"PrimaTek Watercolor Amazonite Genuine mixes for Landscapes by DANIEL SMITH".
When it's summer, for many places the dominant color in the local landscape is GREEN! So here are a few ideas for some interesting greens that you might mix using our PrimaTek Watercolor Amazonite Genuine.
PrimaTek Amazonite Genuine, is a light green mineral with a bit of blue, and we get ours from Brazil. As a pigment it’s a strong pure color that is completely transparent, non-staining and lifts easily for maximum versatility. It is also lightfast, and is only 1 of 3 PrimaTek watercolors with no granulation. This clear green with just a hint of blue, mixes beautifully with these other colors in the photo and video of the paint out: Goethite, Quinacridone Gold, and fellow PrimaTeks Green Apatite Genuine and Black Tourmaline Genuine.
At the top of the paint out you see Amazonite Genuine on the upper left, and on the top right are: Goethite, Quinacridone Gold, Green Apatite Genuine, and Black Tourmaline Genuine. On the left, descending below the Amazonite Genuine are the 4 colors mixed on the paper, and on the right are the 4 colors mixed on a palette, then painted out.
Goethite (Brown Ochre) is a dark tea color in masstone and washes out to a rich, golden tan with very intriguing granulation. It is lightfast, semi-transparent and low staining. You can see that granulation as the brown particles settle out of the Amazonite Genuine This mix would make some great mossy rocks!
Quinacridone Gold, everyone's favorite, is a golden yellow that often replaces Raw Sienna and adds versatility with its glazing and mixing capabilities. Highly durable and extremely transparent, like all the Quinacridone colors it excels in vivid clarity, and is low-staining with granulation. You can see the mix is golden olive green. This mix would make warm, sun-drenched late summer green hills or early autumn trees.
PrimaTek® Green Apatite Genuine is a semi-transparent green that is dark, almost brown, olive green in mass tone. In washes, the brown settles out of a vivid natural green, creating memorable texture and contrast from the granulation. It has excellent lightfastness and is low-staining. In the mix you can see that the brown sediment that granulated becomes darker when mixed with the Amazonite. This mix would make nice textured leaves, or distant textured green hills in a landscape.
PrimaTek Black Tourmaline Genuine is very transparent and can be as dark as night or as pale as wispy fog. In washes, especially on rough paper, it displays exciting granulation with delicate settling. Intensely black in mass tone, it lets down to a beautiful pearl gray. It has excellent lightfastness and is non-staining. You can see in the mix, how the sediment has settled out and the wonderful granulation in the toned down Amazonite Genuine mix. This mix would be great when painting cool evergreens in autumn and winter.
"Quinacridone Gold mixes for gorgeous greens by DANIEL SMITH".
Quinacridone Gold is an amazingly rich color and adds so much versatility to an Artists’ palette, which is why it one of our most popular Watercolors! Because our Quinacridone Gold is a single pigment (DANIEL SMITH is the only manufacturer still able to make it with PO49) it mixes beautifully with other colors without muddiness. Many Artists have replaced their Raw Sienna with our Quinacridone Gold, which allows them to mix cleaner, more vibrant colors.
In our video and mixing chart, we mixed our Quinacridone Gold with some beautiful transparent blues:
- Indigo,
- Indanthrone,
- Ultramarine Blue,
- French Ultramarine,
- Phthalo Blue (GS),
- Phthalo Blue (RS),
- Prussian Blue,
- Manganese Blue Hue,
- Phthalo Turquoise, and
- Ultramarine Turquoise.
You can see the different colors of warm, earthy olive greens in the mixes, and with the Phthalo Blue (RS) and Phthalo Blue (GS) you will see the greens are slightly cooler.
In heavier washes, these greens are good choices when painting robust summer and late summer landscapes, and in lighter washes you get delicate green shades perfect for botanical paintings. There are also some interesting granulating effects when the Manganese Blue Hue is mixed with Quinacridone Gold in a heavier wash with a bit of the blue pigment faintly settling out, and a bit more subtly with the three Ultramarines.
Of course Mixing Greens is only one facet of our Quinacridone Golds’ versatility on your palette. You will enjoy discovering the many more ways the Quinacridone Gold can expand your painting color vocabulary when mixed with other colors, used as a glaze, or as a wash to provide a warm glowing undertone!