How to Choose The Perfect Palette & Save On Supplies
This lesson is a big win for several reasons!
- It’ll save you money…
- It’ll improve your color mixing skills faster…
- You’ll be able to produce a huge range of colors from just a handful of paints…
- Making the right choice will improve your glazing technique…
- It’ll make it easier for you to understand and mix the colors you want, thanks to my ‘Magic Palette Method’ !
So what am I talking about?
If you’ve read other articles on my blog you might have heard me recommend the following:
“The fundamental basis of any watercolor mixing palette should include transparent paints, and warm and cool versions of each primary color”
Like this for example:
This isn’t just another “go get these paints” article…
No… This is a carefully selected range of pigments and hues, to make you a more successful watercolor painter. Because paints like these let you do all the wonderful things I listed above 🙂
All , just by choosing the right paints to get started!
(Or… if you already have some paints, by carefully setting up your color palette, and using very little else…)
If you’ve ever spent time choosing your watercolor paints, you’ll know this – The choice is mind boggling !
At first the variety of options can seem overwhelming. I know this because I took a loooong time to choose my first watercolors after researching all kinds of possibilities.
But to cut a long story short, if you were to start with only a few colors, I would suggest you use a limited palette of just 8 paints to begin with…
Start with the warm and cool version of each primary color that I mentioned above. That gives you six colors to begin with. To these six paints I would add two more fundamental colors.
The first is Burnt Umber. And the other color I would recommend is Phthalo Green BS. (Blue shade)
Burnt Umber is probably one of the best mixing colors you can add to your collection.
For example, when you mix Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue you get a wonderfully intense black, and some interesting grays. Add more blue for cool grays and more Burnt Umber for warm neutral hues. Burnt umber is the basis of many earthy tones and neutrals. It’s also a great base color for skin tones…
Phthalo Green BS is a single pigment paint that produces a fairly unreal vivid green. But it can easily be adjusted by blending with other paints to make a very versatile range of greens. Including some very natural green hues suitable for landscapes, or turquoise blues for ocean scenes.
1. Saves money
There are only 8 paints in this limited palette. But this is all you need to mix just about any color you want (see the example chart lower down!).
You can always build your collection of paints over time. For example, many artists pick up some “convenience” mixtures. These paints combine 2 or more pigments to produce a specific hue – it’s like having a ready-made mix of your favorite color 🙂
But to get started, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a vast selection of paints to get the results you need.
2. Improve your color mixing skills faster
Color mixing is a skill that evolves over time. Little by little you’ll become familiar with your paints and what mixtures to use to produce a particular hue.
But if you’re trying to master color mixing with dozens of paint choices, it’s going to take a long time to get to grips with this painting skill!
Limited palettes (and limited choices) lead to a faster understanding of paint mixing.
3. Produce a huge range of colors with just a few paints.
Equipped with these paints you can easily mix an amazing variety of bright and subdued secondary colors, grays, a wonderful assortment of greens, and lots more !
Just look at the range of possibilities in the color mixing chart I made using these 8 paints:
The squares in this chart combine equal amounts of each paint from the horizontal and vertical axis. The upper right side shows strong mixes, and the lower left side shows diluted mixtures. Imagine the scope possibilities when mixing different proportions of each paint, or more than two paint colors!
4. Choosing wisely will improve your glazing technique!
All of the paints in this list are what watercolorists refer to as “single pigment” paints.
I mentioned “convenience” mixtures earlier, which are a blend or more than one pigment.
So, you guessed it… single pigment paints only have one pure pigment in their ingredients. This characteristic makes them better suited to glazing and layering techniques in watercolor. You can layer them without worrying about muddying the colors, resulting in cleaner and more vibrant glazes.
(please note, this list links to Blicks art store)
- Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
- Lemon yellow – Pigment number: PY175
- Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
- French ultramarine – Pigment number: PB29
- Quinacridone rose – Pigment number: PV19
- Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
- Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
- Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
If you’re not sure what Glazing is: One of the properties of watercolors is that they are transparent. This transparency is what makes it possible to “glaze” in watercolor. Glazing means applying a thin layer of paint over a previously dried layer of watercolor to create subtle color changes and deeper hues.
So it’s wise to start out with single pigment paint options if you want to optimize glazing.
My list of paints above refer to Daniel Smith paint names and pigment numbers. These are my personal recommendations. But I know not everyone uses the same brand as me 🙂
In my previous email I promised you a bonus – so here it is!
