Rheotech - Gesso

Thanks so much for trying our paints and for supporting a Canadian maker. We’re sorry the mixes didn’t match what you expected.

Our Violet is Dioxazine Violet (PV23): a very transparent, extremely high-tint pigment. Our Lemon Yellow is a green-shade yellow (PY3). These two are near-complements, so even a tiny touch of PV23 will rapidly neutralize PY3 into olives/khakis and grey, often reading as “weak” colour even though tint strength is high. The photos you shared look consistent with that behaviour, so the colour mixing is actually what you would expect.

If you’re aiming for richer browns/warmer neutrals, pair Violet with a warmer, more red-leaning yellow or add a bit of red oxide. For a quick self-check of strength, compare 1:10 white tints; PV23 will show very strong colouring and pigment loading. If the issue is a lack of opacity, there is often a misconception that opaque colours have higher pigment loading, and transparent colours have low pigment loading. This is a falsehood, transparent colours can be highly tinting, with very high pigment laoding, which can be ideal for glazing techniques and some colour mixing. It depends mostly on the pigment itself and on how the pigment is ground and dispersed.