Mixing colors is hard and, for some people, even frustrating. Converting RGB to acrylic might seem even harder; however, the effect you can have by the process will look amazing on your artistic works and designs. So, how can you convert RGB to acrylic paint specific color?
RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue, and this system is used for mixing colors digitally. You can convert the RGB into acrylic paint using an HTML Hex color code, telling you the percentage of each color. By using an app, you can convert that code and get all the color information you need. However, please note that this is a rather difficult endeavour, but you can surely get close to the paint color you want.
In this article, I will talk about the process of converting RGB to acrylic paint. I will also discuss the notion of RGB and how it is used to get a clearer image of the converting procedure. Once you learn the process, you will be able to use amazing colors and shades in your artistic work without going through the trouble of trying to figure out a certain color tone. Please notice that it still requires knowledge on color theory and the color wheel, but practice is a big factor too, not only for this but on getting particular hues
. So, How To Convert RGB To Acrylic Paint? We should start by going through the basics:
Table of Contents
What Is RGB?
When you are creating designs digitally, you use different color tones. When you choose a certain color, you also get all of the shades of that color. RGB color profiles are used mainly for screen applications on a computer, while CMYK is used for printing operations.
RGB and CMYK are the two main color profiles, and RGB is most commonly used. RGB includes red, green, and blue hues, and when combined, you can get a wide array of various colors. The wide usage of RGB is because most of the colors you can achieve are through the RGB system combinations.
The process of addition creates the color profiles of RGB. They are made through light with any intensity; therefore, you get a wide variety of colors. The colorful array made of different colors is why RGB is mostly used on computer screens and websites.
If you pay close attention to your screen, you will notice that everything is made based on red, green, and blue hues. If you use the full intensity of RGB, you will get the white color, while with the lowest intensity, you will get black.
How Do You Use The RGB Color?
As I previously mentioned, the RGB color is mostly used in websites and computer screen monitors. By combining red, green, and blue, you can get a lot of colors and tones. Once you pick a color, you can adjust the channel values and change the image color from 0 to 225. This is an independent process, meaning that you will not affect any other colors, and you can do this for each color you select for your use.
For instance, if you select 0 for all the channels, the result would be pure black. In the same way, if you put all the channels at 225, you will get a pure white color. By adjusting red, green, and blue, i.e., the RGB system, you can achieve all the rainbow colors, including blacks, whites, and greys.
If you want a particular example of this, you can check an online generator of colors or simply use Photoshop. If you type RGB (0, 0, 0) into Google and later replace the 0 with any number to 225, you will see that you can get various colors by just changing numbers. That is how the RGB system works.
Can You Convert RGB To Acrylic Paint?
Generally, everything that is made digital can be converted into something physical. In other words, everything that can be seen on a computer in a digital form exists or has the possibility to exist in a physical form. When it comes to colors, this notion especially applies since every color comes from nature.
Therefore, there is a way to convert RGB to acrylic paint, which might save you a huge amount of your time if you are not good at mixing colors manually. You have to know the proper way, which I will explain later in this article.
However, it would help if you kept in mind that RGB is not regarded as a system of primary colors, and you will use them for lights rather than pigments. Therefore, you will get many colors in different tones that you can use in your designs. Once you learn the converting process, you will never again rack your brain about mixing colors and getting the one you set your mind on.
How To Convert RGB To Acrylic Paint?
Since we have established that you can get whatever color you need by converting RGB, it is time to learn the process. It might seem like a difficult process, but once you learn it, it will go smoothly every time you do it. Therefore, let’s see the steps to see for yourself that you can really do it.
Firstly, I will start by once again mentioning that there are two main color profiles RGB and CMYK. CMYK is considered a profile of primary colors, and it is mostly used for lights and reflecting physical objects on a surface. On the other hand, RGB is used on screens and the web.
However, depending on your needs, you might want to convert both color profiles to acrylic paint, and due to that reason, you need to learn the process. Luckily for the artists and the painters, the conversion of RGB and CMYK is the same. So, keep in mind that whatever color profile you choose, you need to follow the same steps to get the desired color properly, but you might need to pay attention to the ratio in RGB.
