How To Read
The digital drawdown ratios are based on 15 mm diameter ink caps. We used these caps for measurement as they are larger which allows for more dynamic mixing ratios as opposed to smaller (more traditional) PMU ink caps.
When a 15 mm ink cap is filled, it takes about 40 to 50 ink drops of our pigment and this number can slightly vary due to the density/viscosity variable of different colors and the "weight" of the different color. We then measured the color appearance at about 100%, 50%, 25%, & 1% of that 40 to 50 drop count.
Essence Fill
At about the 25%/1:4 ratio (could be more like 1:3 or 1:5 depending on density), if we used 8-10 drops of pigment, the rest of the cap would be filled to the brim with Essence. Something to consider is that a drop of Essence doesn't necessarily take up the same amount of space that an actual ink drop does (due to that density/viscosity variable) so we have it shown as Essence Fill as opposed to an actual drop count for it.
But what does that mean for the pigment?
It's also important to understand that when we mix colors...we're not actually mixing what it looks like in the bottle or rather the masstone, unless we are mixing equal parts...1:1.
But let's use Princess Pink and Queen of Hearts for example of when it's not a 1:1 ratio. If we have 10 drops of Queen and we add 1 drop of Princess, that is a 1:10 ratio of Princess modifying Queen. So, the actual look of the color of Princess Pink that is modifying Queen of Hearts looks like somewhere between the 25% and 5% area of the Princess Pink Drawdown.
And we always say the lesser amount of a color used is modifying the larger amount. Because of this, we can assume that the larger amount looks like it's masstone.
More Colors
The next question you might have is what about when we mix 3 colors? The same rule applies! Let's say that now we add 2 drops of Pumpkin Spice in there to warm up the mix. So now we have 10 drops Queen, 1 drop Princess, 2 drops Pumpkin. That's 10:1:2.
But if we just want to see the modifying strength of only Pumpkin, then we look at a ratio of 11:2 instead. 11 is Queen plus Princess. So, a ratio of 2:11, 2 drops of Pumpkin to 11 drops of Mix (13 drops total) equals about 15% (2 divided by 13). Again, we look in between the 5% and 25% area on the Pumpkin Spice drawdown to see what the real color strength looks like.
Undertone
The other great thing about using this system is that we're also able to see the undertone of the pigment by diluting it this way...so we know for sure how that color will behave because we can see the gradual variance in its undertone.
Sometimes the undertone can be much warmer or much cooler than than the masstone and appear as a completely different color like with Fauna. Its masstone appears green while its undertone appears yellow and warm so now we can see that Fauna is a warm green.
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