Watercolor Palette Setup: A Comprehensive Guide To Choosing Watercolor Paints

1. Introduction: Shopping for watercolor paints can feel like buying candy at a candy store. With what feels like the gazillion options of pretty colors and charming sounding names that tug at your hot strings, it's no wonder you can easily trip and fall into the rabbit hole of color collecting. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with amassing a large collection of paints. I think it's part of every creative journey as you go through a period of exploring and experimentation. But if you're just starting out with watercolors and you're not sure how many paints or which shade of red, yellow, blue or green pigment you should get. This class can help guide you in the right direction, so you don't end up with a lot of paints you don't need. Hi. My name is Ama. I'm a Watercolor Autist creative educator and top teacher here on Skillshare. Part of learning how to paint is knowing how to choose suitable paints that best support your painting approach. So in this class, I break down the paint selection process and show you how to set up a basic watercolor palette customized to your needs. You will learn how your personal painting needs and preferences inform your paint selection, and we'll also go through a list of essential things to consider before purchasing your paints. I'll also show you how to use a color map to help you design a basic palette as I walk you through my process of choosing between different watercolor pigments. Once you've purchase your paints, I will demonstrate how you can start setting up and personalizing your palette. This class works hand in hand with my modern color theory class. Be sure to watch that class to hone in on effective paint mixing skills, which is fundamental for understanding your paints better. Whether you're a beginner or intermediate level, this class can help you approach paint selection with more intention. By the end of the class, you will be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to make educated color choices and help you avoid buying unnecessary paints. So join me in the next lesson to get started. See you there. 2. Class Materials: For this class, we will be using the same color map we use in the modern color theory class, which is the artist color wheel by Bruce Macavoy from handprint.com, as well as the colormetric position chart by Schminca, and the newly updated color map by Daniel Smith. You can find all these in the class resources, and I've also provided links to a couple of the watercolor brochures and websites that will be used as reference throughout the class. As a reminder, be sure to watch the modern color theory class before this class. To get acquainted with most of the basic concepts I continue discussing here. Now, you also need a notebook and pen to take notes, but other than that, you don't need any materials to get started. This class is meant to help you make a more informed decision when shopping for your paints. If you're a total beginner, I recommend watching the entire class first. You'll know what things to look into before you buy anything. If you already own an existing set of watercolor paints, this class can still help you create a more personalized basic palette. Work with what you have and enjoy the class. 3. Class Project: All right. Once you've got all the paints you need, I would like you to share photos of your newly set up watercolor palette and upload it as your class project. Please share as many details as you like about your new palette, including the palette swatch card, a list of paint and pigment names, as well as what you plan on painting or what your favorite subject matters are. Feel free to also share some swatches of paint mixtures you've explored with your palette. 4. Your Painting Needs: Paint selection is essentially a very personal choice. Each and every person's taste and ways of expressing their art is going to be different. Part of that will reflect in their palette of carefully selected paints. The important thing is that your palette of paints should support your personal approach to painting. That means what and how you choose to paint. Before we start deciding which paints to get, it's worth exploring what your painting needs and preferences are. One of the ways to do that is to explore this short list of questions. The first question to ask yourself is, why do you want to paint? Now, this might seem like an obvious question, but by understanding your motivation for painting, you can choose paints that will align more with your goals. It can help you determine things like your budget, how much you're willing to spend on your tools and supplies, whether you should get student or artist grade paint, and whether paint light fastness is important to you and so on. Do you want to paint for relaxation or as a creative outlet? Are you curious and just wanting to explore the medium, perhaps? Is this just a hobby? Or are you interested in pursuing this professionally down the track? A follow up question you can add is, what is your budget? Now, remember, your answers aren't fixed. Maybe painting can start out as a hobby that over time becomes a serious creative pursuit. That doesn't always mean that you have to monetize it. It could just mean that you invest in better quality supplies, for example. The next question to explore is what subject matters interests you the most? Is it nature, landscapes, animals, botanicals, or portraits? Remember, different paintings have different colon needs. Botanical painters might have used for more pink, red and purple hues than a landscape artist, for example. If you're painting landscapes, you might want to choose paints that are good for creating natural textures and colors. Now, while certain subject matters might call for specific hues, the style in which you paint can also influence your color choices, which leads us to the third question. How do you want to paint? This is essentially your painting style or the way in which you portray your subject matter, which includes a unique combination of techniques, processes, and decisions. Now, it may take a while before you start to develop your own style or figure out a personal process. But it's good to start exploring the type of art that you personally find interesting or captivating. Another way we can frame that question is, what style of painting are you drawn to? Is it abstract, realistic, or more of a modern clean look or perhaps a bit stylized, cute, cat, or a loose style perhaps? A good exercise you can do is to create a board on Pinterest of paintings you find interesting or works of art from your favorite artists that inspire you. The final question is, where do you want to paint? Will you be painting indoors in a studio or outdoors in nature? This question will help determine whether portability is important to you and what size palette is more suitable for your needs. I have provided a worksheet of these questions in the class resources? You can print it out and fill it up or you can also write them down in your notebook. Feel free to also add any questions to the list that you feel would be helpful for you to explore? Take some time to think about the type of paintings you would like to create and what's important to you. As you answer these questions, you'll get a better sense of what your painting needs and preferences are, which in turn can help you choose paints that supports your style of painting. Remember, your answers right now might change over time as you develop in your practice. You can always revisit the questions and do an updated version at different points in your creative journey or when you're wanting to do a palette refresh. 