The Secret Trick to Matching and Mixing Colors

Color matching is one of the most frustrating parts of painting. You see the color you want, you try to mix it, and somehow you end up further away than when you started. In this post I share the VHS method, a three-step approach to matching any color faster and more accurately than most artists ever learn. It’s not intuitive. But once you know it, everything changes. I’ve also included a free downloadable PDF so you can take this into your studio immediately.

______________________________________

 

The VHS Color Matching Method Every Artist Needs to Know

Color matching used to stop me cold.

I’d see a color in my reference, or on the canvas next to a passage I needed to match, and I’d start mixing. A little of this. A little of that. Adjust. Overcorrect. Add more. And somehow, twenty minutes later, I’d end up with something that was further from what I wanted than when I started.

It’s one of the most quietly maddening experiences in painting. Because you can see the color you want. It’s right there. And yet getting there feels like trying to catch something that keeps moving.

I recently realized I’d been approaching the whole thing wrong. Not slightly wrong. Fundamentally wrong.

There’s a specific order to matching a color. Three steps, in a very particular sequence. And when you follow that sequence, everything speeds up. You stop chasing your tail. You get to the right color faster and stay in the flow of making.

I call it the VHS method.

 

 

Why Most Artists Struggle With Color Matching

Before getting into the method, it’s worth understanding why color matching feels so hard in the first place.

When most of us look at a color we’re trying to match, we instinctively focus on the hue first. The name of the color. Is it blue? Is it red? Is it somewhere in between? And then we start adjusting toward that hue, adding more of what we think we see.

The problem is that hue is actually the least important of the three properties of color when it comes to matching. The eye is far more sensitive to something else entirely. And when you don’t address that something else first, no amount of hue adjustment will get you where you need to go.

That’s the insight at the heart of the VHS method. And once you understand it, color matching becomes a completely different experience.

 

The VHS Method

VHS stands for Value, Hue, Saturation. These are the three properties of every color that exists. And the order in which you address them is everything.

V is for Value

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. And it is the single most powerful lever you have when matching a color.

Here’s why this matters so much. The human eye is far more sensitive to differences in value than to differences in hue. When two colors have very different values, even if their hues are close, they will look completely wrong next to each other. But when two colors share the same value, even if the hue isn’t perfectly matched yet, they’ll already start to feel related.

So the first step is always value. Before you think about what color you’re mixing, get the lightness or darkness right.

The practical way to do this is to squint your eyes. Squinting reduces the color information your eye receives and lets you focus almost purely on value. When you squint and your mixed color and your target color look the same lightness, you’ve nailed the value. Now you can move on.

Don’t worry about what you add to adjust the value. It can be black to darken, white to lighten, or anything else that moves you in the right direction. The hue doesn’t matter yet. Value first. Always.

H is for Hue

Once the value is correct, you move to hue. The name of the color. Is it blue, red, orange, violet, green?

At this point, because the value is already matched, you’re working with a much cleaner signal. You can see the color relationship more clearly because the value noise has been removed.

Adjust toward the right hue while keeping a close eye on the value. Adding color will often shift your value, so you’ll need to check and re-adjust as you go. This back and forth between hue and value is normal and expected. The key is to never lose sight of the value you’re trying to maintain.

You’re not trying to get the hue perfect at this stage. You’re getting it close. In the right neighborhood. That’s all you need before moving to the final step.

S is for Saturation

Saturation is the intensity or purity of a color. A highly saturated color is vivid and pure. A low saturation color is muted, dusty, or grayish.

Once value and hue are both in the right range, saturation is what gets you all the way home. If your mixed color looks duller than your target, increase the saturation by adding more of the pure pigment. If it looks too vivid or garish, reduce the saturation by adding a touch of its complement or a neutral.

Again, adjusting saturation will often shift your value slightly, so keep squinting and checking. The process is iterative. But by this point you’re making fine adjustments rather than big swings, and you’ll find yourself landing on the color much faster than you ever did before.

 

The Big Unlock

Here’s the principle underneath the whole method, and it’s worth really sitting with.

The lightness and darkness of a color is the most noticeable thing about it. More noticeable than the hue. More noticeable than the saturation. When the value is wrong, everything feels wrong, even if the color name is exactly right.

This is why so many artists spin their wheels on color matching for so long. They’re adjusting the hue and saturation while the value is off, and no amount of adjustment in those areas will compensate for a value mismatch.

Fix the value first. Everything else follows from there.

This approach is different from how most people are taught to mix color. It’s not totally intuitive at first. But it’s grounded in how the eye actually perceives color, and that’s why it works so reliably and so quickly once you internalize it.

 

Get the Free PDF

I put together a free downloadable PDF that walks through the VHS method so you can take it into your studio and use it immediately without having to remember everything from the video.

Click here to download the free VHS Color Matching Method PDF.

Having the right brushes makes all of this so much easier. If you’re looking to build out your brush collection, my Essential Expression Brush Set is now available in the Art2Life store. Eight brushes that cover everything you need for this kind of color work and beyond. Click here to check out the Essential Expression Brush Set.

 

Now It’s Your Turn

What’s your biggest frustration when it comes to mixing and matching colors? Have you been approaching it the way most people do, starting with the hue and working from there?

Try the VHS method in your next session and share what you notice in the comments below. I’d genuinely love to hear how it lands for you.