How can I get the right saturation with oil paint, when the pigment is so transparent?

Question

I'm supposed to be doing a hand-painted colour chart, and the full-intensity primaries are not supposed to be transparent. But some of these colours just ARE very transparent. Is there any way to, for example, "opagueify" cadmium red without turning it pink?

Answer 1

Layer over it.

If you mix any of the cadmium's with any other color they loose intensity. I've done hand painted color charts with gouache but never with oils...seems like a terrible lot of time waiting for the paint to dry to see if you've got the right shade.

The only think you can do is build up layers. You may want to consider a medium that speeds up dry time.

And please tell me you're using Nitrile gloves with your Cadmiums. Theres nasty stuff in the cads, and Latex gloves just don't cut it.

Answer 2

Let it dry for a day and give it a second coat.  Sometimes you want a transparent color.  That's why we have both opaque and transparent colors.

Answer 3

you need to buy or use mediums- turps would do it but will be very dull and chalky- buy a gloss or semi gloss medium for oil paint and avoid using white paint