5. Paint Information: All right, so you now have some idea on what your painting needs are. The next step is to gather some information about the different choices of watercolor paints available. The best way to do that is through paint labels, watercolor brochures or color charts, paint manufacturer websites, and reliable paint reviews. Now, very early on in my watercolor journey, the only information I would be looking at is the commercial paint name and paint color. I mean, how can you not fall for these romantic sounding names like wisteria, Monglo, or undersea green? Trust me, I know. It is so tempting to just want to buy every pretty color you see on a color chart. But when you start to deepen your watercolor practice and learn effective paint mixing skills, you'll find that the visual color alone is not the only piece of information that you need to know about the paint. What are the important things to look out for when shopping for watercolor paints? There are generally three main things to look out for and they are pigment content, light fastness rating, and paint handling attributes. L et's look at the label on a Daniel Smith Extra fine watercolor paint. On the front, you have the paints color name, usually listed in different languages as well. On the back is where you can find information about the paint ingredients. On the side here, you can find the series number, which indicates the relative price group of the paint, which is usually determined by the cost of the pigment. The higher the series, the more expensive the paint. You also have the light fastness rating. Some brands like Shamika will also display symbols for the staining and opacity characteristic of the paint. Windsor and Newton uses a slightly different symbol, but also indicates the opacity rating on the back of the tube next to the pigment content and light fastness rating. Of course, more details about the paint can usually be found in the water Clo brochure or website of the paint brand. I highly recommend getting your hands on a couple of watercolor brochures or color charts from different brands, just so you can do a bit of comparison. Study what pigments are used in a particular paint, and get to know the paint characteristics before you decide to purchase them. I like having a physical copy just because it's so handy, and you can quickly look up information on a paint. The Schika watercolor brochure for the is great paint is one of my favorites because it also gives you some descriptive color details like the hue saturation or color temperature, and even some helpful suggestions about how to use the paint. Now, I do use quite a few paints from their brand. I find it handy to refer to. But even if you're not using paint specifically from this brand, I think it would still be a useful guide to learn more about different watercolor pigments. If you can't find a physical copy, this brochure is also available as a PDF on their website, which you can download as well as print out. Now, all the important information about a paint is, of course, also easily accessible online through the paint manufacturer's website. Some art retailers also provide this information on their website, like Jackson's art, which is super handy and convenient. Last but not least, you can find out more information about a paint through reliable paint reviews. If you want to know how a paint performs or compares to other paints or how it is used in context, I find that researching reviews on YouTube about specific paints to be super helpful. Knowing what paint information to look out for will help you decide which paints will best support your painting needs and preferences. In the next few lessons, we will delve more into each paint information. As we discuss a few of the things to consider when deciding on which watercolor paints to get. Now, I have covered a few of these things briefly in my essential watercolor tools and techniques class, but it's worth exploring them again here. 6. Color Index Name: One of the first things to pay attention to before purchasing your watercolor paints is the pigment content, which is what pigments and how many pigments are listed. Pigments are what provides the color in a tube of paint, and the type of pigment will determine how it's formulated, which will then determine the paint handling attributes, which we will cover next? On most paint tube labels, the pigment information will be listed using an international standard ID system called the color index name. It is usually identified as a simple Alpha numeric code. For example, PR 122, PB 153 or PR 254. The letters in the code stand for the color group. For example, PW stands for pigment white, PY stands for pigment yellow, PO stands for pigment orange, and so on. While the number refers to a standard list of pigments within each of those color categories. For example, PG seven refers to the seventh entry in the standardized list of green pigments. Why is it important to refer to the color index name, as opposed to just the paint name when shopping for your paints? The reason is that commercial paint names don't really tell you much about the actual pigments used, which can potentially lead you to buying duplicate paints or paints that you could easily mix by yourself. What you'll find is that the same color names for paints from different brands might not contain the same pigments. Conversely, the same pigments used in a paint can be marketed under different color names. Now, it's important to note that the same pigment can be formulated to create variations in hue. For example, the same pigment, PB R seven is used to create this granulating maroon brown, as well as the burnt umber and green umber hue through adjustments in paint manufacturing methods, or by varying the proportions of pigment ingredients, which also explains why the same pigment when compared between different paint brands, can vary slightly in color appearance and paint handling properties. This is again due to factors such as how the pigment is formulated, the manufacturing process, and the type of binders and fillers added, which will vary from brand to brand. In saying that, using the color index name to guide your paint selection is still very helpful as it tells you what pigments and how many pigments are in the paint. Overall, learning about the color index name, can help you find the exact pigments you want. Avoid you buying duplicate paints and assist you in becoming familiar with the character and handling attributes of different pigments. Also, when you know the pigment combinations in a tube of paint, you can use it as a guide to create your own mixtures, using paints you might already have in your palette. Now, even if you don't have the exact pigments, you can still create a fairly close mixture using the color mixing strategies I teach in my class. 