Our March Madness Pigment Bracket has come to a close, and we have a winner! After an intense period of voting, wheeling, dealing, political alliances, betrayals, scandals, disqualifications, last-minute upsets, etc., a Color of the Year has been crowned, and it is …
(drumroll)
Ultramarine Blue!
I have to acknowledge that I do not typically use Ultramarine Blue. Therefore, I have asked my compatriot, Lynne, to explain what is just so special about Ultramarine Blue and why it deserves to be our Color of the Year 2026.
-Logan
From Lynne:
When I initially started out with watercolor I honestly never thought I would use ultramarine (PB29). Like some other colors (Phthalo blue and green, I’m talking to you here!) on its own it’s garishly bright, and unnatural looking. But then I started noticing how nicely it showcased sandy yellows and golden oranges as a shadow color in Mediterranean landscapes, how beautiful it is as the reflective color on glass or snow, or in the folds of white flower petals and fabric, and the beautiful gradients it creates with violet in skies at dusk. I started to warm up to it, trying my hand at some of the above, and I was pleased with the effects I was able to create.
However, it was as a mixer that it became a staple in my palette. Beyond the lovely, bold violets that it makes with magentas, and the natural greens created with medium to cool yellows like PY151 or PY97, an amazing array of rusty to deep browns, greys to blacks, and of course deep blues can be made from mixing ultramarine with just a single earth, like burnt sienna, )either my preferred PR101 or PBr7). The mixes are clean, with very little drying shift, and the range of results from this simple two-color mix is, IMO, irreplaceable. And of course, there are other earths to swap in for burnt sienna to achieve even more of a range.
Another benefit I see from ultramarine as opposed to another warm blue, like Indanthrone PB60, is its granulation. I probably should have mentioned sooner that I am a steadfast fan of French Ultramarine which tends in most brands to lean more red and have a greater quantity of granulation. Particularly in green mixes for foliage or browns, greys, and deep blues for stone and architecture, that granulation brings texture and color variation that I find beautiful. Some may object to the color separation that can leave PB29 pigments calling too much attention to themselves, and in certain subjects I might not disagree. Ultramarine is certainly not an easy candidate for a smoothly washed sky. That is a good case for indanthrone, (if you don’t mind the drying shift.
Overall, I can’t imagine building a day to day palette without including ultramarine, specifically French. Not only does it contribute to such a wide variety of hues necessary for outdoor sketching, these are just two-color mixes. So quick, and versatile! Ultramarine is a keeper!