Welcome to the first installment of Mixology Monday, where I will be sharing custom recipes with you. While we have a colorful palette with our paints, stains, and enhancements, you can create even more looks for that perfect shade you are searching for.
While we have several browns in our collection — Texas Tea, Young Kansas Wheat, Myrtle Beach Sand — you may be interested in some more to coordinate with your style. What about a fawn mix? Or maybe two? Where am I drawing my inspiration from?
Rising Fawn is in the north Georgia mountains, not far from Chattanooga, TN, nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains, and it is where RT and I spent our honeymoon. It is the inspiration for one of the two colors in today’s Mixed Up Monday.
Fawn Lake is in Todd County, Minnesota, and, with the motto of, ‘Where the forest meets the prairie”. I have not visited it, but cannot wait to look it up the next time I am in central Minnesota.
For both colors, I am starting with Tahoe Taupe, a cool neutral, and Texas Tea, a rich, deep brown. Always start with the lightest color (Tahoe Taupe) since our paints are heavily pigmented, and it is easier to go darker than lighter.
When mixing colors, you can either go by weight or volume. Always try to use the same measurements (ounces, for example) so that it’s easier to re-create your color later, if wanted. Also, keep pieces of wood trim or moldings around — they are great for practicing techniques when deciding on a color and finish for your project.
For Rising Fawn, start with 4 oz of Tahoe Taupe, add 1 oz of Texas Tea, and stir well. Once it was fully incorporated, I painted my board. I often use left over pieces of molding or trim to paint mixed colors and finishes on. If you write your recipe on the back, they make great references later for deciding what to do for larger pieces. It’s slightly more rich than Tahoe Taupe and would pair well with Newport Navy, Pittsburgh Gray, or Grand Prairie Sage.
Fawn Lake was created by another ounce of Tahoe Taupe to the Rising Fawn mix. It was hard to resist not going too chocolately (is that a word?! 🙂 haha) with this one, but I did resist this time.
I wanted to see if, by chance, I mixed a color that was already in our palette. (Yes, I have done that a few times.) I was lucky this time; I had not recreated something I had had previously formulated! Young Kansas Wheat is shown on the top and Myrtle Beach Sand on the bottom of the molding. Both have distinctly different undertones. You can also see how different the colors look in different light. Lighting makes a huge difference with colors and photography.
To some, mixing paint colors come as natural as unwrapping a piece of chocolate. Others are more reluctant, comparing it more to the art of fudge making. I hope this series of posts gives you some new color ideas if you are in the first category and demonstrates how easy it can be if you are in the later one.
Rising Fawn
4 parts Tahoe Taupe
1 part Texas Tea
Fawn Lake
4 parts Tahoe Taupe
2 parts Texas Tea
Peace,
CeCe