7. Single Pigments + Mixtures: The next thing you want to look out for is whether a paint color is made up of a single pigment or a mix of pigments. Watercolor paints generally come in three basic types. Single pigments, convenience mixtures and hue paints. Single pigments, as the name suggests, contain only one pigment in the paint ingredient along with the vehicle and additives. Convenience mixtures are usually made up of two or more pigments. Paints labeled with hue can usually consist of a single pigment or a mix of two to three pigments. The label hue usually indicates that it is an imitation of a color that is either originally made from a single expensive pigment or traditionally popular pigments that are no longer available. In a student grade paint, this might mean that a slightly cheaper pigment or combination of pigments are used to match the color appearance of a more expensive pigment to save cost. For example, the student grade Windsor Newton Cott paint Vidian Hue is formulated with PG seven instead of the more expensive pigment PG 18, which is used in their professional range. Now, I used to think that I should avoid any paint with the label Hu for reasons of quality. But as I learn more about my paints and pigments, that isn't always the case. As I mentioned before, Hu can also refer to alternative pigments, which are used to replace old historical pigments that are now considered fugitive or toxic. For example, the dist great Shamika paint aolin hue uses PY 151, a modern organic pigment that has better light fastness compared to the originally used PY 40 that has been reported to fade to grayish or brownish hues with exposure to light. What it comes down to is reading the label and knowing how many pigments and what pigments are being used in the paint. When it comes to choosing between single pigments and pre mixed paints, I would again depend on your personal preference and your painting needs. But for a beginner who is interested in learning about color mixing, using single pigments would be a good place to start. As a general rule, the more pigments you mix together, the less saturated the mixture becomes, SD subtractive mixing process will reflect back less light from the visible spectrum. Using single pigments allows for better control over your mixes and makes learning about the individual characteristics of specific pigments much easier. This is especially helpful when you're trying to develop your color mixing skills. Now, this is not to say that you shouldn't use convenience paints at all. There is certainly a place for them in the palette, especially if you find that you are frequently mixing a specific color, which is available as a pre mixed paint, then it makes sense to add it to your palette. Some unique colors can be difficult to mix from scratch, especially with the appropriate handling attributes and are often sold as pre mixed paints. If you have a specific palette of colors, you use a lot for your work, then all the more reason to use convenience paints. Now, these things you will figure out as you develop in your watercolor practice, there really is no rush in getting all the different paint colors when you're just getting started. 8. Lightfastness: The next thing to consider when selecting your paints is the light fastness rating. Light fastness refers to the durability of paint withstanding prolonged exposure of light. Most reputable paint manufacturers use the ASTM rating or the blue wool scale for light fastness. In the ASTM scale, light fastness is rated 1-5, usually written in Roman numerals with one being the highest light fastness available, and five being very poor light fastness. On the blue wool scale, the light fastness is rated 1-8, one being very poor, and eight being excellent light fastness. Take note that these light fastness levels are tested for the display of artworks under normal gallery conditions. As we've discussed in the paint information lesson, the light fastness rating of a paint can usually be found on the paint label, the brochure, or website of the watercolor manufacturer. You'll notice that different paint brands will use slightly different symbols or coding for information on light fastness and paint handling properties. Windsor Newton uses the ASTM rating, but also displays a permanence grade, which takes into account the light fastness, as well as the chemical stability of the color. If you're thinking about framing your art or selling original paintings, you want to make sure the paints you are using have a good to excellent ight fastness rating, so they don't fade or shift color over time. In saying that proper display conditions such as being away from a window, out of direct sunlight and proper framing, such as using UV protective glass, for example, will all contribute to the preservation of an artwork. If you're a hobby artist or perhaps you mostly work in print, which means your final works will be digitized, then perhaps the light fastness of a paint won't really be an issue for you. But instead, your concern would be on the archival quality of the print. 9. Paint Handling Attributes: Next on the list of things to consider is the paint handling properties or pigment characteristics of watercolor paints. These are the physical attributes or properties that determines how watercolor paints behave on paper or when mixed with other paints. Think of each paint as having a unique personality. Now, there are a number of material paint attributes, but today we will be discussing a few of the common ones, which are transparency and opacity, staining, granulation, and tinting strength. Why is it important to understand these paint characteristics? As I mentioned before, I used to choose paints solely based on color without understanding the unique properties of different pigments. Knowing these properties can help you choose the right paints to create the effects you want by understanding how they will interact with water, paper, and other paints. Let's look at the first property, transparency and opacity. Transparent paints allow the white of the paper or the previous layers of paint underneath it to show through, creating a translucent effect. This is usually