Mixing
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Why do pencils offer larger color variety than watercolor?
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Please correct me if I am wrong, but from what I observe, you can easily get 100-150 colours in a set of pencils, but if you go for sets of watercolors, there's rarely more than 24-36.
Why so?
material-selection colored-pencils watercoloring
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
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up vote
16
down vote
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Please correct me if I am wrong, but from what I observe, you can easily get 100-150 colours in a set of pencils, but if you go for sets of watercolors, there's rarely more than 24-36.
Why so?
material-selection colored-pencils watercoloring
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
add a comment |Â
up vote
16
down vote
favorite
up vote
16
down vote
favorite
Please correct me if I am wrong, but from what I observe, you can easily get 100-150 colours in a set of pencils, but if you go for sets of watercolors, there's rarely more than 24-36.
Why so?
material-selection colored-pencils watercoloring
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
Please correct me if I am wrong, but from what I observe, you can easily get 100-150 colours in a set of pencils, but if you go for sets of watercolors, there's rarely more than 24-36.
Why so?
material-selection colored-pencils watercoloring
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
asked Aug 20 at 7:06
J. Doe
18116
18116
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
26
down vote
The answer is quite simple really: you can mix watercolours (and paints in general), whereas you can't easily mix coloured pencils.
For example: If I have two different blues - a light and a dark - and I want a blue that's halfway in between, with watercolours I can just take roughly equal quantities of each, mix them together and use that.
With pencils, I would have to apply both, and try and get the shading just right so that you end up with a medium blue rather than an uneven mess. Because this is more difficult, people prefer to have a wider range of colours, and so because there's a market for it, manufacturers sell this wider range.
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
 |Â
show 6 more comments
up vote
17
down vote
Something else that may help to explain the difference is that watercolor painters can be quite picky about which paints they choose for mixing. Each watercolor paint is made from 1 or more pigments, which are some sort of substance that is used to make the color. For example, the color winsor yellow deep contains one pigment: PY65. In contrast, cadmium yellow contains two pigments: PY35 and PO20. Since watercolor is translucent, mixing colors can be a delicate process, and the more pigments that are mixed into a single color (regardless of how many different tubes of paint are used), the muddier the color gets. So, if you're buying a good quality watercolor paint set, it is likely to include mostly single-pigment colors and few pre-mixed (two-pigment, three-pigment, etc.), since single-pigment paints can be mixed more easily before becoming muddy. If the paint set included 100 different colors of paint, many of those colors would already contain three or four pigments, and would not mix or blend well with other colors.
(You can find more information about watercolor paints at pigments at https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/palette1.html)
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
26
down vote
The answer is quite simple really: you can mix watercolours (and paints in general), whereas you can't easily mix coloured pencils.
For example: If I have two different blues - a light and a dark - and I want a blue that's halfway in between, with watercolours I can just take roughly equal quantities of each, mix them together and use that.
With pencils, I would have to apply both, and try and get the shading just right so that you end up with a medium blue rather than an uneven mess. Because this is more difficult, people prefer to have a wider range of colours, and so because there's a market for it, manufacturers sell this wider range.
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
 |Â
show 6 more comments
up vote
26
down vote
The answer is quite simple really: you can mix watercolours (and paints in general), whereas you can't easily mix coloured pencils.
For example: If I have two different blues - a light and a dark - and I want a blue that's halfway in between, with watercolours I can just take roughly equal quantities of each, mix them together and use that.
With pencils, I would have to apply both, and try and get the shading just right so that you end up with a medium blue rather than an uneven mess. Because this is more difficult, people prefer to have a wider range of colours, and so because there's a market for it, manufacturers sell this wider range.
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
 |Â
show 6 more comments
up vote
26
down vote
up vote
26
down vote
The answer is quite simple really: you can mix watercolours (and paints in general), whereas you can't easily mix coloured pencils.
For example: If I have two different blues - a light and a dark - and I want a blue that's halfway in between, with watercolours I can just take roughly equal quantities of each, mix them together and use that.
With pencils, I would have to apply both, and try and get the shading just right so that you end up with a medium blue rather than an uneven mess. Because this is more difficult, people prefer to have a wider range of colours, and so because there's a market for it, manufacturers sell this wider range.
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
The answer is quite simple really: you can mix watercolours (and paints in general), whereas you can't easily mix coloured pencils.
For example: If I have two different blues - a light and a dark - and I want a blue that's halfway in between, with watercolours I can just take roughly equal quantities of each, mix them together and use that.
With pencils, I would have to apply both, and try and get the shading just right so that you end up with a medium blue rather than an uneven mess. Because this is more difficult, people prefer to have a wider range of colours, and so because there's a market for it, manufacturers sell this wider range.
