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Oil Painting Colors: Qualities and Characteristics

Oil painting colors vary in their degree of transparency.

You will soon discover how much more the transparent colors on your palette are affected than the opaque colors, when mixed with white.

This does not necessarily mean that all transparent colors possess less tinting strength.

On the contrary, such transparent and semi-transparent colors as Prussian Blue, Thalo Green, Thalo Blue, and Alizarin Crimson have a powerful tinting capacity.

It is useful to know of this varying degree of transparency in the colors on your palette, both for mixing and for glazing and scumbling.

The table below gives you a snapshot of the qualities and characteristics of the most common oil painting colors.

Opaque Colors

Burnt Umber
All of the Cadmium colors
Cerulean Blue
Chromium Oxide Green (Opaque)
Light Red
Indian Red
All of the Mars colors Vermilion
All of the Whites
Naples Yellow
Raw Umber

Semi-Opaque Colors

Lamp black
Lemon Yellow
Permanent Green
Light Terra Rosa
Yellow Ochre
Zinc Yellow

Semi-Transparent Colors

Brown Madder
Cobalt Blue
Gold Ochre
Ivory Black
Thalo Blue
Thalo Green
Permanent Green
Deep Prussian Blue
Raw Sienna

Transparent

All of the Ultramarines
Alizarin Crimson
Burnt Sienna
Green Earth
Permanent Blue
Rose Madder
Viridian

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