a desired quality, especially if you tend to work in several layers and utilize glazing as a technique. O opaque watercolors typically allow for a fuller coverage and can completely obscure the white of the paper or layers of paint underneath it, creating a solid and flat appearance. You can certainly dilute opaque paints to achieve a transparent quality. But as you build more layers of paint, the color can appear to have a more chalky or velvety feel as it starts to pacify. Remember, both types of paints are useful. It just depends on your style of painting or the effect you're trying to achieve. The next attribute is the staining quality of a paint. Staining is the degree to which a paint adheres to the paper and resists being lifted or removed. Non staining paints are easy to lift or wash off with water, allowing you to make changes or create effects that involve lifting techniques. Staining paints, as the name suggests, are difficult to lift off, and they tend to leave a residue or tint on the paper. Many modern synthetic organic pigments like dioxygene violet, and yalocynine, blue and green are made of very fine particles which penetrate easily into the spaces between paper fibers, making them highly staining. The sizing of your watercolor paper will also influence how difficult it would be to lift out staining paints. Watercolor papers that have been heavily treated with size have a high resistance to water. Color does not penetrate the paper fibers as easily. In other words, it may be easier to lift color on heavily sized papers, but it would still depend on how staining the pigment is. In saying that, staining paints work especially well with the glazing technique. When you're layering paints on top of each other, especially for the initial washes, you want to make sure the previous layer stays put and it doesn't redissolve or start to much. Remember, it's best to do your own tests to understand the different pain characteristics, and how they interact with your watercolor paper. The next attribute is granulation. Granulation is the degree to which paint separates into fine particles and settles into the texture of the paper, creating a speckled or grainy effect. You can see how there is more of a mottled or grainy appearance with granulating paints versus a more smooth and even wash with the non granulating paints. Granulating paints are great for when you want to add some textural effects to create visual interest. The final attribute is tinting strength. Now, this is not an attribute that is usually labeled on a paint, although sometimes you might find it in the description of some paints. What it refers to is how much a pigment can influence the color of a mixture relative to its mass. Pigments that have a high tinting strength tend to easily dominate in a mixture, and you usually need only a small amount of paint to create a noticeable color shift. This is why you sometimes hear paints being described as a strong or weak color, which is usually in reference to the tinting strength and not the quality of the paint. Understanding the tinting strength of a paint can help you make the appropriate adjustments to paint proportions when color mixing. Just to summarize the paint handling attributes you select will be heavily influenced by your style of painting, as well as the subject matters you paint. Understanding these attributes can help you choose the best paints that will support your painting needs and goals. 10. Start With A Limited Palette: In this lesson, we will explore the topic of starting with a limited watercolor palette and why it is useful. I can't tell you an exact number of paints. Although I have mentioned in the modern color theory class that having anywhere 4-12 paints would be a good starting point for beginners. Of course, it depends again on your preferences, your painting goals, and your budget. By no means, is this a shod or a and you're certainly not limited to this palette forever. I went through my whole maximal palette phase before I started culling down significantly. Here's the thing. I might totally decide one day to work with a large palette again. It all depends on how my personal approach to painting evolves. But if there's one thing I wish I would have known better as a beginner is to focus more on developing my paint mixing skills before going crazy, trying to get all the different colors. It would have saved me a lot of money, but you live and you learn. Let's explore a few of the reasons why a limited palette can be helpful. Number one, it improves your color mixing skills as you learn to create a variety of colors from a few basic ones. Now, this is not to say that you can't learn color mixing with a large palette like this one. There's just a lot more visual noise when you're trying to get acquainted with your palette, which can make the process very overwhelming. If instead you start with a small number of paints, you increase your color mixing efficiency because there is less pain combinations to remember. This makes learning more effective and shortens the time and effort it takes to get familiar with your paints. Point number two, it creates more color harmony as the colors you use are related and consistent. When you create mixes from a small number of paints, you're essentially creating a family of related colors, since each color will have some of the other colors mixed in them. It's essentially like sharing the same DNA. This overall sense of continuity and cohesiveness is what creates balance and color harmony in a painting, zero point number three, it is more economical. Simply put it costs a lot less when you start off with a small number of paints. What color paints are not cheap. The money you save from not buying paints you don't end up using can then be invested in restocking supplies you frequently use, and when it comes time for experimentation and trying out new colors, you can do so more intentionally. As you become more confident and experience with your limited palette. You may then want to add more colors and experiment with different color combinations. When you start this way, you are less likely to end up with a bunch of paints you don't need. Now, if you happen to already own a large watercolor set or have a number of paints in your palette, you can simply curate a carefully selected set of paints into a smaller palette using the pointers from this class. 