This downloadable PDF guide will help you to match paint colors from other brands, so you can take my suggestions, and find equivalents in your own preferred brand…
5. Makes it easier and quicker to match colors when mixing
This final benefit stems from the use of both warm and cool primary colors.
Warm and cool colors are terms used in painting to describe the overall “temperature” of a color. Warm colors are those that typically remind us of warmth, like reds, oranges, and yellows. Cool colors, on the other hand, are colors that remind us of coolness, such as blues, greens, and purples.
Having both warm and cool colors in your watercolor palette is essential because when mixed, they give different results!
For example, a warm blue mixed with a warm yellow produces an entirely different green, compared to mixing cool blues and yellows (Look carefully again at the mixing chart above and you’ll see this for yourself).
Try putting this limited palette to use for yourself. You’ll begin to understand mixing rules much more easily.
Also, in a couple of days, I’ll reveal the secrets of my “Magic Palette Method,” a technique that will completely transform the way you use warm and cool colors to mix paints!
Get ready to boost your art to new heights!
Happy Painting !
Anthony
Tell me about your watercolor struggles or what’s holding you back in the comments below and I’ll personally give you some guidance 🙂
P.S. (IMPORTANT) If you enjoyed this and want more I strongly suggest you “whitelist” my email address (which is [email protected]). If you need help to do this, read this page…
Anthony, thank you so much for this most helpful information. I’m so glad I already have Daniel Smith starter set which include the pigments you mentioned except for Phthalo green, because I am eager to make my own color mixing chart. However, I’m not sure I really understand how to do it.
Also, I would like some guidance with how much water to use to get the value I want. I have trouble with that.
I am very grateful for your kind assistance and am excited to get started.
Sue
Hi Sue
You’ll find a complete guide on making a color mixing chart on my blog HERE
Also, there’s an upcoming lesson in this series about water to paint ratios…
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Anthony, I’ve been dabbling in watercolor for 2 years now, starting with a cheap $ store set and then moving up…but now wanted to focus on the tubes with a limited pallet. I have been balking at buying the expensive paper for so long and promised myself after going through your lessons and practicing with the mixing, etc. that I would buy better paper. I know Arches is the best but a bit unaffordable for me at the moment…what paper would you suggest? Thank you Anthony!
Hi Eva
Yes… watercolor paper is pretty pricey – Meeden 100% cotton watercolor paper is more affordable – I’ve been using this a lot recently and it has great handling properties.
Also Ateza cold press paper is very good value – it performs quite well for wet-on-wet techniques, but it’s a bit tricky for glazing and layering paints, since the color sometimes lifts. Nevertheless it’s better than many student grade papers I’ve tried.
Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you for such a lot of information I have bought the colours and also done the colour mixing chart which was amazing with just eight colours it make me quite angry with myself for buying so many paints that I never needed wish I had this information when I first started.
Well done on making the chart!
Don’t be too hard on yourself about the extra paints – we’ve all been there.
The good news is, now you know how much you can do with just a few colors 🙂
I have only started painting again after 35 years. I am struggling with the amount of water I use and how it reacts on the paper. I am also limited by being chronically ill so can only paint in short spurts
Hi Susan
Water control is one of the most common struggles in watercolors… So what you’re experiencing is totally normal 🙂
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for putting this together. I’m just starting out. I’ve painted about 12 mixing charts now that mostly look terrible. I’ve used a size 6 round, a size 10 rount, a size 8 round. In all of them, there are so many brush marks in the swatches. I’m using more affordable blended brushes like Princeton and Sceptre II. What am I doing wrong? I’m also not sure how to load my brush and how wet the paint should be. Should I be adding color to my tray then letting it dry then adding water, or painting with paint just squeezed from the tube? Thank you!
Hi Kristin
Mixing charts are such good practice – and don’t worry if they don’t look perfect – that’s totally normal.
The brush marks usually come from the paint being a bit too thick or the brush not holding enough water.
Try loading your brush with plenty of watery paint so it flows more easily across the paper.
Cheers!
Hello, Anthony ~
Thank you so much for this information. I have been “fooling” around with watercolors for more than a year and have accomplished nothing. My very limited painting experiences are with acrylic paints. You have given me a definite starting point on which to focus. Tomorrow, I will be organizing my watercolor paints and search for the ones that you have recommended. I’m pretty sure that I’ll have most of what you have suggested. I’m looking forward to the next lesson!!!
