You can find color recipes for sale all over the clay world right now. Are they a good or a bad idea?

I have to say, I’m a bit of an old school purist here and I think you need to learn how to mix colors if you’re planning a continued future in art. It’s a basic skill in the same way that a musician needs to understand music theory. Without a solid understanding of how to create and modify color mixes, you’re unnecessarily creating hardship for yourself.

But color recipes do have their place. If you need to reliably recreate specific colors, recipes are a shortcut no different from the formula they use at the paint store when you buy paint. If you are in production, recipes can save a lot of time.

And if you’re struggling with creating a cohesive color scheme for a project, purchased color recipe sets can give you a shortcut that saves a lot of trial and error.

But if you’re just unsure how to mix a certain color that you like? Don’t be afraid of learning how colors work together and mix together. It’s incredibly liberating when it “clicks” in your head and you can “see” how color works. It’s a skill and it can be learned!