Colour in Practice: Mixing & Harmony

Show & Culture

A practical 4-week course exploring colour mixing, harmony, observation, and atmosphere through guided exercises and colour studies led by artist Alvira Ferreira. Colour is one of the most expressive — and often most challenging — aspects of creating art. Throughout my years working as an artist and in art restoration, colour precision and observation have become a central part of my practice. In restoration work especially, even the slightest shift in tone, temperature, saturation, or value can completely change the result, requiring an extremely trained eye for colour mixing and harmony. This course is designed to help students develop a stronger understanding of how colours truly interact, shift, neutralise, harmonise, and create atmosphere through hands-on experimentation and observation. Rather than relying on pre-mixed colours straight from the tube, students will learn how to intentionally mix and control colour through practical exercises focused on harmony, temperature, value, saturation, and atmosphere using a limited palette approach. While demonstrations and exercises throughout the course will primarily use paint, the principles explored apply across artistic mediums including painting, coloured pencils, pastels, illustration, mixed media, and more. Topics explored throughout the course include: colour mixing and colour relationships primary, secondary, and complementary colours warm and cool colour temperature harmony, contrast, and balance saturation and muted colour coloured shadows and reflected light colour matching from observation creating atmosphere through palette choices working with limited palettes Suitable for both beginners and intermediate artists. Course Program Lesson 1 Foundations of Colour & Mixing Introduction to colour relationships, primary and secondary colours, complementary colours, and practical colour mixing exercises. Students will create colour wheels, mixing charts, and explore how colours neutralise and interact. Lesson 2 Warm colors Warm & Cool Colour Relationships Exploring colour temperature, atmosphere, and emotional impact through limited palette exercises using predominantly warm or cool colour families. Lesson 3 Colour Matching & Observation Learning how to accurately observe and mix colours from real-life objects and references. Students will strengthen their ability to identify subtle colour shifts, values, and temperature relationships through observation-based exercises. Lesson 4 Harmony, Atmosphere & Final Study Bringing together the concepts explored throughout the course through a final colour-focused study centred around intentional palette choices, atmosphere, balance, and harmony.