Step One – Choose The Proper Materials And Tools
To exemplify the conversion, I have chosen to talk about the process of using fluid acrylics since they are easier to measure. However, you can choose different types of acrylics following the same procedure.
Furthermore, you will need some blunt needles that will help you suck up some acrylic paint right from the bottle and a palette knife and popsicle sticks that will aid the mixing. Also, make sure that you get some white to use as a base. You might also want to obtain some gel foundation that could enhance your mixture. However, this is optional.
Lastly, you will need some containers where you can put your paints. Some artists recommend using Twisterz containers because they are big enough to store your paint until the end of the working project. If you convert some color that you really like or believe you might need for further projects, you can use color tubes to store your paints carefully.
Step Two – Find The Hex Color Code Of The Color You Intend To Use
Once you have obtained all of the equipment you need, it is time to get to the real stuff. Let’s take as an example that you are working on a project based on an image you have seen on the web. To successfully make the design the same, you will need to have the same colors, meaning that you have to obtain the color code of color used in the web image.
For this purpose, you need to use an app that provides color codes. There are a lot of applications suitable for this for both iOS and Android such as Paleto and Real Color Mixer, which is suitable for Android users, or True Color in the Apple Store, advertised as “…the ultimate color mixing assistant for painters, artists and designers. It’s the perfect companion for studying color theory”. However, if you work on a computer, you can use photo editing software to give you any color code you need.
Once you get the code in Color Mixer, you can use colorbook.io and convert your Hex code in different formats. After your code is converted, you will get all the information about the color you picked. That means you will get the name of the color, percentages of the colors used, different shades, and so on.
Once you get the percentages of the colors, you can start with the mixing process. The first time you do this, you will need to be very careful and follow all of the instructions as appropriate. If you do everything as you should, the next mixing procedure will be quite easier and quicker.
Step Three – Mixing Colors Procedure
To make the procedure clearer, I will give one color as an example, making it easier for you to understand this step. Let’s say that you need to obtain a color that is derived from red. You will need your blunt needle to pull the exact number of color units according to the given percentages from the conversion.
Once you get the appropriate fluids, you will need a little white (as a foundation that I mentioned before) to lessen the fluid transparency and give a good texture to the color. After some mixing of the given percentages of colors, you will have your color tone.
Once you get the wanted color, you might change its brightness. That can be done by adding more white or black, depending on your needs. These adjustments are usually needed if the color you achieved is still not as the one in the web image you are using.
However, sometimes, you can get the wanted color only by mixing two colors, and that is it. This usually depends on the shade of RGB you have selected.
After making all of the adjustments and getting the color you need, you might want to use gel in your color. This will enhance the texture of the color, and this way, you can ensure that you will have enough for your project. However, the gel might give some transparency to the acrylic paints.
If you aim towards acrylics with a solid texture, you might want to add 2 or 3 coats of gel for a heavy body. This can be done right from the tube, but it is optional, meaning that you should do whatever seems more convenient to you. However, if you feel you have added too much paint and now it is too thick, there are also some options to fix it.
How To Make Acrylic Paint?
Now that you have seen the process of converting RGB to acrylic paint, you can also learn how to make acrylics on your own. Many artists tend to experiment with their tools, and they find mixing and creating colors an amazing challenge. This gives originality and uniqueness to the artistic projects taking them to a whole different level.
Since acrylic paints consist of pigments, you can make your own by mixing pure powdered pigment with a solvent and a binder. Below, I have provided the steps that will produce pure acrylic paints.
- Use water or clear alcohol, like vodka, and add it to a pure ground of pigment.
- Mix the ingredients well with a spatula.
- Once you achieve complete dispersion of the pigments, add the binder (you can use a matte acrylic gel medium).
- Mix the ingredients again with a spatula.
- You will get your acrylic paint close to the manufactured one you usually buy for your projects.
- Use a paintbrush to apply the newly produced acrylic paint to a canvas or a similar surface.
Final Words
The process of making acrylic paints by yourself is simple and quick. You can do it with any color you want, and you may also mix the colors according to your needs. The handmade acrylics behave like the manufactured ones; however, you might notice slight changes in the texture.
In conclusion, it can be said that RGB is commonly used for converting, so you could do it daily. The procedure is not complex, so you can do it at any time and get your artistic projects the color they really need.