Mixing Colors Poem by George Hunter

Three cheers for the red white and blue
And the orange and brown and purple too.

I got out my paints, all that were there
The common tints and some that were rare.

I love to paint using every shade
To render everything on earth that God has made.

I squeezed out the paints along just so
Being careful to keep them in a row.

I had alizarin crimson, red ochre and indian yellow
Napthol red light and payne’s grey to make them mellow.

Pthalo turquoise, orange, scarlet and sap green
Sepia, viridian and ultramarine.

Jaune brilliant, lilac and Grumbacher red
So many colors it spun my head.

I didn’t see how white could come out of this conglomeration
But I had to try them all, in every combination.

I believed that light is composed of every shade
So I mixed them all together just to see what it made.

I stirred them up good, didn’t hold back
And what did I get? — You guessed it — BLACK

They say ‘black is beautiful’ and can’t you see
With that opinion I’ll have to agree.

In fact all colors are beautiful to those who can see
And I’ll try them all out on my next painting spree.