Color Mixing Recipes for Oil and Acrylic

Essential color-mixing recipes for oil and acrylic painting in a convenient lay-flat format.

No more guessing at colors only to end up with a muddy mess and wasted paint! Color Mixing Recipes for Oil & Acrylic takes the mystery and stress out of color mixing with just the right formula for more than 450 color combinations, along with instruction on a variety of painting techniques. Use the handy conversion chart for finding acrylic equivalents of oil paints and vice versa. 

Designed for use in the studio, this durable book features:

• A lay-flat spiral binding
• Easily wipeable glossy cardstock pages
• A removable plastic color-mixing grid

Follow these four simple steps to mix more than 1,500 color combinations:

• Look in the Color Guidance Index for the subject you want to paint—for example, “Broccoli.”
• Find the Color Recipe with the subject’s recipe number (“81”) and a photo of the actual paint mixture.
• Use the Color Mixing Grid to measure each paint color.
• Mix the color.

It’s that easy! This comprehensive reference also includes foundational instruction on color theory and mixing, covering:

• Color theory
• Color value mixing
• Graying color naturally
• Mixing flesh and portrait colors

Whether you are a beginning or experienced artist, Color Mixing Recipes for Oil & Acrylic is an invaluable tool for your workspace.

Walter Foster’s best-selling Color Mixing Recipes series also includes Color Mixing Recipes for Watercolor, Color Mixing Recipes for Landscapes, and Color Mixing Recipes for Portraits. These books contain hundreds of precise color mixing combinations for realistic results, as well as acetate grids for measuring paint units.

William F. Powell was an internationally recognized artist and one of America’s foremost colorists. A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Bill studied at the Art Student’s Career School in New York; Harrow Technical College in Harrow, England; and the Louvre Free School of Art in Paris, France. He was professionally involved in fine art, commercial art, and technical illustrations for more than 45 years. His experience as an art instructor included oil, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil, and pastel—with subjects ranging from landscapes to portraits and wildlife. He also authored a number of art instruction books, including several popular Walter Foster titles. As a renowned master of color, Bill conducted numerous “Color Mixing and Theory” workshops throughout the US. His expertise in color theory also led him to author and illustrate several articles and an educational series of 11 articles entitled “Color in Perspective” for a national art magazine. Additionally, he performed as an art consultant for national space programs and for several artist’s paint manufacturers. Bill’s work included the creation of background sets for films, model making, animated cartoons, and films for computer mockup programs. He produced instructional painting, color mixing, and drawing art videos.