Happy to help Joetta 🙂
Thank you Anthony for this very important lesson. I’ve bought so many diff paints that it’s been confusing! This has helped a lot. My other struggle are brushes. I never know which to use or which are the best for my budget or ones that I want to save towards.
Happy to help Cheryl
You’ll find some brush recommendations on THIS PAGE that may help.
Anthony
Thank you so much for EASILY explaining color therory. This was so helpful! Love the pdf download color wheel.
Now maybe I can stop making all those muddy Colors!! LOL
Your the Best
Stefanie
Happy to help Stefanie 🙂
Hi Anthony
I was interested to read that single pigment paints are ideal for glazing and they can be identified by a single pigment number on their label.
But your picture shows the label for cobalt blue with the number PB28. I don’t see how 28 is a “single” number. Can you clarify what you mean by looking for a single pigment number please.
Thanks
Hi Kathryn
The “28” in PB28 is part of a pigment code: PB stands for Pigment Blue, and 28 is the specific number for cobalt blue. So when we say “single pigment,” we mean there’s just one pigment code listed — not that the number itself has to be single digit…
If you’re curious to learn more about how to read paint labels and what those pigment numbers mean, I’ve written a short article on it HERE
Hi Anthony,
A couple of questions.
The only difference between the upper right and the lower left of the color mixing chart is the amount of water in your brush when mixing the color?
Just as an example, if I wanted to use Alizarin Crimson (seems on the cool side) and I wanted to find a warm red to use with it, could I choose any warm red or do I need to find a warm red compatible with Alizarin Crimson? For the lessons I will use what you suggest, I was just wanting to understand for the day I can choose my own palette.
Thanks so much!
Hi Laura
Yes… the only difference is the amount of water in the mixture. I usually start with a stronger mix, then add water.
And yes – you can use any warm and cool combination you prefer 🙂
Hi Anthony,
Want to say thank you for sharing your expertise! I’ve water colored off and on but always with what I call sub par supplies! Really appreciate your suggestions to start with quality and just a few colors! Looking forward to trying again with some fresh paints and good paper! Thanks again!
Daisy
Have fun Daisy !
Thank you so much, Anthony. Really enjoying your clear explanations!
To create the color mixing chart, do you premix equal bits of paint on your palette and then apply to the paper chart? Or put one color on thinly and glaze the other on top? Don’t use a palette knife to mix on the palette or directly with the brush?
Hi Rebecca
You’ll find a step by step guide to making the chart HERE
Have fun!
Anthony, this is really helpful!
I always struggle to mix colour.
I look forward to the other lessons.
Thank you. Maria
Happy to help Maria 🙂
Hi Anthony,
Thank you so much for this lesson. This is the best explanation I have seen on how to start out and why to pick certain colors. Also, I appreciate you keeping the colors limited and giving other options for those who may already have watercolors.
Question: I have most of the Daniel Smith colors your recommend, but they are in the 5ml tubes. Is that enough to get started, or do you recommend I purchase the 15ml?
Thanks for your help and the well-explained information!
Hi Lisa
The 5ml tubes are fine to get started 🙂
Even if you don’t use all the paint you squeeze out, you can keep them for next time.
They easily reactivate when you add water.
Hi Anthony,
I love your lectures and your videos, it’s exactly what I am needing and looking for. Someone who explains in an easy and well structured way, from the scratch, all about watercolors. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge! Once the free lectures are over, I for sure will get more into your subscription courses.
Trying to learn more about mixing secondary colours, I have a very basic question: When I am playing around with mixing different ratios of two primary colours, what is the recommended way of doing it? For example for the green mixture, do I use a puddle of yellow, and then start putting more and more blue in it? Or do I start with a blue puddle and put more and more yellow in it? Same with Oranges, do I start with red and put yellow in it or the other way round? Is there a right / better way of doing the mixing?
Thank you very much for your help.
Rita
Hi Rita
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the lessons! 😊
When mixing greens, I usually start with yellow and gradually add blue. There’s no strict rule for this, but you might notice that adding yellow to blue takes longer to shift towards green than the other way around. That’s because blue is generally a darker, more dominant pigment, so it takes more yellow to noticeably change the color.
A great exercise to explore this is making a simple two-color mixing chart. On a scrap of paper, start with pure yellow and gradually add small amounts of blue, step by step, until you reach a deep green. Then, finish with a pure blue brush mark. This will give you a handy reference to see how the colors transition and help you understand their mixing behaviour better.
