How to Mix Gold Oil Paint
To mix gold with oil paint, combine 4 parts Cadmium Yellow Pale and 1 part Raw Umber. Paint cannot be metallic, but a warm, slightly dulled yellow reads as gold, especially next to darker shadows and a few lighter highlights.
Opens the free browser simulator with these colors on the palette. Squeeze them out and blend with the palette knife.
Step by step
- Put down 4 parts of Cadmium Yellow Pale. It is the largest amount, so it is your base.
- Add 1 part of Raw Umber.
- Blend with a palette knife, folding the paint over itself until no streaks of the separate colors remain.
- Pull a thin smear out to the side. Thin paint shows the true color better than a thick pile.
Lighter versions of gold
The same recipe with more and more titanium white mixed in, by volume:
#D59F31
#E2BA50
#E7C869
#ECD58B
#F1E6BE
Another way to mix gold
With Raw Sienna and Cadmium Lemon: 4 parts Raw Sienna and 3 parts Cadmium Lemon.
Tips for mixing yellows and creams
Yellow is the weakest tinter on the palette. Start with yellow and add other colors to it, never the other way around.
Questions
What colors make gold?
To mix gold with oil paint, combine 4 parts Cadmium Yellow Pale and 1 part Raw Umber. You can also mix it from 4 parts Raw Sienna and 3 parts Cadmium Lemon.
How do you make gold lighter?
Add titanium white a little at a time. Adding the same amount of white as the whole mix gives about #ECD58B. White also cools and softens a color, so you may need a touch more of the warm color in the recipe to keep the same character.
How do you make gold darker?
Add a little raw umber or raw sienna. Black turns yellow green, and purple, its complement, turns it brown very quickly.