Susan Rothenberg and Color Mixing

Susan Rothenberg

For a recent oil painting, I decided not to mix the colors on the palette, but to mix them on the canvas.  It created an interesting effect as the colors blended with each other, creating new colors.  According to Kit White, "Premixing color completely on a palette or table before application can lead to a flat or paint-by-number effect.  Learn how colors react to each other when mixed...This will give the image a more spontaneous and fresh aspect and add to the dimensionality of whatever is depicted."  In my opinion, premixing color on a palette is a fine technique, depending on the type of effect you want from the paint.  I would disagree that premixing leads to flat or paint-by-number effects.  Artists have been premixing for hundreds of years and quite successfully.  To premix or not to premix, that is the question?  Enjoy!