It’s been awhile since my last palette check in! I think my last one was July 2024.
Here’s my current 18-color main palette. I call this my “back to basics” palette because it is almost all absolute winners that have stood the test of time, been thoroughly playtested against others in their slot and come up champions.
Top Row:
- SH Aureolin Modern (PY151)
- DS Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97)
- HO Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110)
- DS Perylene Red (PR178)
- DV Quin Red (PR209), aka Quin Coral
- DS Quin Red (PV19), a warmer Quin Rose
- DS Quin Magenta (PR202)
- HO Phthalo Blue Red Shade (PB15:1)
- WN Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)
Middle Row:
- DS Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150)
- WN Naples Yellow Deep (PBr24)
- DS MANS (PBr7)
- DS Indanthrone Blue (PB60)
- HO Payne’s Gray
Bottom Row:
- DS Transparent Red Oxide (PR101)
- WN Venetian Red (PR101) – Indian Red is painted here but I swapped it back to Venetian Red. Just love that diluted coral.
- DV Cobalt Blue (PB28)
- SH Cobalt Turquoise (PG50)
Here’s what’s different from last time:
- Added PY97, a nice middle of the road yellow with a bit more body than PY151. I like them both. I was debating replacing PY151 with a double PY97, but it’s nice to have multiple yellows so you can mess one up, and as long as I was going to have two pans I thought I might include both. They are almost imperceptibly different. PY151 is a little cooler in mixes.
- Just a brand change for PY110 though it’s worth noting that in the interim I have tried various items in this slot including Hansa Yellow Deep and New Gamboge, but PY110 is still my favorite.
- Added PR202 in place of PR122. PR122 is a higher chroma magenta, but that puts it in competition with PV19 as a primary pink mixer. PR202 is darker and I use it for darker mixes. I could see swapping in a Perm Alizarin Crimson for either this or the Perylene Red.
- Added PB16 in place of PB15:3. I just love how dark PB16 gets. I also tried PB15:3 in place of Red Shade for awhile, but I found I was constantly mixing a Red Shade hue for skies.
- Dropped Phthalo Green YS. I could see adding a Phthalo Green back in for spring.
- Added PY150 in place of PY129 and Quin Gold. It’s just a more versatile mixer.
- Removed Lavender.
- Added Venetian Red. Last time I didn’t have an earth red at all; I think I like to have one, but I keep changing my mind whether it’s this, Indian Red, or what.
- Now 18 colors instead of 19.
I no longer have a formal B-team so much as I have various palettes with random pans in various states of used-ness, plus some tubes that aren’t in pans at the moment. All of these are definitely candidates for individual limited palette paintings, but I’m happy with this as the main sketching palette for everyday and outdoors.