How to Mix Greens for Landscapes

Sri Lanka is full of green: paddy fields, tea estates, jungle and coconut palms. But green straight from the tube often looks flat and too bright in a painting. Knowing how to mix greens gives you dozens of natural shades from just a few colours. This Haanz Art Guide explains which yellows and blues to use, how to make light, dark and dull greens, and how to use them in a landscape.

Start with two yellows and two blues

Every yellow and blue makes a different green. A cool, slightly green-leaning yellow with a greenish blue gives a bright, fresh green. A warmer yellow with a violet-leaning blue gives a softer, more olive green.

• Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Lemon Yellow: a cool, fresh yellow with a slight green bias.
• Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Medium Yellow: a bright, balanced yellow for warmer greens.
• Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Phthalo Blue: an intense, deep blue with strong tinting power. Use very little.
• Art Ranger Acrylic, 75ml, U/M Blue: a deep, warm blue with a slight violet tone, for duller greens.

Two ready-made greens are useful too: Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Sap Green (a warm, natural yellow-green) and Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Viridian (a cool, bluish green). For large school paintings, Fevicryl Acrylic Colour 200ml, Hookers Green is a deep leaf green in a big bottle. Browse all tubes in Acrylic Colours. Prices change, so see each product page for today’s price.

How to mix greens step by step

1. Put out yellow first. Place a generous amount of yellow on your palette. Yellow is weak and blue is strong, so always add blue to yellow, not the other way round.
2. Add blue in tiny amounts. Touch the tip of your brush or knife into the blue and mix it in. Keep going until you reach the green you want.
3. Make a bright green. Lemon yellow plus a touch of phthalo blue gives a fresh, lively green, like young paddy.
4. Make an olive green. Medium yellow plus ultramarine blue gives a softer, earthy green.
5. Make a dark green. Add more blue, or mix in a little burnt sienna. This gives the deep green of jungle shadows without using black.
6. Make a light green. Add more yellow or a little white. White makes a cooler, pastel green; yellow keeps it sunny.
7. Calm a green that is too bright. Add a tiny touch of red or burnt sienna. Red is the opposite of green on the colour wheel, so it softens it.

Natural greens for landscapes

Real foliage is rarely pure green. Try these mixes, which also need Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Yellow Ochre and Mont Marte Acrylic, 75ml, Burnt Sienna:

• Tea bushes and lawns: sap green plus a little lemon yellow.
• Dry grass and sunlit fields: yellow ochre plus a touch of sap green.
• Distant hills: viridian or any green plus white and a little blue. Far objects look paler and bluer.
• Shadowy trees: viridian plus burnt sienna, or ultramarine plus sap green.
• Coconut palms: sap green with yellow ochre for sunlit fronds, and a darker green for the undersides.

A good rule: use warmer, yellower greens in the front of your painting and cooler, bluer greens in the distance. This creates depth.

Mixing greens with watercolour

The same rules work with watercolour, but you lighten with water instead of white. A set such as Art Nation Solid Watercolor Paints, 36 colours gives you several yellows and blues to test. Paint a small chart of every yellow-and-blue pair in your set. You will quickly see which greens you like. More sets are in Watercolours.

Common mistakes

• Adding yellow to blue. You will use lots of yellow and still have a dark green. Start with yellow.
• Using green straight from the tube everywhere. Mix it with yellow, ochre or sienna for variety.
• Darkening with black. This makes greens dirty. Use blue or burnt sienna.
• Only one green in a painting. Aim for at least three: light, middle and dark.

For the full colour wheel, read our Colour Mixing and Colour Wheel Guide. Then put your greens to work in Acrylic Landscape Painting or Watercolour Landscape for Beginners.

Frequently asked questions

Which two colours make green?

Yellow and blue. The exact yellow and blue you choose decide whether the green is bright, olive or dark.

How do I make green look more natural?

Add a small touch of red, burnt sienna or yellow ochre. This softens the green and makes it look more like real leaves.

Do you deliver islandwide?

Yes. We deliver across Sri Lanka in 2–5 working days, with cash on delivery, card or bank transfer. You can also visit our shops in Boralesgamuwa and Horana, open every day from 9 AM to 6 PM.

Not sure what to choose? Call / WhatsApp the Haanz team on 0711 515 515 and we’ll help you choose the right yellows, blues and greens for your landscape.

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