When you go to an art supply store, you will find about six colors which make up the spectrum - Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, Orange and Violet. Oil colors have four important properties; they are hues, value, intensity and temperature. The hue is nothing but the color's shade, a cherry and an apple has both hues of red. The value of the color is nothing but how dark or light the color is. The intensity is the dullness and brightness of the color, which is also referred to colors purity and saturation. Finally the temperature refers how the color is, either cool or warm. Color ranges in temperature from cool blues to violets, similarly from warm yellows to orange. Therefore mixing the right formula of colors will bring out the most excellent oil painting reproduction.

Mixing colors is not a science exactly; oil painting reproduction artists use different methods of mixing and different formulas to bring out the right painting. Mixing colors will give you a range of colors with minimum tubes of paint. It also gives you an opportunity to experiment and play with colors. If you have noticed an artist working, you would have noticed he never over mixes the colors, as over mixing will take the life out of it.

To create highlights, use white color with the touch of the objects complimentary color. However there are some exceptions. To make your desired color, try mixing few colors as possible to get the right hue. If you are using a particular color again and again, then it is better to buy the color rather mixing.