11. Paint Brands: Now, when it comes to paint brands, I'm also using a combination of different brands in my palette. Some people might prefer to stick to the same brand of watercolors, while some might have a general preference to one brand, but might prefer certain pigments from another brand. There are many major watercolor brands available today, and they all deliver good quality results, especially in the artist grade range. It's impossible to pick just one best brand of watercolors. The best watercolors in my opinion, are the watercolors that meet and support your painting needs and preferences. Now, I do have a preference for Schmka and Daniel Smith, because I have been painting with them for a while now, and I enjoy using them, but I'm also taking into consideration what's available to me locally or that I can easily get online that is also reasonably priced. Now, the cost may vary depending on which country or region you're located in. Find out what watercolor brands are available where you live and always do your research on the watercolor paints you're interested in getting. 12. Palette Gamut: In this lesson, I'm going to show you how you can use this color diagram to further guide your paint selection. We are going to use this color map, which is the artist color wheel by Bruce Macavoy from handprint.com to help us plot a gamut map for our selection of paints. I'll also be referring to the Schika colormetric position chart. The reason that plotting a gamut map is helpful to paint selection is it basically gives you a bird's eye view of the paint relationships and helps you visualize the mixing capabilities of your palette. As you can see, this diagram makes it easier to locate the approximate position of different pigments based on their hue and chroma or saturation level. You basically have a better idea of how far or how close, two paints are relative to each other in a color space, as well as their distance from the achromatic center, which will be helpful to know when it comes to mixing your paints. Now, before we do that, let's first address the two commonly asked questions. How many paints to get and which paints should a beginner start with? The minimum number of paints you need to mix the full range of hues you see on your color wheel is three paints. These are typically known as your primary colors. Now a three paint palette which consists of the modern primaries, Cyan magenta, and yellow, can generally paint a wide variety of subjects, but it has its limitations, since you are essentially working with a smaller gamut. Which is why a six paint palette is often recommended for beginners. A popular example of this palette is the split primary palette which typically consists of a warm and cool version of each primary color. Now, let's compare the gamut map of a three paint palette and a six paint palette. I'm going to use the paint recommendations by Windsor and Newton for a three color and six color mixing system as a sample palette. These are paints from their professional watercolor range. This shape here is the gamut or mixing range of this set of paints. You get this gamut by first locating each pigment on the map. And then connecting each of the paint locations until you create an enclosed shape. What this means is that any color contained within the boundaries of this gamut can be mixed using different combinations of these paints, and any colors outside of the gamut would be harder, if not impossible to mix, especially in terms of saturation. As you can see here, there is a lot more saturated colors outside of this gamut that would be difficult to achieve with just three paints. Remember, this is a simplified representation of color relationships, which is very useful but not entirely accurate. That means you will still need to do physical mixing tests to get the final results. But just by comparing these two palette gamuts, you can see why there are limitations to a three paint palette and how the additional three paints creates new gamut corners that extends the mixing range. Six is a good number for a starter palette, but we also need to consider the shape of the gamut. C hoosing different pigment combinations, changes the shape of the gamut, which will also influence the range of possible color mixtures. For example, and I'll use the Schminca colormetric position chart to demonstrate this. Say that this is a palette of paints you're thinking of getting. But instead of this fire engine red PR 255, you choose PO 71 because you prefer a reddish orange color in your palette. Technically, the shape of the gamut has now changed in a sense that the orange red pigment is now closer to the yellow and increased in distance from the magenta and the warm blue paint. Here I've swatched out a mixing range comparison between PO 71 and PR 2055. As you can see, there's not too much difference in the mixes with yellow and magenta paint. Although there is I can see a slight increase in the level of saturation in the mixes between PR 255 and P V 19, since they are a bit closer in distance to each other on the color map. Now, when it comes to mixing with PB 29 is where you start to notice a difference in their mixing range. PR 71 and PB 29 seem to pair as mixing complementaries since they produce dark neutral gray together. While PR 2055 does create beautiful darks with PB 29, it is more of a muted dark violet and blue violet hue. To answer the question, which paints to get, will ultimately boil down to your personal painting needs and preferences. That means you don't have to limit yourself to just a warm and cool version of red, yellow, and blue paints, as is the case in a split primary palette. Of course, if the split primary pet suits your needs, then by all means, use what works best for you. My goal is to share the thinking or rationale behind selecting different watercolor paints. You're not just relying on a list of recommendations without understanding the context behind those choices. Let's head into the next lesson with all the tools and ideas we've learned so far. 13. Designing A Basic Palette I: Now that you have an idea of the type of paintings you would like to create and a list of things to look out for when choosing your paints. It's time to put all that information together and start building a basic palette. In this lesson, I'm going to demonstrate my thought process of choosing between different pigments so that you can apply the same principles to creating your own palette. Seeing as there are so many pigment options to choose from within each color category, it's understandable why this process can be confusing and overwhelming for beginners. This is where your painting needs and preferences come into play. Choosing between a red pigment that is staining or non staining, a single pigment or a convenience mixture, and orange red or a red violet pigment will all depend on whether they support your personal approach to painting, as we've discussed in the previous lessons. The first thing we're going to do is compile a list of things you consider important to have in your basic palette. This would be based on the things you've explored and noted down throughout the class, which is essentially your preferences and your painting needs. Here's an example of what my list would look like. For a basic minimal palette of six paints, I am looking for a palette that is versatile, a palette that can produce highly saturated mixes across all hues. I