Don Rankin (1944-2021) wrote Mastering Glazing Techniques in Watercolor (1986), a how-to focusing on building a painting in transparent layers, which I’m reading now (see my notes on chapter 1). In addition to that, Rankin was a watercolorist and art professor whose retrospective, Back Roads and Memories (2019), depicts everyday scenes in rural Alabama.
Of course, I see all books through a lens of the palette, so let’s see what palette Rankin recommended in the glazing book!
The Palette
This was one of my more challenging palette rundowns because, at 40 years old, it includes many paints that no longer exist or that are now made with different pigments. I’ve done my best to come up with equivalents, although I think my replacements are too samey, and to identify the original pigments below.
Though Rankin does not use pigment numbers (which were uncommon on manufacturer packaging at the time), he thankfully includes some manufacturer information about the chemical composition. While I can’t always translate this (“substituted anilines coupled with arylamides of acetocetic acid” = hansa yellow of some kind???), this is generally very useful, since the manufacturers have since reused many of the color names for different pigments.
For example, Rankin’s Lemon Yellow is “chromate of barium” (PY31), a discontinued yellow pigment that he describes as “very transparent.” Winsor & Newton currently uses the term Lemon Yellow to refer to Nickel Titanate Yellow (PY53), a very opaque, milky pastel yellow.
Rankin categorizes his colors into yellow, red, blue, or “miscellaneous,” with misc colors being those he uses rarely. I’ve also slotted each paint into a “Color Slot” of my own, which you can click on to find other colors in the same general category.
| DR Palette (1986) | DR Category | DR Qualities | My Color Slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| WN Cadmium Yellow (PY35) | Yellow | Opaque | Yellow |
| WN Indian Yellow (PY83 or PY153?) | Yellow | Transparent | Yellow |
| WN New Gamboge (hansa yellow, PR3) | Yellow | Transparent | Orange-Yellow |
| WN Vermilion (PR106) [toxic, discont.] | Red | Transparent | Scarlet |
| WN Winsor Red (naphthol) [now PR254] | Red | Semi-Transparent | Red |
| Grumbacher Red (naphthol) | Red | Semi-Opaque | Red |
| WN Cerulean Blue (PB35) | Blue | Opaque, Mineral | Cyan or Earth Blue |
| WN Manganese Blue (PB33) [discont.] | Blue | Mineral | Cyan or Earth Blue |
| WN Cobalt Blue (PB28) | Blue | Transparent, Mineral | Blue |
| WN Permanent Blue (PB29) [discont.] | Blue | Mineral | Blue |
| WN Ultramarine Blue (PB29) | Blue | Mineral | Violet-Blue or Dark Blue |
| Grumbacher Thalo Blue (PB15:3) | Blue | Transparent | Cyan |
| WN Winsor Blue (PB15:3) | Blue | Transparent | Cyan |
| WN Lemon Yellow (PY31) [discont.] | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Lemon Yellow |
| WN Cadmium Yellow Pale (PY35) | Miscellaneous | Opaque | Lemon Yellow |
| WN Cadmium Yellow Deep (PY35) | Miscellaneous | Opaque | Orange-Yellow |
| Grumbacher Gamboge Hue (hansa yellow, PY42) | Misc / Opaque | Semi-Opaque | Orange-Yellow |
| WN Cadmium Orange (PO20) | Miscellaneous | Opaque | Orange |
| WN Cadmium Red Deep (PR108) | Miscellaneous | Opaque | Crimson |
| WN Winsor Violet (naphthol + dyes) [now PV23] | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Violet |
| Grumbacher Thalo Yellow Green (PG7, hansa) | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Green |
| Grumbacher Sap Green (PG7, PO48?) | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Green |
| Grumbacher Hooker’s Green Deep (PG7, hansa) | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Green |
| WN Olive (PY42, PG7) | Miscellaneous | Transparent, Mineral | Green |
| WN Raw Sienna | Miscellaneous | Transparent, Mineral | Earth Yellow |
| WN Burnt Sienna | Miscellaneous | Transparent, Mineral | Earth Orange |
| WN Raw Umber | Miscellaneous | Opaque, Mineral | Brown |
| WN Indigo (then PR83, PBk6, PB15:3; now PV19, PBk6, PB15:3) | Miscellaneous | Transparent | Dark Blue |
Rankin’s palette is large, but note that this is sort of a “color library” from which he draws smaller palettes.
It is my custom to work from a small group of colors on any given painting. My palette shifts from painting to painting depending upon the mood I am trying to convey.
