One of the most persistent misconceptions in color theory is that there are "primary" colors from which all other colors can be mixed. It goes all the way back to Issac Newton, who did a lot of experiments with light and prisms. The problem is that paint doesn't perform like light because paint absorbs all wavelengths of light except those it reflects. Thus, when you mix two colors (besides white), you will always get a darker or duller color than either of the originals. When you mix a color like orange, you want a blend of yellow and red, right? But the reason yellow and red aren't orange is because they absorb those orange wavelengths of light instead of reflecting them (I'm oversimplifying here, but bear with me). When you mix yellow and red, the areas where they reflect light overlap to give us orange, but those areas where they absorb *also* overlap, giving us a duller orange. Because of this effect, if you want a high chroma paint, you either have to use the color straight from the tube (assuming it's a single-pigment paint), or you have to create the color by mixing colors that are as close to it as possible. Thus, if you want to mix a bright orange, you need to use an orange-yellow paint (AKA "warm yellow" or "deep yellow") and an orange-red paint (AKA scarlet, or "warm red"). If you use a greenish yellow ("light yellow" or "cool yellow") and a cool red (magenta), then you'll get a dull orange, as in this video. The other issue is that, although we have hundreds of pigments to choose from, we don't have perfect pigments. Some pigments don't mix well (pyrrole orange doesn't mix as bright colors as cadmium orange). Some pigments shift hue when you dilute them (like green gold). Some pigments are opaque or granulating, which can affect how the mixed color appears. Some colors are so dark and rich that they actually increase in chroma when you dilute them (like dioxazine violet and phthalos). What appears to work on a color wheel won't necessarily work out that way when you're using quirky, imperfect pigments. There is a color mixing strategy popularized by the book "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green" by Michael Wilcox. This is the warm/cool primary palette, with a "warm" and "cool" version of red (scarlet and magenta), blue (blue-violet and cyan), and yellow (green-yellow and orange-yellow). While this is headed in the right direction, it's still inefficient. A warm red and warm yellow won't mix as bright of an orange as an orange straight out of the tube. You can increase the chroma and versatility of your palette by just using three primaries and three secondaries (yellow, orange, red, violet, blue, and green), but you'll still have issues mixing cyan and magenta. To maximize your color range, you can use an 8-color palette: yellow, orange, red, magenta, violet, blue, cyan, and green. Provided you choose pigments that behave well in mixes and are the highest chroma possible, you'll be able to mix almost every color you encounter. But being able to mix everything is not necessarily what artists are aiming for. The purpose of a limited palette is to force color harmony, simplify mixes, and reduce the amount of colors you have to buy/carry. In that case, you should choose your colors based on which subjects you intend to paint. If you're going to paint natural scenes, purple is usually the first color to get sacrificed since it's found so rarely in nature. Green can also be sacrificed because most natural greens are muted anyway. Thus, for natural subjects, a triad of red, yellow, and blue will work better than magenta, yellow, and cyan. However, if you're like me and love cool colors but aren't that into warms, magenta and cyan work better because I know I'm less likely to be inspired to paint warm-toned things in nature. In the end, the "best" primary palette comes down to personal preference. However, it's important to remember the *principle* that the further away two colors are on the color wheel, the more muted the resulting mix will be. If you really want to dig into color theory, this site has a ton of info: www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color18a.html

I thought this video was 10 minutes but I checked and I’m 30 minutes in without realizing. The way you paint is so mesmerizing and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen your channel. I’m glad i learned something today

Smooth, like gouache paint. I love your dogs name. This was the best video I’ve seen you do yet. I used to travel the world, spent several years in Asia and then 2yrs ago I lost my 11yr old son. I never leave the house now, but painting from photos is so limiting, so much in color and light is lost. This has inspired me to set up a still life in the morning sun in my kitchen. It’s blindingly bright, but I need to get really creative so I don’t run out of subject matter. And maybe one day I’ll venture out again 💙

I have watched hundreds -- perhaps a thousand -- of art technique videos. This is one of the very best. It helps that james is not only a gifted artist, but a gifted teacher as well. His commentary explains not just what he's doing, but why, and he is just as forthright and helpful when making corrections. He also introduces useful tools. Thank you, James, and keep up the good work!

It's almost a real-time painting session! This is such a generous gift, Mr. Gurney. I have Color and Light the book, as well as some of your Gumroad tutorials which remain fascinating every time I revisit. One of the most valuable lessons I've learnt from great teachers like you is that drawing/painting is a problem solving process, asking for constant scrutiny rather than ...magical hand-eye coordination. You truly are a great inspiration to art lovers of all ages, and thankfully you love digital videography and made yourself accessible to everyone in the world. Greetings and endless gratitude from the far land of Vietnam!

I started painting with oils today! It was much less intimidating than i expected! :)

Well that explanation of gouache by Holbein really explains a lot! Their gouache is far superior to others I've tried. Worth every penny!