also want to have the convenience of mixing dark grays with just two paints. My brand preferences are Schika and Ganiel Smith, and this is also based on what's locally available for me or easily accessible online, and also of economical value. I'm looking for artist grade paints, which are single pigments and have a good to excellent like fastness rating. Based on the subject matter side paint and my style of painting, I'm looking for pigments that are transparent or semi transparent, low staining or semi staining, and non granulating, And lastly, I prefer heavy metal free pigments, so no cadmium, cobalt, nickel, et cetera. Let's start with the color map to help give us a bit of direction. In order to achieve a high range of saturation or vibrancy in my mixes, possible with six paints. I am going to choose saturated colors or high chroma pigments. Paints that are close to the edge of the diagram because it extends the gamut of the palette. Next, I'm going to consider the relative distance between the paints in my palette so that I can get highly saturated mixes across the entire range of hues. I'm looking to create a fairly balanced gamut shape. That means unlike in a split primary palette where there's quite a bit of distance between the yellow and the blue side, I'm going to shift this gamut corner to the green side so that I increase the range of mixing possibilities on this side of the palette. Now we're going to start selecting some paints. I've got my watercolor brochures handy, and I've got the Daniel Smith and Schenka pages open on the online art shop that I usually get my paints from, which is the Jackson's art website. I'm going to compare the paint handling properties of different pigments between the two brands while also using the color map to guide me. Besides this color diagram, I will also be referring to the Daniel Smith Interactive color map from their website. Now, a good tip to remember is to choose paints for their hue and for their characteristics. The color you start with is going to help you determine the location of other paints in your palette. There are a few ways you can go about this. The first is to start with choosing a yellow paint, since it will be used to mix a wide range of color mixtures around the hue circle. From your yellow oranges to red oranges to different shades of green. The second option is to start by selecting two paints that are mixing complementaries. This could be a pair of paints you know will mix dark neutral grays or near black mixtures. Another option is to start with a paint that you know you definitely want in your palette, and then just work from there. I'm going to start with choosing my yellow paint and just work clockwise around the hue circle, going from the warm to cool colors. As I mentioned earlier, instead of having two yellow paints like in a split primary palette, I am going to choose one that can make some nice bright greens and vibrant oranges. A middle yellow, one that's not too warm or too lemony would be my ideal choice of yellow. I'll mostly be looking from this group of yellow pigments here. Remember, not all the pigments available out there will be listed on this color map. If you have a pigment that is not on the map, you can still visually approximate its location based on its hue and chroma. Please refer back to the modern color mixing class if you need a refresher on how to do this. Schminca has PY 154 and PY 151, but I'll also check to see if any of the pigments next to these pigments. This pigment up here and these pigments down here and see if they can be a good mid yellow option as well. PY 35 looks like a nice primary yellow, but it's a cadmium pigment. That's out of my list. If we move one step up, PY 184 is already a slightly greenish, cool yellow, not what I'm looking for either. Now, these yellows down here look fairly middle yellow to me. But then again, PY 35 is a cadmium pigment and this yellow is made up of two yellow pigments, neither of these meet my requirements. That leaves us with these two pigments to compare. PY 154 is semi opaque in thick layers, but transparent in thin layers. It's semi staining and has good light fastness. While PY 151 has very similar properties, except is semi transparent and is in the slightly higher price group compared to PY 154. These two pints closely meet what I'm looking for, but now I'm going to look at the options I have with Daniel Smith. I'm going to use their C lab color map on their website. As you can see, the color locations are slightly different to the hand print is color wheel, but it is still based on hue and chroma positions, and we're only using it as a guide, so we are not thinking about exact locations here. Just visually assessing the hues, I can see where the warmer yellows are and the cool lemony yellows would be towards the green side. I have a few neutral yellows here. If I click on the tile, I get information about the paint handling properties, and I can also compare it with other paints, which is what I'm going to do. I'll click that, and I'll add a few more of the basic yellow options I can see. Olin is technically a mid yellow, but it's a cobalt pigment, and PY 40 has been reported to have light fastness issues as we've talked about. I'll skip that. Mayan yellow is a beautiful natural looking yellow. But as you can see, based on its location, it's not as saturated as these other yellows, especially this hansa yellow medium, which is furest away from the achromatic center. It doesn't quite meet my requirements either. Now, let's compare the pigments I've selected. I just click this compare button here, and I get this nice side by side comparison of all the yellows. If I click on the Swatch, I can get a fuller description about the paint, which is super handy. These are all single pigment paints, but PY 97 is in the slightly cheaper series group than these two paints. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with these paint characteristics. That leaves me with a final list of five yellows to choose between. Now, while I am going through this selection process, I'm also going to research more into the paints I'm considering, and I'll try to find some good paint reviews to help me narrow down my choices even further. Now, considering that I have listed economical value as a preference. Then technically, I would be choosing paints in the smallest series number. That means that I can actually narrow down my list to two options. PY 154 from Schmina, and PI 97 from Daniel Smith. But just to give you an idea of the cost differences, let's go onto the retailer website and do a price comparison between the brands and the series groups. Schikas PY 151 is a series three paint and compared to PY 154, which is a series two. It is about six AUD more expensive for a 15 mile tube. For the Daniel Smith paints, there is about a four AUD difference between the series two and three paints. Both Daniel