Hope that helps – happy painting!
That’s a nice start!
Can’t wait for more!
Good read! Looking forward to getting started. Not very tech savvy so figuring out how to navigate migh take me a little while.
Thanks, Anthony! I have one of those giant watercolor palettes with way too many colors and it just confuses me. I’m going to take out the specific little pans of your color suggestions and make a mini palette to work from. It should help quite a bit. Thanks!
Sounds like a good idea Chrissy 🙂
Hi Anthony I’m curious…when painting do you use one container of water to clean your brushes or two? I’m using two but recently have seen artists using only one. Thank you for the free class!
Hi Donna
Personally i use two…
One to rinse the brush and the other to pick up clear water for mixing.
It just helps reduce color contamination when mixing new colors 🙂
Thanks Anthony!
I am just beginning to get my brushes wet with watercolours. I have many of the same learning needs as others have already stated – water to paint ratio, creating dimension and depth, knowing when to add in the next colour or layer, etc. Your tips so far are clear and succint and this helps me from getting overwhelmed. I look forward to learning more with you! Thanks so much!!
Hi Debbie
Glad to hear you’re getting value from the lessons 🙂
Hi — I would like to make that chart with the color mixes. How do you achieve EQUAL parts of each color? and how much water?
Thanks – Judy
Hi Judy
The best tip I can give is to test your color mixes with a scrap of paper before you paint each square on the chart.
This allows you to judge by eye the resulting mix better than in the palette itself.
The color should “look” like an equal mix between both colors – if necessary you can go back and forth adding a small amount of each color to find the right balance.
Same goes for the amount of water.
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi. I’d love advice on what to paint when you only have a little bit of time.
Hi Kristin
When you only have a little bit of time, it’s great to keep things simple and focused. I would try painting small studies, like a single leaf, flower, or piece of fruit—subjects that allow you to explore color and shape without too much detail. You could also practice easy shapes or experiment using different brushstrokes and techniques.
These mini-paintings are a great way to build skills and keep your creativity flowing!
Have fun!
I am very new to any kind of art and especially water color. I do have two different pans, one is very immature like for a child, and then the newest pan that I bought is more for intermediate advanced painting. I am looking forward to learning with you and I appreciate your free Content.
So can one become good at painting even if there’s zero skill in doing so? Practice makes better? Lol
Hi Debra
Absolutely! You’ll find that “talent” isn’t so important as practice!
If you’re willing to put in a little bit of work you’ll get good at watercolors 🙂
Have fun!
I used to paint with acrylic, oil and pastel colors. I just started recently my journey on the watercolors. I’m really looking forward to your lessons
Have fun!
Thanks for the color mixing chart – really helpful. The challenge Id like help with is how to see the layers in a picture, such as a landscape, to help plan how to paint it
Hi Carrie!
When you layer in watercolors you build up the tonal values with each new layer, making the shapes look darker.
So planning in watercolors is a lot about seeing values (the lightness and darkness) of the shapes, and laying down the lightest valued shapes first and finishing with the darkest shapes 🙂
Have fun!
I am a beginner to watercolor, and looking forward to learning all the things. Especially the water to paint ratio, the types of brushes and their uses, etc.
Thank you,
I’m excited to learn about water to paint ratios and glazing techniques. I am a beginner, and have a tight paint budget, but I have some substitutes I can use until I can get better paints. Thank you for the chart!
Have fun Kim!
I am brand new to watercoloring and just dove in with one of those instructional books you see everywhere, which was great, but I was missing the basics. I found your site when I was googling color palettes, and I’m glad I did! I’ve already learned a ton in less than a day. Your blogs and lessons are accessible and super easy to follow as a beginner. I do wish I’d found you before I bought the 36 tube paint set at my local craft store 😂. Thank you for the lessons amd the resources!
Glad the lessons are helping Christy !
I’m really looking forward to learning how to paint using watercolours. As a complete beginner I cannot help but admire many of the finished works I saw when I was in Helsinki recently. I really want to develop my own painting skills and style. I’ve read through many of your replies and have already learned a lot. Thanks.
