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There is a very pleasant touch to the Iridescent Colors. Smooth, silky and yet the paint will hold ridges. When you stroke the paint it's shimmery iridescent qualities will be revealed as the paint dries. If you have done a stroke with a lot of texture, sometimes a little white cast will remain in the area of the strongest texture, especially with Orange Iridescent, making a lovely highlight to the stroke.

When you open the tube and squeeze out the paint, they all look almost white, so place your colors near a pigment puddle of the same hue, of possible. It is best to place out only a small amount, when it is needed, as their lovely touch is best when fresh.

For Sideloading techniques, use your filbert or flat brushes. If you are a round brush painter, flatten your brush and sideload into your color. If the round brush will not stay flat, you may need to dress it in a little medium or transparent base color first.

This same brush loading technique would be advisable if you want a little more blending of an iridescent color into a highlight color but do be cautious, the iridescent colors are very "tender" and their lovely shimmer can be quickly muted by too much base color in your brush.

Since you are working with colors that shine, they become your highlight colors. Remember that as you plan your painting. Cool colors will still recede, warm colors will come forward. Essentially most to the colors are lower in value than white except when they "catch the light" so keep your foundation or base painting lower in value and at least a little less intense.

You still need to carry each color throughout the painting and especially be aware that the shimmery strokes form a separate pattern of their own, so tip your painting until you can visualize this pattern and make sure that it is pleasant to look at also. There may be some exceptions, such as a large sun or moon and little stars.

The Iridescent colors can be mixed with other colors, sponged or stroked into faux finishes, spattered (especially nice on porphyry or lapis lazuli), give the shimmer to fairy wings, butterflies, humming birds and just generally make a little more elegant statement.

So open those tubes and prepare yourself for an exciting experience. You may want to start with just a simple study sheet at first, always a good idea, then dig through the treasure chest for just the right piece to decorate.

*Iridescent colors are sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another since they appear from the tube looking similar (milky-white in color when wet). it's only after they are applied and begin to dry that you really notice the wonderful iridescent shimmer of these colors. A simple way of keeping track of which iridescent colors you are using is to place each iridescent color next to a similarly pigmented color. For example, place Iridescent Blue next to Pthalo Blue on your wet palette. This will eliminate any confusion when you are painting and you can easily reference which iridescent colors you are using.