Yes! I love limited palettes! Everyone has their favorite color primaries to use.

Wow, this answered a lot of my questions regarding the choice of primary colors, especially the matter of "true primaries" - the introduction of gamut really helps to understand why there is no real true primary color for painting. I love how you covered this in your book but this is by far the best video demonstrating it and comparing primaries... Thank you very much!! Your videos are incredibly inspiring, your relaxing voice combined with your immense knowledge really motivate me to paint. And because of you I got into gouache and don't regret it... It's what I wanted acrylics to be!

I love the balance you have found between providing actually useful free content while also promoting your paid classes that obviously go even more in depth. Kudos!

Stunning still life. It seemed to me a good demonstration of how much detail and colour information is lost by working only from reference photos rather than plein air

I've just discovered why painting is so difficult for me. I use so many different tubes of paint! I think deciding a color palette BEFORE making a painting is such an essential and often overlooked painting skill.

I love to watch you work not because I am a visual artist but because I was married to one and in his absence I miss watching him work. He was highly talented like you and a watercolorist - which is such a specialized talent. So thankyou.

Great video. Your work always amazes me. I discovered a great CMYK-like palette for watercolor. QoR Nickel Azo Yellow, QoR Quinacridone Magenta, and QoR Cobalt Teal. It works great, even the oranges come out decent (and orange is a bear of a color to get right in CMYK). I wrote a blog about it a while ago. I was happy with the palette as I convert a lot of my art for press.

Looking forward to watching this!

My first time watching you paint. I love how your painting evolves into a very painterly look. Beautiful!

Hey James, Thank you so much for making this content. It makes me proud to be an artist and learn to see. I always appreciate the clearness of each of your statements, not watering it down to slow the pace for advanced artists, but also not explaining it too complicatedly for beginners. You are a fine artist, and from what I can tell, a fine gentleman. You seem like a great person to just sit with and paint, as well as a wealth of tested and true information. Thanks again. Your videos always make me so happy!

I love the concept of what you did here. Speaking as someone who has worked in digital graphics and printing. Most large scale graphic printers work with at minimum of eight to twelve colors. Most digital printers use a lighter and brighter magenta ink. The magenta you used looks like it contained a bit of blue or maybe even black, much more subdued. Great study of color, and excellent video!

Mr. Gurney. Thank you so much for all the tips and info. You truly been like a mentor. You style of painiting fits so well with how I like to paint. For years iv been intemedated by actual painting and stuck to pencil, but after watching you Im more confident in watercolor and looking forward to try new mediums. ❤️ From a self taught painter.

This is a treat to watch!

This is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing

Looking forward to this!!!

So great to see your process! Thanks James, i learned a lot

Beautiful painting, great tutorial! Thank u so much for sharing this.

Great class and painting! Thanks for sharing your experience!!!

How I wish I can do that, thank you for the idea 🥰

This painting is just beautiful!! I'm always amazed!!

Looking forward to watching the video, still downloading. These limited color techniques really helped with lowering my anxiety and feeling of being overwhelmed by colors! Thank you for literally sharing your vision!

James, I love that you're creating some longer videos! Thankyou so very much! 💗

Fantastic Tutorial James. Thank you.

This is just so good again ... 🤯 Thanks Mr. Gurney!

This hole channel is GOLD!! Thank you so much!!

Love this painting you did with the 3 colors.

Always real enjoyable watching you. Thank you for another great video.

Thank you for this video. It’s really great to see the whole process from start to finish and how just a few colors can make something special

Great tutorial, love the long form. Could watch it all day 🙏❤️

Thank you James, your videos are so informative and incredibly calming to watch!

Looking forward to this!

i love how it's clearly the roundness of the pot in the painting, so professional and amazing!

Fantastic to watch! Thank you 🙏🏼

It's magical! Awesome! Thanks for the lesson and the desire to draw.

WOW it's amazing what you can do with these paints!!! 😲🔥❤

Great tutorial! I love how you change so much and end up with perfection!💁🏼‍♀️👍🏼

Another stellar demonstration. Great to see the resolution to what you saw as problems... Thank you for posting James!!

I would be so proud to have that in my home. Beautiful work

very nice and helpful! Thank you for sharing this for free

This is such good learning for me! THANK YOU

Loving the watch for indicating passage of time!

Excellent !! Marvelous !! I’ve allways been so gratefull for all that you have done all through these years. Thank you so much for being sooo generous.

Love your explanations and close up shots.

Thanks James!

Beautiful beautiful beautiful work

The madman of Gouache at work. The paintings shown at the end are so gorgeous I feel the need to cry.

You are a joy to listen to and watch. And the most amazing teacher.