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
answered Aug 20 at 8:28
walrus
1,456425
1,456425
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
 |Â
show 6 more comments
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
3
3
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
J. Doe, while I appreciate the acceptance, it's considered polite to wait 24 hours to accept an answer so that people all over the globe have an opportunity to answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 9:38
1
1
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
Indeed, if watercolors were to mix perfectly, then you would only need three.
– Jörg W Mittag
Aug 20 at 9:38
2
2
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag convenience is the key word here.
– JAD
Aug 20 at 9:39
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
@JörgWMittag only if the watercolors were perfit primary colour and I expect that is not possible.
– Ian Ringrose
Aug 20 at 13:20
3
3
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
@IanRingrose No 3 points in the human gamut can cover it; the human colour gamut is horseshoe shaped, not a triangle. There are many other issues too.
– Yakk
Aug 20 at 19:34
 |Â
show 6 more comments
up vote
17
down vote
Something else that may help to explain the difference is that watercolor painters can be quite picky about which paints they choose for mixing. Each watercolor paint is made from 1 or more pigments, which are some sort of substance that is used to make the color. For example, the color winsor yellow deep contains one pigment: PY65. In contrast, cadmium yellow contains two pigments: PY35 and PO20. Since watercolor is translucent, mixing colors can be a delicate process, and the more pigments that are mixed into a single color (regardless of how many different tubes of paint are used), the muddier the color gets. So, if you're buying a good quality watercolor paint set, it is likely to include mostly single-pigment colors and few pre-mixed (two-pigment, three-pigment, etc.), since single-pigment paints can be mixed more easily before becoming muddy. If the paint set included 100 different colors of paint, many of those colors would already contain three or four pigments, and would not mix or blend well with other colors.
(You can find more information about watercolor paints at pigments at https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/palette1.html)
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
add a comment |Â
up vote
17
down vote
Something else that may help to explain the difference is that watercolor painters can be quite picky about which paints they choose for mixing. Each watercolor paint is made from 1 or more pigments, which are some sort of substance that is used to make the color. For example, the color winsor yellow deep contains one pigment: PY65. In contrast, cadmium yellow contains two pigments: PY35 and PO20. Since watercolor is translucent, mixing colors can be a delicate process, and the more pigments that are mixed into a single color (regardless of how many different tubes of paint are used), the muddier the color gets. So, if you're buying a good quality watercolor paint set, it is likely to include mostly single-pigment colors and few pre-mixed (two-pigment, three-pigment, etc.), since single-pigment paints can be mixed more easily before becoming muddy. If the paint set included 100 different colors of paint, many of those colors would already contain three or four pigments, and would not mix or blend well with other colors.
(You can find more information about watercolor paints at pigments at https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/palette1.html)
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
add a comment |Â
up vote
17
down vote
up vote
17
down vote
Something else that may help to explain the difference is that watercolor painters can be quite picky about which paints they choose for mixing. Each watercolor paint is made from 1 or more pigments, which are some sort of substance that is used to make the color. For example, the color winsor yellow deep contains one pigment: PY65. In contrast, cadmium yellow contains two pigments: PY35 and PO20. Since watercolor is translucent, mixing colors can be a delicate process, and the more pigments that are mixed into a single color (regardless of how many different tubes of paint are used), the muddier the color gets. So, if you're buying a good quality watercolor paint set, it is likely to include mostly single-pigment colors and few pre-mixed (two-pigment, three-pigment, etc.), since single-pigment paints can be mixed more easily before becoming muddy. If the paint set included 100 different colors of paint, many of those colors would already contain three or four pigments, and would not mix or blend well with other colors.
(You can find more information about watercolor paints at pigments at https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/palette1.html)
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
Something else that may help to explain the difference is that watercolor painters can be quite picky about which paints they choose for mixing. Each watercolor paint is made from 1 or more pigments, which are some sort of substance that is used to make the color. For example, the color winsor yellow deep contains one pigment: PY65. In contrast, cadmium yellow contains two pigments: PY35 and PO20. Since watercolor is translucent, mixing colors can be a delicate process, and the more pigments that are mixed into a single color (regardless of how many different tubes of paint are used), the muddier the color gets. So, if you're buying a good quality watercolor paint set, it is likely to include mostly single-pigment colors and few pre-mixed (two-pigment, three-pigment, etc.), since single-pigment paints can be mixed more easily before becoming muddy. If the paint set included 100 different colors of paint, many of those colors would already contain three or four pigments, and would not mix or blend well with other colors.
(You can find more information about watercolor paints at pigments at https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/palette1.html)
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
answered Aug 20 at 15:41
EmKayDee
1712
1712
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
add a comment |Â
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
3
3
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
Welcome to Crafts.SE, EmKayDee. This is a great answer.
– walrus
Aug 20 at 16:01
add a comment |Â
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