This pocket guide gives practical visual guidance on how to create over 500 oil colours from a basic palette. Beginning with how to choose a basic palette - often a major problem for beginners - the book then examines 30 colours in detail. Each of these is shown mixed with 12 other colours and with varying amounts of white added, demonstrating the range possible with a single mixture. With each main colour, symbols indicate key technical points, such as the relative performance of the pigment, its opacity and its tinting power. Additional special features show suitable mixtures for dark, light and especially vivid colours, while five finished paintings to illustrate the ways in which artists have used their colours to full effect.