Mixing the Greens
News reports about our 250th birthday frequently stated the fact of how young our country is. In Italy, Paul and I walked
“Amongst Ancient Groves” where trees were elegantly immense and grape vine roots accessing water grow so deep that new vines are grafted onto them. The landscape captivated my attention where I viewed sun-drenched hillsides, with warm, terracotta-roofed villas nestled seamlessly into rolling slopes.
Structural cypress trees with vibrant, layered foliage create a rich tapestry of rhythm and movement across the canvas. The golden, late-afternoon light raking across the tiered hillsides gives the piece an extraordinary sense of depth and architectural form. The color challenge was the greens. To show how attractive they are, I varied the color and the value. The distant trees are cooler and lighter, and foreground greens are darker or warmer. To figure it out, I mixed several greens on paper mixing them with a variety of colors. See them below.
Mixing Greens
Start with your tube-colored greens and blues and let what you mix with them make the difference. Adding white can mess with your greens and can make them look pasty so start with another color first to lighten them. Instead, using peach, or pink works well as a pale complement to green keeping the color rich. Adding greys or light blue also will cool and lighten them but keep them cooler. Make them richer and warmer with yellow, red, orange & ochres which you can also still gray down with light blues. A dark crimson or violet with a dark green mix the darkest greens. Adding dark brown or reddish brown adds variety to the dark greens.
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A Refresh and Skill-Builder for All Levels
Dates: August 14–16, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 3:30 pm daily
Location: NDSU Extension Stark/Billings County
2680 Empire Road, Suite 2680B
Dickinson, ND
Sponsored by: The Badlands Art Association
Whether you are looking for a watercolor refresher or want to build upon your current skill set, this workshop is for you! Because there is always so much to learn, we will focus deeply on the fundamentals so you can confidently apply them to any future painting.
During this three-day intensive, we will practice core techniques, explore how to arrange shapes, and use strong design principles to dramatically improve your compositions. Our ultimate goal will be working toward completing a finished piece on the final day.
Workshop registration closes on July 27, 2026!
Find the registration form and instructions at
http://badlandsarts.com/
or
https://www.facebook.com/BadlandsArtAssociation
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