Smith and Schmika Series two paints are about the same price. Just based on cost alone, I would consider the more economical option provided the paint handling attributes meet my needs. Of course, if the slightly more expensive paint has all the characteristics that I'm looking for, then that would trump my decision. After weighing in on my preferences, researching each paint, and comparing a few factors, I am going to go with Daniel Smits Hansa yellow medium, Q I 97 as my basic yellow paint. Our next paint is going to be a red pigment from this group Pa. Now, I'm looking for a bright saturated red with a tinge of orange, a scarlet red, which can make saturated oranges with PY 97 and a deep red with a magenta paint. Using the same process as I did with the yellow, I'm going to select a red orange pigment that closely meets the criteria on my list. Now, the three pigments I found on Schminca don't have the pain properties I'm looking for. That leaves me with organic amilion and Perl scallet from Daniel Smith. Now, I'm pretty happy with these attributes, but I'm leaning more towards PR 255 because of its excellent like fastness and it's also less yellowish than PR 188. Is slightly more expensive, but I'm also thinking about how I will use the color on its own and in mixes. It's a vibrant fire engine red in mass tone and dilutes to a lovely orange red tint, which I can already imagine using for some of these succulent paintings. It also mixes beautifully with green blue pigments to create black and gray mixtures, as well as some gorgeous dark red brown hues. In other words, it's very useful for creating neutrals and earthy tones. Pero Scarlet PR 255 from Daniel Smith is my choice. 14. Designing A Basic Palette II: The next paint I'm looking for is a red violet or magenta color. Now, there are quite a few options to choose from. Once again, I will be thinking in terms of how I can use the color on its own and how it can mix clean saturated purples with a warm blue paint. The options from Shamika didn't quite meet what I was looking for. F Daniel Smith, we have these varying shades of quinacridone pigments from warm pinks to a cooler more violet bias magenta. The quinacridone magenta, PR two oh two is more of a deep red violet hue and based on what I've researched about the pigment, it is a little less saturated than what I'm looking for. I'm taking that off the list. Now, the quinacridone pink and quinacrodon rows are very similar in u, but PV 42 is low staining and has very good light fastness compared to PV 19, which is medium staining, but with excellent light fastness. I do find quinacridone rose PV 19 to be a stronger vivid pink and based on the paint characteristics, I would prefer this more to PV 42. I'm narrowing it down to these two pigments. Now, apart from the noticeable difference in hue and the light fastness rating, they share almost identical properties. I have been using quinacridone lilac PR 122 as a basic magenta in my palette, and I've honestly not had any issues with it. It mixes beautiful clean purples with PB 29 and mixes well with other paints in my palette. But if I had to choose between the two for a six paint palette, I would probably go for PV 19 because of it's a lovely pink tone, which would be more useful on its own. In saying that if I was working with an expanded palette, I would probably get both, especially if I was painting a lot of florals or botanical works. As we've discussed throughout the class, it really depends on what your painting needs are. Now, the second paint we need to create our saturated violet mixes is a warm reddish blue paint. Looking at the color map, we have the strongly saturated blue violet pigment, B 29, which is closest to the red violets. It is traditionally a beautiful granulating pigment, and some brands will have more than one variation of this pigment in their range. Usually differentiated by the cabis or the strength of granulation. Now, in order to describe the smooth leaf surfaces of my subjects. I prefer a non granulating purple mixture. I need to find a non granulating warm blue paint. Fortunately, for me, Schminca has just what I'm looking for. Their ultramarine finus PB 29 has small finely milled pigment particles making it non granulating. I do love the interesting color effects you get when mixing with granulating pigments, but I also like having the option for a smoother wash. I'm going to go with Schenka ultramarine finus PB 29. Now, before we continue, an important thing to note now that I've established paints on one side of the palette, I'm going to select some paints on the opposite side based on how they pair as mixing complimentaries. This means that they should be able to produce a dark grace or near black mixtures easily. Now, it doesn't have to be every single pair of paints, but at least one or two pairs that can conveniently mix dark neutrals from just two paints instead of three. For my second blue paint, I have decided on Shamikas helio cerulean PB 153 after comparing my options through the same paint selection process. PB 153 is close to a cyan blue hue, so it's often used as a basic blue for mixtures. I don't often use this color on its own, just with the current subject matters I paint, but I find it useful for mixing strong black and gray mixtures with PR 255, as well as some lovely shades of reddish browns and indigo blue. For those reasons, I'm selecting Shinkas, PB 153. One more paint to go and that is going to be a green pigment. Now, my options are going to be between PG seven and PG 36 from Schminca, based on their handling properties. PG seven is a very saturated transparent green that would look unnatural when used on its own, but it is really useful for neutralizing mixtures, especially with a red or magenta paint. PG six, as you can see, is closer to the yellows and is therefore warmer than PG seven. I find that their mixes are fairly close, except when it comes to a magenta paint. PG 36 would be considered a true mixing complementary pair with PV 19, since it's more effective at mixing a true neutral. Whereas PG seven mixes a more grayish blue with PV 19, which isn't a bad thing. In fact, I actually prefer this mixing range because it gives me the option to easily mix a very deep muted purple, as well as this dark turquoise and red violets. PG seven and PG 36 also mix dark neutrals with PR 255, and they're actually quite a similar range to the blue paints, except that they mix a gorgeous dark black green hue, which is very similar to a parallin green. Based on those comparisons, I'm going to go for PG seven from Schika. Finally, these are the paints I have chosen that closely meet what I'm looking for. Your paint selection might look similar or completely different to this. It all depends on the paint characteristics you're after. Keep in mind. This is what I would select for a small palette of six paints. If I was working with 12 paints, for example, then