How to Combine Paint Colors for Venetian Bronze

General Guidelines

• Venetian bronze is not one specific color but may be used to describe a small range of hues. To reach the precise color you're after, begin with a basic mix of complementary hues, such as red and green. Continue to fine-tune the combination by making it slightly warmer or cooler, adding either reds and oranges or blues and greens. Create a lighter or darker shade by adding either white or black.

Glaze

• Another option for getting the walls bronze is to add a layer of metallic glaze over the area where you want the bronze color. Underneath, you may use brown, orange-brown or even terra cotta. If you only find gold-hued glazes, account for the difference in color by using a warmer or cooler color underneath. If you wish to experiment, apply the glaze to a piece of glass or transparent plastic and hold it over a swatch of the primary paint color.

Using Grays and Greens

• In some cases, Venetian bronze refers to very dark hues, closer to blackish-gray than bright bronze. The more you add black and white to your paint mixture, the more you muddle the tone, bringing it into within the family of grays. If you're using the bronze color for a trompe de l'oeil effect and you wish to depict oxidation, add a small amount of green pigment into the mix and use the greener color to add accents.

Venetian Bronze for Artwork

• If you need to capture Venetian bronze for a painting you're working on, you can benefit from the broad array of paint colors already available, especially compared with ready-mixed house paints. To truly capture the metallic quality of bronze, you need to add another element not found on the color wheel. Ground bronze is available in a finely powdered form, ready for mixing into watercolor paints to create a metallic look. You can select among the colors of various precious metal, all made of bronze. If you're using the bronze paint to make something appear to be made from metal, such as a flower pot or a railing, go for a weathered look instead of a brand-new one; it will be easier to emulate the slightly faded, less reflective look of aged bronze.