To do this, the pigment is poured (poured) into the paint, taking into account the proportions indicated in the instructions. After that, the tinted paint is thoroughly mixed. Such tinting has such advantages as:

• low cost;
• availability and the ability to independently choose the color right on the spot;
• obtaining unusual tones, for which several compositions from the tinting catalog are used at once.

The disadvantage of this method is that the resulting shade is problematic to reproduce again. Therefore, it is used for the repair and design of private interiors, which do not require a lot of coatings.

When obtaining a shade on a computer, you just need to select the color of the color, and the system itself will measure the portion, add and stir it, and at the output it will give out the finished composition. This method has many advantages:

• fast obtaining the desired shade;
• color reproduction function an infinite number of times;
• a wide palette of paint colors in the tinting catalog.

The disadvantages of this method include the impossibility of mixing the mixture at the facility. In addition, with this method it is impossible to obtain a unique and complex color.

Features of tinting different paintwork materials

There are universal colors that can be added to almost any coatings. They are suitable for tinting material for work on interiors and facades.

The tinting of pigments with different colors should take into account the following recommendations:

• For painting facades, colors are used that are resistant to atmospheric phenomena and the sun. When tinting water-based paint, the mass of pigment for the entire working composition should not exceed 20 percent.
• Pigments for working with water-based paints can be used for tinting adhesive, latex and dispersion compositions.
• The amount of dye when tinting acrylic paints should exceed 9 percent of the total volume of the composition.

The compatibility of paints and pigments largely depends on the manufacturer and the composition of the substance.

Manual tinting instructions

If you have not previously received a shade of paintwork, you should use the guide. The do-it-yourself tinting process is as follows:

If the color on the wall suits you, the test mixing is considered successful. Now the same process is repeated on larger volumes. To do this, calculate the ratio of color to the volume of the base. 20 percent is subtracted from the resulting figure, this will ensure that the test shade matches the final one (on a small surface, the shade looks dimmer than on a large one).

Advice! To make the color more pure and accurate, use the tinting table. It helps to select not only shades, but also the compatibility of compositions from different manufacturers.

Following this simple instruction, you can independently get the desired tones that are not available in stores. Remember that choosing a color is a creative process, so don't be afraid to experiment, but within reason. Do not add too much color to the paint, this can cause poor-quality finishing of the room. The main rule of tinting is slowness, add pigments little by little and mix the paint thoroughly.

The color mixing table allows you to create a huge palette of bright shades from 3 basic colors. It is very exciting! The main thing is to choose the right colors according to the color mixing table.

Artist's Workshop: Magic Lessons

1. The combination of two neighboring colors of the spectrum gives shades with different intensities of these colors. For example, yellow and orange, when superimposed, give yellow-orange or orange-yellow, depending on which of these 2 colors prevails. If, in equal proportions, you mix 3 shades located next to each other on the color wheel, for example, yellow, red and orange, you will get the same orange, but more dirty.

2. When white is added to any color, its pastel shades of different intensities are obtained.

3. Mixing in equal proportions 2 primary colors, which are separated by 1 shade on the color wheel, we get exactly the intermediate color that separates them. For example, red + blue = purple.

4. An equal combination of 2 contrasting colors (located opposite each other on the color wheel) always gives a gray with a hint of one of these colors. For example, red + green, blue + orange, etc. Interestingly, if you mix complementary colors in a ratio of 2/1, you get absolute gray (without additional shades).

5. 3 primary colors next to each other, when superimposed in equal proportions, also form gray, for example, green + yellow + orange. Pay attention to a striking pattern: harmonious color combinations (which you can get using the color wheel) when mixing their constituents shades give a gray color - balancing, absorbing each other.

Create new colors according to the paint mixing table

As we already know, there are only 3 colors that cannot be obtained by mixing others. But from them you can create all the other shades. These magical colors are red, yellow and blue. By the way, mixing them with each other in equal proportions, you can get black. How to create all the other shades of the palette, see the table:

The color mixing table and the color wheel are used not only in painting, they are simply irreplaceable when tinting and mixing decorative plaster in construction, in perfumery and soap making, when dyeing fabrics, batik, etc.

The color spectrum: revealing the secrets of the rainbow

Isaac Newton, passing light through a prism, received a multi-colored beam, called the spectrum. For the convenience of color combinations, the continuous line of the spectrum with all its transitional tones was turned into a circle. As you know, three main shades are distinguished in the color spectrum (red, blue and yellow), when they are mixed in pairs with each other, three more secondary ones are obtained (green, orange and purple). It is these 6 shades that form the color wheel, and each of them has additional colors (blue and red-violet, yellow-green, purple, red and yellow-orange, blue and yellow-green). Newton, by the way, singled out 7 colors, adding blue to the spectrum, which, along with the six main ones, is considered the color of the rainbow. By mixing these shades, making them darker or lighter to varying degrees, you can get a full range of colors.

I would like to immediately make a reservation that the division of the spectrum is conditional and depends on the characteristics of our perception. A person can distinguish up to 1000 tones in the color spectrum. Interestingly, reptiles and birds do not distinguish blue shades, and some fish see everything around in red. It is believed that for cats, the colorful world around us looks dimmer, but they distinguish a huge variety of shades of gray.

Color Spectrum Table

The colors of the spectrum are called chromatic as opposed to achromatic (from Latin "without color"): white, black, gray. The order of the hues in the spectrum is always the same, starting with red and ending with purple.

Shades on the color wheel from green-blue to blue-violet are considered cold, from yellow-green to red-violet - warm. This division is rather arbitrary and depends on what associations these colors evoke in us: red-orange fire, yellow sun, blue ice, blue oceanic abyss. Did you notice that when separating the colors, we didn't mention green? And this is no coincidence. Pure green (which, by the way, is extremely rare) is considered neutral. A drop of yellow makes it warmer, blue - cools.

The color wheel is extremely important in the work of the designer. With its help, you can not only determine harmonious color combinations, create the right atmosphere in the room or an attractive image, but also influence perception by skillfully emphasizing the brightness, purity, beauty of color, enhance its intensity by adding complementary shades, balance cold tones with warm ones, etc. d. This magic is not difficult to learn even if you are not a designer, and you can apply it not only in interior design or clothing. With the help of the color wheel, anyone can create harmony in the apartment, correctly combine colors in clothes, manicure, makeup, etc. For example, orange-coral lipstick or peach shadows will emphasize blue eyes, and a green-turquoise scarf will refresh a scarlet dress.