nathanaardvark

Tutorial 160 - Photoshop's Mixer Brush - Mix Ratios

Added 2016-06-23 17:35:57 +0000 UTC

This tutorial focuses on the Mix slider and how these values effect the paint strokes applied to our canvas.

The Mix slider changes the ratio of Wet (the canvas paint) to Load (the reservoir paint). To find out more about Wet and Load read through this tutorial: https://www.patreon.com/posts/tutorial-157-5767687

To get to know these options better, let's take a look at the three setups I've demonstrated.

With Mix, set at 100% any color coming from the Load reservoir is completely replaced by color picked up from the canvas. We can now use the Wet setting to control how wet the canvas is. Color gets picked up from the canvas and reapplied for every new stroke.

As the Mix percentage is lowered we reintroduce the Load reservoir.

At 50% we have an even ratio. Some paint is picked up from the canvas and mixed with the Load color to produce a mixed color. This new color will be applied in our next stroke for a short part of the stroke, to then flow into the Load color. The stroke paints with the new color (picked up from the canvas) and fades into the Load color.

Mix set at 0% means that all our color is coming from the Load reservoir.

Though, if Wet is set to 1% or above we will still see some paint picked up and reapplied to each new stroke.

Practically speaking

If we want full control over how movable our image pixels are and how much Load color is coming through, set the following:

For very subtle blurring of pixels, there are two options which give the same result, a very gentle mix of colors on the canvas:

Wet: 1%.

Mix: 99%.

...or

Wet: 2%.

Mix: 100%.

Pushing Wet a little higher give us a "wetter" canvas, smudging the pixels around like wet paint. Likewise, pushing Mix a little lower, without touching the Wet, does the same because it's adjusting the Wet/Load ratio.
If we adjust Load but keep the Wet/Mix settings above, there is no visible difference in the mixing, we will always see a little Load color coming from the brush, mixing onto the canvas. We will only see a difference if we now start to adjust the Mix slider. The lower the value of the Mix slider, the more Load color we will see coming off the brush.

We have to turn off Load all together (using the button, looks like a paintbrush with an arrow pointing up) to avoid any paint contaminating the wet canvas, which will give the effect of a dry brush on a wet canvas.