The Quiet Power of Opacity

When color isn’t the whole story

When we talk about paint, we usually talk about color: blue or red, warm or cool, bright or muted. But there’s another factor that affects every print we pull, even if we don’t always notice it right away: opacity.

What this Quick Tip shows

In today’s Quick Tip Tuesday video, I printed different paints over the same base color. I simply changed the type of paint on top and looked at how the results varied.

Some paints will allow the color underneath to show through clearly.
Others will soften it.
Others will cover it almost completely.


The tip

This isn’t about rules or fixing anything. It’s really just about paying attention - noticing what shows through, and what doesn’t, when you layer paint on your gel plate.

Quick Tip: Pay attention to how your paints behave, not just the color they are.

Why it matters

Once you start noticing this, it’s hard to unsee. And that awareness can be surprisingly helpful the next time you’re printing.

Watch the video

👉 Watch the short video below to see the differences side by side.


I hope you're having a colorful day!
Diana 💕


If you’d like to explore how your own paint colors behave when layered in different orders, Pandora's Palette Essentials walks through that process step by step, using simple experiments like the one shown here.

1 Comment

  1. Great tip! Paying attention to opacity adds another level of consideration when choosing paints for building layers in our prints. Thanks for the brain training!

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I’m Diana, the artist behind Crooked Little Studio. I teach playful ways to use random colors and materials to unlock creativity. You can find more inspiration here.

Meet Diana Garrison

I am a teaching artist who helps creative people like you explore techniques and develop practical skills so you can freely express your creativity and unlock your potential.

Until my retirement at the end of May 2024, I had been teaching K-12 students - for over 20 years - how to execute various art techniques and how to appreciate and talk about the visual arts; and I have been doing all this online for the past ten years. And now I am teaching online courses as well as adult workshops in my home studio, at local venues, and as a guest teacher in other locations.

The creative process is an amazing thing! As I explore my own art-making, I develop new styles and techniques along the way. I love to share that knowledge with others so they can benefit from what I've learned.

I offer tips, tricks, and insights in occasional newsletters for my email subscribers; I create free and paid resources and tools, and I am building a collection of online courses. I am always open to ideas for new things to share.

Won't you join me on this creative journey?

Cheers! 
Diana

Photo of Diana Garrison