When we are talking about gray’s we mean general gray’s and not anything pre-mixed. I would personally stay away from pre-mixed grays. When I see a painting that is very loud, when it is basically taking color out of a tube and slapping it on a canvas, I see it as the opposite of what a professional painter would do. Those colors are yelling at the viewer. The magic in a painting happens by understanding gray’s and their subtleness. Once you understand that, adding a small amount of pure color next to a gray will give an appearance like it’s glowing.

When you see a color in a certain area of a painting that comes at you strongly, yet gently, it means that the colors around it are grayer. It actually tricks our eye into thinking the color is popping out when really it is the gray making it stand out. The thing about this is it is really not the pure color that is going to pop, it is more going to be the grays around it. Think about this in your next painting. 

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