The Scenic Art Palette 175 · Is the value of the color too high or low? If so, adjust it with black or white. Be aware that black often kills the chroma of many colors. Generally, it is best to use black sparingly. When mixing a color, you may combine some of these steps with careful choices. For instance, you may need to neutralize and make a yellow ocher darker. Adding raw umber to the ocher could take care of both steps. Remember, always try to mix the target hue with as few colors as possible. A small mistake when mixing color can translate into an expensive waste of paint. Trying to fix a color that has been overneutralized or overtinted can result in mixing twice as much paint as needed. In some brands of scenic paint, a mistake like this could be an enormous expense. One way to avoid this expense is to do what is called a swatch test first. There was a time when painters would dab and mix test colors in the palms of their hands; however, for reasons related to industrial hygiene, this is no longer done. Instead, dab the colors that you think you will mix together on a paint lid or small plates to see if you are on the right track. Such a swatch test can save time and guesswork before committing to a large quantity of paint. For example, you may find by doing a swatch test that neutralizing turquoise with burnt sienna will yield the same results as neutralizing it with