I might shuffle things around accordingly. Once you've settled on your six paint palette, give it a bit of a test run before you start adding more paints. Practice some color mixing and start painting the subject matters of your choice, so you can become familiar with your palette mixing capabilities. Just to give you an example, these are the type of paintings I was able to create with these six paints. I also used a bit of white guage for some of the details, which I think is a useful addition to add to the palette. But other than that, you can see the wide range of color mixtures that are possible with this small palette of paints. Now, after you've created several paintings, you should have a better sense of your palette mixing ranges and limitations, if any. You should be able to see which colors you tend to mix more of and ones that are less important. From there, you can start expanding your palette. You might think of swapping out paint or adding convenience mixtures of colors you frequently use. For example, if you paint a lot of landscapes or portraits, then you might find it useful to have some earthy colors on hand, or you might choose to add a color just because it's pretty and you want to incorporate it into your painting. Remember, it's a good idea to stick with the same palette for a while, especially when you're still learning the basics of paint mixing and applying different watercolor techniques and getting familiar with different pigments. Just to make the learning process more efficient and less overwhelming. Don't worry, it's not forever. If you focus on building a solid foundation in your painting scales, you'll have more freedom for creative experimentation on top of that. Hopefully this lesson has shown you how you can direct your own paint choices by knowing to some degree what elements are important to you. S. 15. Personalizing Your Palette: Once you've decided and shopped for your paints, it's time to organize them in a watercolor palette. Depending on what you prefer and what suits your needs best, you can choose from a vast array of options. Here are a few examples. You can get sturdy and lightweight plastic palettes, or these aluminum palettes with fixed sloping wells, or a popular choice would be these metal tin boxes that can hold half or full watercolor pants. If you mostly paint in a studio, you can also get a ceramic palette if you prefer. I recommend buying an empty palette with half or full pants to start with, or you can also get ones with fixed wells, whichever you prefer. But build your palette from individual paints rather than buying a large watercolor set. Because as I've mentioned a few times now in this class, a lot of the colors end up being redundant. Of course, if you've done your research, you've got the budget for it and you've determined that a particular set would work for your style of painting, then by all means, get the set. Another thing you can do is repurpose old tin boxes, or what I'd like to do is use old eye shadow cases as an extra palette, or for storing pan water colors, I don't use as often. Now, choosing between tube or pan watercolors honestly boils down to personal preference and how you prefer to work with your paints. If you're using a large brush or you need to mix a large quantities of paint, using tube watercolors would probably be a better option since you can squeeze the paint into a larger mixing surface. I personally prefer tube watercolors because you have the option of filling up your own watercolor pans and also using it straight out of the tube if needed. One, five mel tube of water color can fill about two half pans. You can either fill this up twice or you can fill up another empty half pan and create another color palette. If you're still testing out a color, I think it's fine to get the smaller tubes, but if you're restocking a staple color in your palette, then the larger 15 mel tubes are probably more economical in the long run. Now let's talk about how you organize your palette. The way in which you order your colors should support your mixing strategy and should make the most sense to you. Some people like to arrange their colors according to the color wheel or color spectrum, followed by the unsaturated and dark colors. This could look like the order you see in your watercolor charts. While some might prefer to group the unsaturated colors based on their color groups or hue family. Another option is to group the colors based on their color temperature. Some people like to keep their warm and cool colors sitting on opposite sides of the palette. Now, yellow is the lightest valued color and is often used for mixing both cool and warm mixes. A good tip on keeping your yellows clean is to separate it into two pans, or you could also squeeze some into a green mixing area to keep it from contaminating with the warm colors. Whatever layout you decide on, I should help you find your colors easily and facilitate your color mixing process. Once you figured out a system that works for you, you can start filling up your palette with your paints. Now, you might want to pre plan your setup, especially if you're using a palette with fixed wells, so you want to make sure the colors are in the order you want and that there's enough slots for each of the paints you've decided on. If you're using watercolor pans, then it shouldn't be an issue because you can simply move the individual pans around, so it's more easily customizable. For two watercolors, simply squeeze the paint out into its designated slot or an empty pan and then use a toothpick or what I like to use is this embossing tool to spread the paint out evenly and get rid of any air bubbles. Then leave it overnight to dry and then simply reactivate with water when you're ready to paint. Once you're done setting up your palette, be sure to create a palettes watch card so that you can have a quick view of all your colors along with some information about each paint. Things like the paint and pigment name and their paint handling attributes. 16. Final Notes + Thank You!: And that's a rep. Thank you so much for joining me in this class. I hope you now have more clarity and direction when it comes to purchasing your watercolor paints and setting up a basic palette. Whatever paint you choose to get, the important thing is that they support your painting process. Remember, that too will evolve over time as you gain more experience and develop your art skills. Play and experiment with your paints, get familiar with a core palette, and paint as many of the things you love. I hope you enjoyed the class, and if you found it helpful, I really appreciate if you could leave a class review. I look forward to seeing your class projects. And if you haven't already, be sure to click the Follow button on my teacher profile, so you'll get notified when I publish new classes or host giveaways. Thanks again and see you in my next class.