To achieve a seamless and invisible repair, the color and sheen match must be perfect or nearly so. Keep in mind that color can shift as it dries, and shift again after cold glaze is applied. These variables must be considered during the paint mixing process. The changes may darken or lighten the tone, or even alter the hue entirely. We primarily use acrylic paints, but depending on the project, we may also use oil paints, mineral pigments, or dyes. For first-time DIY restorers, water-based acrylics are a good starting point.

Complete Repair Example Including Painting

How to Mix Color: Basic Theory

Any color can be created using a core palette of nine colors: the three primaries, blue, red, and yellow; the three secondaries, green, orange, and purple; plus white, black, and ocher.

Understanding these basics is important when starting to paint repaired ceramics or sculptures. If you already have painting experience, you may skip this section. While reading theory is useful, hands-on practice with actual color mixing is essential to developing skill.

A solid grasp of the color wheel helps guide this process:

• Primary colors (blue, red, yellow): These cannot be mixed from other colors
  
  
• Secondary colors (orange, violet, green): These are made by combining two primary colors. For example, mixing yellow and red creates orange.

These six colors form the foundation of the color wheel.

However, this is where theory and practice diverge. The color wheel is a helpful tool for understanding relationships between colors, but it isn’t a reliable guide when selecting paints for repair work. The real-world variations in pigments and how they behave are far more complex than the wheel suggests.

For example:

• Cadmium Red leans toward orange (a yellow bias)
  
  
• Alizarin Crimson leans toward purple (a blue bias)

So, buying a “pure red” or a “pure yellow” is a myth, they don’t really exist in practice.

Developing your Artist's Eye

Developing your artist’s eye takes time. While a few people have a natural instinct for color, most need practice, so be patient with yourself. In the beginning, you might feel confident that you've mixed the perfect color. But once it's applied next to surrounding colors — or the original you're trying to match, it can suddenly look completely wrong. That’s normal. The only way to train your eyes and brain to recognize subtle shifts in hue, value, and saturation is through trial and error. Over time, with repeated attempts, you'll begin to see what’s missing, whether it needs a touch more blue, warmth, or brightness. It’s a skill built slowly, but it does come.

What is Hue?

Hue is the simplest aspect of color to understand. At its most basic, it's an art term that refers to the actual color of a pigment or object, such as red, blue, or yellow.

What is Value?

Value, also called tone, refers to how light or dark a color is, regardless of its hue. It's an essential part of color mixing and matching in restoration. One challenge with value is that our perception of it is heavily influenced by surrounding colors. A color that seems light in one context can appear much darker when placed next to even lighter tones, and vice versa. (See image on right.). Understanding and controlling value is key to achieving realistic and seamless repairs.

What is Chroma?

Chroma, also called saturation or intensity, measures how vivid or pure a color appears. Think of it as the difference between a bright, undiluted color and one that has been muted by adding white, black, gray, or by thinning it with glaze. You can adjust a color’s chroma by adding neutral gray of the same value (lightness) as the color you're trying to modify. This lets you reduce the intensity without shifting the value or hue too drastically.

Aren't Value and Chroma the Same Thing?

Color mixing would be much easier if they were, but they’re not. Chroma refers to how pure or intense a hue is, while value refers only to how light or dark a color appears, regardless of its hue. In other words, value ignores the color itself, focusing only on its brightness or darkness, whereas chroma is all about the richness or dullness of the color.

Do I Need to Consider Hue, Value, and Chroma Every Time I Mix a Color?

As a beginner painter, the answer is yes. It’s important to consciously evaluate the hue, value, and chroma of the color you want to match before mixing. Taking the time to make a judgment on each aspect helps reduce wasted paint and frustration. The good news is that with experience, this becomes less of a deliberate, systematic process and more intuitive. Over time, you’ll develop a natural sense of these elements and mix colors more quickly and accurately.

Some Color Recipe Examples

Blue Green: 1 part yellow, 3 parts blue

Blue Violet: 2 parts blue, 1 part red

Brown: 1 part yellow, 1 part red, 1 part blue

Charcoal: 2 parts blue, 1 part red, 1 part yellow

Citron: 1 part orange, 1 part green

Flesh: Start with white and add yellow, red, brown, and sometimes blue. Note: Flesh is the hardest color to describe (as you might imagine), so experiment with the ratios.

Green: 1 part yellow, 1 part blue

Olive: 1 part green, 1 part violet

Orange: 1 part red, 1 part yellow

Pink: 1 part red, 1 part white

Red Orange: 2 parts red, 1 part yellow

Red Violet: 2 parts red, 1 part blue

Russet: 1 part orange, 1 part violet

Violet: 2 parts blue, 1 part red

Yellow Green: 2 parts yellow, 1 part blue

Yellow Orange: 2 parts yellow, 1 part red

White makes any shade lighter, while the opposite color on the color wheel will darken it.

Important: Artificial light always leads to inaccuracy in color matching, so use natural light whenever possible.

Air Brush or brushes?

For general background colors and surface painting, we use an airbrush. Regular brushes cannot achieve the fine and/or translucent coatings without leaving brush marks that an airbrush can avoid. The gradual tapering of paint thickness, blending seamlessly into non-restored areas, is superb with airbrushing. We use the Paasche H-SET Series Single-Action airbrush system for this purpose.

Brushes, however, are essential for duplicating original painted designs on repaired areas. Choosing the right brush is crucial to meet the quality standards necessary for retouching. To achieve an invisible repair, the original artist’s brush type and stroke movement must be carefully replicated. (See Appendix below for more about brushes.)

In restoration, brushes are primarily used for retouching. When evaluating brushes for this purpose, consider four factors: texture, origin, size, and shape of fibers. These influence properties such as filament retention, shape maintenance, tip precision, flow control, paint pickup, and steady paint release.

Key Factors in Airbrushing

Proper airbrush technique depends on:

• Dilution (e.g., thinning acrylic paints with water, see more on thinning acrylics for airbrushing)
  
  
• Operating air pressure
  
  
• Amount of paint released
  
  
• Distance from the surface
  
  
• Hand movement
  
  
• Paint thickness and nozzle size

For fine lines, hold the airbrush as close as possible to the surface, releasing a small amount of paint. For broader coverage, hold the airbrush 4” to 6” from the surface and increase the paint volume.

Managing Overspray

Airbrushing creates overspray, a fuzzy halo of tiny dots beyond the targeted area. To achieve sharp edges, use masking media such as low-tack masking tape, spray shields, or latex paint as a protective barrier.

Other Airbrush Tips

• Always test spray on scrap surface before applying to your work piece
  
  
• Thin paint gradually, too thin causes runs, too thick clogs nozzle
  
  
• Use gentle, steady hand movements to avoid uneven coats
  
  
• Clean your airbrush regularly to maintain consistent spray quality

Air brushing complex colors range