Beginners in the world of painting with oil are often hesitant to mix colors. Actually, the basics of color mixing are not really that complicated. You just have to take up the challenge and experience the fun. At first, you may produce muddy colors which you can mix with some white for some exercise or sample oil paintings instead of throwing the paint away.

When mixing colors for oil paintings, remember this fundamental rule: There are three colors that cannot be made by mixing other colors together. These three colors are red, blue and yellow which are known as the primary colors. You cannot also make black and white by mixing together other colors, but these two are not used in color mixing to create colors. You will just add white to lighten a color or add black to darken it.