Schmincke Transparent Mixing Set
The box and the tubes (some of which I’d already used).
No affiliate links, and not a sponsored post - just my thoughts on a resource.
The Schmincke Transparent Mixing set has been quite an interesting addition to my palettes. I got it more than a year ago now, and at first, I wasn’t sure about the combination of colours and whether they would be sufficient for a mixing set.
The main reason I bought it at the time was that I wanted to try Quinacridone Red Light PR 207, and Pthalo Green PG 7, and I needed a replacement Ultramarine Finest PB 29 as I was going through it fast.
I hadn’t realised it even was a mixing set before buying it. Since then, I’ve gotten quite a lot of use out of the colours, and absolutely love Quinacridone Red Light.
As a set, it is very versatile. Even though personally I prefer having a Magenta as my primary mixing red, Quinacridone Red Light does make a good range of colours.
Below are some swatches and mixes of the set.
The Quinacridone Red Light is unfortunately not quite right - the scanner seems to make it seem more red/pink than it is, but it actually has a difficult-to-capture orange tint as well.
It is a gorgeous colour than looks like a vibrant pink and orange at the same time. Some of the images below capture it a bit better.
The quin red light is not quite right here either. Pthalo green is close, but in real life it is more vibrant.
In the above images, I’ve edited the Pthalo Green and Quinacridone Red Light a little to better reflect the colour. The Quinacridone Red Light is better, but still lacks the luminosity it has in person.
This is just a quick mixing chart I did. It is on 100% recycled cotton paper and does a good job of showing some vibrancy.
As a mixing set, the set is really quite good. I was concerned it would be hard to get a vibrant purple (Quinacridone Red Light + Ultramarine Finest) or a nice olive green (Pthalo Green + Transparent Ochre), but it does both well.
Another colour I really wanted to see if I could mix was a Pthalo Turquoise type colour, and mixing the Ultramarine Finest with the Pthalo Green creates a lovely Turquoise.
This photo is probably the most accurate representation of the Quinacridone Red Light I could capture.
Below is a painting done with just this set and a tiny bit of white gouache.
Emu bush, seen in Palm Valley, Northern Territory.