Colour mixing experiments

After reading about colour mixing with polymer clay, I decided to make some sample colour wheels. I was particularly interested to see the difference in secondary and tertiary colours produced by using the primary colours of light as well as of paint.

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1. The left hand colour wheel has been made using the primary colours of light: magenta, yellow and cyan (using Premo polymer clay the colours were Fuschia, Cadmium Yellow and Turquoise). I was amazed that a better 'true' red could be created with the Fuschia and Cadmium Yellow than the Premo reds available in ready mixed packets.

2. The central colour wheel has been made using the primary colours of paint: red, yellow and blue (using Premo polymer clay the colours were Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and Ultramarine Blue). [Note: it would have been better to have used Zinc Yellow but I did not have enough of this at the time].

I definately agree with what I have read, that the primary colours of light rather than of paint give a brighter, better range of colurs with polymer clay. If I decide to buy larger bricks of polymer clay in a limited range of colours, I will definitely go for the primary colours of light.

3. The right hand colour wheel has also been made using the primary colours of paint: red, yellow and blue (using Premo polymer clay the colours were Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and Cobalt Blue). This shows the difference in colours created by, in this case, using a cooler rather than a warmer blue.

My experiments stopped here as I felt I was using up too much of my precious polymer clay. It is obvious that the warmth or coolness of a colour can have an effect on the final colour mix and I have also learnt that some colours are more intensive than others, so it is not necessarily a simple equal quantities of two primary colours = the expected secondary colour. I understand now why the books suggest making colour chips and recording the quantities of the various colours mixed. This could be a very time consuming exercise but one day I would like to create a comprehensive colour chart, showing all the colour combinations.