Wednesday 10 December 2014

De Atramentis Document Ink mixes - Blue, Yellow and Magenta. Updated January 2015

The possible colour hues you can mix with a three colour mix of yellow, magenta and blue are endless. Here are just a few of the possibilities using the De Atramentis Document Inks - Document Yellow, Document Blue and Document Magenta. The ratios shown are approximate - yellow:magenta:blue based on the number of drops of each colour used. A drop varies in size but it gives an idea. These mixes follow on from the two colour mixes shown in a previous post. These are painted into a Stillman & Birn Alpha A4 sketchbook with a brush at full strength.
Here are the same inks with approximate ratios of the three colours Yellow:Magenta:Blue











The second set of mixes is more random so no ratios are given. Only the Document BlueDocument Yellow and Document Magenta inks have been used.


8 comments:

  1. Did you try adding white? Presumably adding white or diluting would give greater vibrance to the colors? Or does that not work out as it would appear?

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    1. Sharyn these were all straight mixes with no dilution. I have the diluting fluid that is designed to be used with these inks so they retain their lightfast and waterproof qualities but haven't begun exploring that yet. There will be a white added to the range but I would rather wait for that than add a chemically different white. I now have green and red and dark blue so more colours to explore. It really is endless ;-).

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    2. Note - I have since re-scanned the images so they appear brighter - more like they do in life :-)

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  2. Hello. I am very interested in the color mixing you have shown through the article. I recently discovered the inks are available from www.gouletpens.com. My only concern is if the "Document Ink Magenta" might have an alternate name since Goulet Pen's has the "Document Red" and the "Document Fuchsia". They do not have the "Magenta" and I understand that the name of this color can be lost in translation via its arrival to the USA. Please, can you tell me what I should get in regards to the "Magenta" or if I should request Goulet Pens to order this particular color?

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    1. That is an excellent question as it has caused some confusion. Originally the Magenta was translated from German as Fuchsia. It is now being bottled as Magenta to fit with the English CYMB nomenclature. The same is true of Cyan, which was originally called Turquiose. Goulet are wonderful but they are selling out fast!

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  3. Great review of colour mixes, Jane. Thanks again for your excellent advice per Da Vinci watercolours :-)

    Will bookmark this post for reference in the hope of being able to purchase some of these inks in the future - a little dear for me just now but I can see their value.

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  4. Thanks Owen, and I'm glad the Da Vinci's are working for you. Great paints!

    I don't think everyone would want all of them. I am really loving the Document Brown to draw with - it is just a lovely colour - and I am also using a lot of my mixed grey - it's softer to work with than black. So my basic set would be the Black, Brown and Blue - to be able to make the grey or darker blues or darker browns.

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  5. Jane, I appreciate you more than you could ever know. So often when I am confused or overwhelmed about paint color or mixing I end up back at your beautiful site full of rich and detailed information. I just stumbled upon de Atramentis document inks in C, M, Y, and this is exactly what I need to get started. THANK YOU!!!!

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