For those who love painting, there are times when we face the dilemma of how to mix shades of gray. Based on my personal experience, the gray color palette indeed has the ability to balance and harmonize the composition of colors in a painting.

For example, trying starting with French Ultramarine (one of the colors in my new Mix It Up Master Artist Set). Then you can experiment with adding small amounts of Raw Umber, Sepia, Transparent Brown Oxide, Transparent Red Oxide or French Ochre. By doing so, you can achieve a wide variety of grays in bluish, purplish, greenish or brownish tones.

To enhance your color variations within a gray palette, just adjust the proportions of the mixed colors and/or the amount of water used. I like using this mixing technique, especially for the subtle areas of a painting, as well as for backlighting and shadows. Rest assured, applying gray in this way will not muddy the colors of your artwork; instead, it will add elegance and visual appeal to the overall color scheme and atmosphere.