This was very helpful and well explained. Very appreciated. Thanks

I just started using gouache and I got primary colors but struggling with color mixing so this would be suuuuper helpful!

its fantastic that theirs now a visual library i can go to, i own all of your books and they are a staple of any artists library but never knew about this youtube channel until a week ago when someone told me about it, its weird that a living artist like yourself is a core foudation to most peoples work your up their with reiley, bridgeman and loomis, you simply cant talk about light and colour theory without your name being mentioned, and usually that aclaim is reserved for artists before our time, thank you for the knowledge in your brain and seeing your thought process in action just has opened up a whole new thinking method you realy cant comprehend with just your books.

You are a fabulous teacher. Thank you. I am also enjoying your "Color and Light" book.

This is a really wonderful lesson! I learned so much from your demonstrating the gamuts and doing your painting 2x. Like Ju, I could watch you paint all day. I absolutely love your Dinotopia books & then found your book on light. Oh my! Each time I pick it up or use it for reference, I get so much out of it. Thank you!!!

As always very inspiring. Heading over to gumroad....

The way you showed the texture of different objects is just amazing! This is a very helpful video! Thank you

Just when I thought it was nice, you went to lengths to make it even better! I really admire your work and how you narrated the painting process as well :)

man its peaceful to watch and learn from Mr Gurney. Thank you very much!

Amazing . I didn't get this much information from anyone . I learned a pot about colors from you sir thanks a lot sir . I am really going to try this

I learn so much from your videos. Colour school is always a time well spent. Keep it up. This channel is awesome. 👍 Greetings from Germany

Your videos are all therapy for the mind and soul ❤

Love all your videos. Haven’t touched gouache since around 2002 college days. Showed my son some of my paintings from then, and all this makes me want to get back into it. Working in graphic design has gotten me unmotivated in traditional art that I liked doing. I’ve never tried capturing art in the wild like you, so I plan to purchase some of your lessons.

Thank you so much , I'm very new at this medium❤

This painting has a different feeling in it. It has the feeling of spirit in it

Thank you for sharing this... you are so amazing and inspiring with this medium...

My favorite channel on KZfaq. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in your artwork, lessons, and videos.

Gorgeous piece.. absolutely stunning. I thought it was perfect before the painting was brightened but the final product is incredible. Amazing work

Using only limited colors seem very fun! I want to try that too!

Thank you for your showing about colour combinations and examples with explanation .☺

Mesmerizing. What a technique. Thank you for this incredible insightful information.

I love your Works. Congratulations

amazing to watch you. wonderful and informative. Thank you.

I particularly enjoyed this video, James. I always love your work, but getting to see how you handle color situations in the work-in-progress was a nice treat. It's amazing how much more vibrant and dimensional the final still life image is as compared to your first pass with the early triad. Nice work!

I'm so happy that I landed here, this man truly knows how to walk you through his painting decisions! thank you so much (sorry if my english didnt sound right, I'm not that good at typing english yet)

Awesome tutorial, thanks!

Your videos are so helpful.....make me feel a little more adventurous...thank you very much. 😊

I've seen other artists (in other mediums) get decent results using cyan, magenta, and yellow. I think part of the problem you had getting good reds and oranges is the violet you used for magenta. It was bluer than ideal. I don't know if there are other pigment options you could use for a magenta watercolor paint, but I think it's a study worth pursuing.

James, ever since I saw your Dinotopia book I have been a fan. Thank you for the endless great painting tips.

Thank you, James!

I always come to watch your videos when I start painting, digital or traditional. I get so intimidated to start painting and need to mentally prepare myself. You help to make it not so intimidating and I have to remember it's something you build up from big to small shapes, colors, and values.

This is a wonderful video. Thank you for sharing

Your talent amazes me. It’s almost hypnotizing.

Awesome painting 🖼

This video gave me life and a big smile! And your commentary is very Relaxing and Soothing. A True Artist Mr. Gurney!

the mastery and the fluidity of his process is insane. that had never shown itself to me as much as it did in this particular video and i think that is because of his hability to adjust the painting and keep it going, trusting the process and above all trusting his capability to "fix" whatever was wrong. i honestly learned so much with this video i'm in awe. james, thank you so much for making these videos. they are absolutely unvaluable to me as a learning artist and its mindblowing that all this is available for free. i hope one day i can impact other artist as positively as you have impacted me. thank you!!!

Fantastic work and so incredibly helpful for a beginner like myself. Thank you for sharing 💙

Какой замечательный натюрморт! Все как живое! Успеха мастеру!!!

Eagerly waiting...🙏

I love your videos thanks for sharing your talent, you are amazing

Great video! Thank you!

superb video!

had you used lemon yellow, magenta and cyan you would have gotten the brightest colors possible and the entire range of the rainbow! Personally i use those 3 colors and I've never had problems getting the necessary colors

Really informative....Thanks!

18 and going to college. U r one of my biggest inspirations!!

Who’s what an enticing teacher you are. I just stumbled upon your videos. I want to start water colour and I thought this is the most exciting and especially using very limited Colors. Thank you very much.