One of the basic rules of color theory is that blue mixed with yellow (or yellow with blue) produces green. And it’s true. What needs emphasizing though is that the green you get depends not only on how much of each you use in the mix, the proportion of blue to yellow, but which blue pigment and which yellow pigment you use.
Green in nature demands variety. Few things are more problematic to a landscape or botanical painting than a monotony of green. That is why there are more premixed green tubes of paint for sale than almost any other color.
In the painting below, I used ultramarine blue & cadmium yellow light for my greens. Because I was painting a scene from nature and I wanted my greens to be somewhat realistic, I used various combinations of green tones, tints and shades of my mixed green. Those differences can be seen particularly in the background trees.
Integrating a Painting
I also used tints, tones and shades of ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow light for the water. I didn’t introduce a blue for the sky that was different for the water. The entire blue and green in the painting is some combination of ultramarine blue.
The yellow mid-ground is a mixture of cadmium yellow light and cadmium red light. I also used cadmium red light for highlight effect that can be seen throughout the painting.
Neutralizing Green
When mixing green, another way to make it more suggestive of nature is to neutralize it. If you’ve never added red or purple to a green, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. It doesn’t produce a vibrant green, but rather works to neutralize it, to shift it more towards a brown-green or grey-green. This mixing possibility is great for landscapes.
Do you have any favorite greens or interesting ways to create green?