Colour Mixing 101: Shadow, Highlight, Background

Colour mixing guide teaching students to mix shadow, highlight and background paint colours in 3 simple rounds, perfect for painting and observational art.

This one-page visual resource breaks paint colour mixing into three clear rounds:

*Shadow colour - mixed without black, for form shadow, undersides and occlusion

• Highlight colour - for the brightest areas hit by light, reflections and accents

• Background colour - for environment and negative space

Each round shows the exact colours combined, the resulting mix, and a worked example on a painted sphere, making it easy for students to see theory applied directly to practice.

Ideal as a quick-reference sheet for still life, observational painting, or any project where students need to understand tonal colour mixing beyond just adding white or black.
Works well as a starter activity, a wall reference, or alongside a painting demonstration.