Don Rankin, Mastering Glazing Techniques in Watercolor (1986), p. 20
Some of the colors appear quite similar, though Rankin insists, “Each paint has been chosen for a particular quality: while some are very similar, no two are exactly identical.” Here are some of those that seem similar on paper to me:
- Winsor Red and Grumbacher Red were, at the time, both made from naphthol red, perhaps PR170 or similar. Rankin notes that Winsor red is slightly cooler. Today, Winsor Red is made from pyrrol (PR254).
- Winsor’s Permanent Blue and Ultramarine Blue were both made from synthetic ultramarine blue pigment (PB29). However, the Ultramarine pigment also contained some genuine lapis lazuli, according to the pigment information transcribed in this book. Rankin describes Permanent Blue as a “transparent mineral blue somewhat stronger in value than Cobalt Blue”, which sounds like modern Ultramarine Blue, while Ultramarine Blue is “a very regal blue and a classic mineral color.” My guess is that this roughly maps to modern Ultramarine (Green Shade) vs French Ultramarine. Winsor no longer produces a color named Permanent Blue, and no longer uses genuine Lapis Lazuli in any of its ultramarines.
- Rankin includes two iterations of Phthalo Blue: Winsor Blue and Grumbacher Thalo Blue. He describes the Grumbacher color as “clear, deep, cool, and transparent,” while the WN color as “cooler, darker, and more intense.” I’m not sure what to make of those descriptions, but my intuition from looking at the examples is that the WN seems slightly less on the green side, maybe closer to a Phthalo Blue Red Shade.
As you can see Rankin thought of his staple colors in terms of primaries. He identifies 3 main yellows, 3 main reds, and 7 main blues. His 15 miscellaneous/rarely-used colors includes 4 more yellows, 1 dark red, 1 dark blue, an orange, a violet, 4 greens, and 4 earths. He writes,
While the primary system allows me the opportunity to mix many ranges or color, there are some cases where an orange or violet is needed in a more brilliant hue. In that case, I find it a good idea to have the right tube color to rely on. The same idea applies also to varieties of green. While most of my greens are mixed from primaries, there are some accents of green that help to augment my palette.
Don Rankin, Mastering Glazing Techniques in Watercolor (1986), p. 21
Earths are in Rankin’s “rarely used” pile, which is unusual especially for the time, when earth colors were often the cornerstone of palette. Rankin explains that exploring earth tones was a gateway into glazing for him.
Note also the relative absence of ochres and that umbers and siennas are placed in the miscellaneous section. It comes as a surprise to many viewers that my work is not based upon a heavy use of the umber and sienna family. In fact, it was the umbers and siennas that helped prod me into developing my approach to watercolor. I favor the earth tones and when I began to paint watercolor, I relied very heavily upon them. I especially loved the rich hue they displayed while they were wet, but I didn’t like the way they lost that richness when they dried. So, in order to pump more color into these earth tones I began to experiment with a yellow underwash. Finally, I found that I could achieve the rich wet look when the paint was dried by layering a controlled sequence of primaries. As I continued to experiment I began to learn all sorts of wonderful things about glazing.
Don Rankin, Mastering Glazing Techniques in Watercolor (1986), p. 21
The “yellow underwash” technique is one I’ve been exploring lately and it does seem to be a good gateway into glazing!
The colors in this palette vary in their transparency, liftability, and granulation, qualities which make a big difference to glazing. Rankin’s ground rules instruct you to develop your glazes with transparent colors, and to use opaque colors only in the final layer. For that reason, Rankin includes exercises to encourage you to explore the opacity of your palette, whether you emulate his or bring your own. He also suggests leaving out granulating pigments at first as they can be more difficult.
Colors to use when working through this book
I am currently working through Rankin’s Mastering Glazing Techniques, so I have a very practical reason for observing the palette: choosing paints to do the exercises. Generally, Rankin chooses transparent, staining primaries. I propose the following:
- In place of legacy Indian Yellow: Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) or Azo Yellow (PY151)
- In place of legacy New Gamboge: new New Gamboge, Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110), or Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65)
- In place of legacy Winsor Red: Quin Red (PV19) or Perylene Red (PR178); I think modern Winsor Red PR254 is too opaque
- In place of legacy Vermilion: Naphthol Scarlet (PR188) or maybe even Quin Coral (PR209); Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) is a good hue match though too opaque
- Basically keep Winsor Blue: Phthalo Blue Green Shade or Phthalo Blue Red Shade