Happy to help Yasmin 🙂
I am just getting back to painting after several years, and I need to refresh my memory on how to achieve the results I desire. Thanks for being here and offering this awesome experience. Susie
Have fun getting back into your watercolors Susie 🙂
Just tried to set up a chart with the recommended paint. Whereas your colors seem to be transparent and almost pastel like, mine are really bright ( not necessarily bad). My problem in general is either too light so by the time it dries it looks faded or too dark when I wanted the overall look more watercolor like.
Hi Marilyn
A couple of tips that might help…
Watercolors always dry lighter in appearance than when they are wet, so you could try taking that into consideration when you mix water with paint.
Also, try using a scrap of paper to test the strength of your mixes before you commit brush to paper on the final painting.
Hope that helps 🙂
The amount of water to use with the paints and do I clean brush each time when dipping in the paints for the next color to mix.
Hi Mariann
Yes, the water-to-paint ratio can be quite tricky.
And as for cleaning the brush – you only do this when you want to pick up a different color 🙂
Just starting out with your lessons and have learnt some valuable lessons already. Havent got the budget for Daniel Smith tubes as yet, so just happy to use what I have for now, but learning about the ones that offer the best results for glazing is fantastic, thank you,
regards, Deb
Have fun with your watercolors Debbie 🙂
Will you be addressing pan watercolour paints as well?
Hi Marcie
Most brands offer the same color choices in both tubes and pans – so you shouldn’t have any problem finding pans if you prefer.
I also wrote THIS ARTICLE If you’d like more in-depth information on why I prefer tubes 🙂
I am an absolute beginner and am here to learn as much as possible. Thanks!
I’m a beginner with watercolors. I’ve previously used pastels and drawn with graphite and colored pencils. The biggest struggle that I’m having is with glazing and how long to let the paint dry before applying more. Also the ratio of water to paint. Thank you.
Hi Joanne
With glazing, you need to make sure the underlying layers are completely dry before applying new layers.
There’s a tricky stage where the paint can seem dry but is actually still damp – painting on this can cause unexpected watermarks…
I use a hairdryer if I want to move on more quickly 🙂
You’ll be learning more about water-to-paint ratios in an upcoming lesson…
Cheers!
I too am relatively new to watercolor painting. I have dabbled but find myself intimidated by the mixing process. Ex-once I create a color how do I create more? How do I get my proportions right? How much water should be in the mix? Is it even important to be that consistent in getting colors right when it comes to watercolor painting? This dilemma literally freezes me up.
Hi Janet
Mixing colors and getting the right amount of water in the mix are common problems so you’re not alone.
In the next few lessons you’ll learn more about mixing colors and also the “water-to-paint” ratio for the paint…
Don’t let this put you off experimenting with your watercolors 🙂
Hi !
I’m just starting out on my watercolor journey but I wanted to say that I seem to prefer the smooth, hotpress paper over the more textured, coldpress paper. Yet from what I read it sounds like most people prefer coldpress …. am I missing something?
Thank you!
Hi Colleen
Hot press paper with its smooth surface is also less absorbent than cold press – this causes paint to sit on top longer resulting in puddling, and uneven drying.
If you’re not careful you can easily get hard-edged watermarks as the paint dries.
Cold press on the other hand is more absorbent and a little more forgiving, allowing for better control of washes and smoother blending with less risk of harsh edges.
That’s why many artists prefer cold-press. I’ve written a more in-depth article explaining the difference HERE
I have the Daniel Smith set you recomended. I have ordered the Burnt Umber and Phthalo green as well I am looking forward to continuing with the lessons. Transperancy is my issue. I seem to get dark to fast thereby minimizing the transparancy. Also can you recomend prefered paper. Cold vs hot pressed and weight? THank you
Hi Pam
Cold-pressed is good for most situations. It has a slight texture that really shows off the qualities of watercolor paint 🙂
And 140 lb / 300 gsm is thick enough for most situations. Some artists go thicker because they work with very wet washes, but it starts to get expensive.
I have an article HERE that will tell you everything you need to know about paper !
The paints you recommended are very expensive in Japan. Therefore, I would like to purchase Japanese-made paints available in Japan that specify their pigments. Thank you.
Hi Mion
If you want to find matches for the colors I recommend You might find THIS ARTICLE that I wrote useful 🙂
This lesson is great because I’m in the process of finding the right colors.
I’ve had a palette of 16 colors of White Nights for a couple of years , but I’m having trouble mixing colors because the pigments are different.
I am looking for watercolors in a tube to try , and this information is very valuable to me at this time. Thank you very much, Alena
Happy to help Alena 🙂