Recently, you got to see Sandra’s Corsica travel palette, but what am I using at home in the northeast US? It’s been awhile since I had a palette check-in, and even longer since I did a summer palette: my last summer theme palette was Summer 2023, though I also did a general palette check-in in July 2024. So, what are the hot colors for summer 2026?
Outdoor Palette
Here’s what I’ve been taking with me to sketch outside.
Top row:
- DV Arylide Yellow (PY97)
- DS New Gamboge (PY110, PY97)
- DS Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255)
- DV Red Rose Deep (PV19)
- DS Phthalo Blue GS (PB15:3)
- DS Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36) (mislabeled PG7 in the image, but I may replace it with PG7 when I run out as I have more PG7)
- DS Rich Green Gold (PY129)
Bottom row:
- DS Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7)
- DS Transparent Red Oxide (PR101)
- DS Perylene Red (PR178)
- DV Ultramarine Blue (PB29) [double]
- DV Cerulean Blue Genuine (PB36)
- DV Cobalt Turquoise (PB36)
I find this arrangement really pleasing. The top row is a bold rainbow, and the bottom row eases from earthy colors to summery blues.
The Palette in Action
Dark Mixes/Neutrals
This time around, there are no obvious “dark colors” in the palette, yet, I’m finding it quite easy to get to dark colors and bold values through simple two-color complementary combinations. Hey, I learned to mix darks!
Unusual Blues
A shocker is that I’m using Ultramarine Blue instead of my usual Indanthrone Blue. This is experimental; I thought I’d give it another shot. After all, Ultramarine Blue is the color of the year! Personally, I find UMB can be overbearing if dropped directly on the page, but I’m enjoying it in mixes, especially for mixing darks.
Use of Cerulean Blue is also unusual for me. I’m liking it for florals such as the blue hydrangeas that are all over my neighborhood in July.
I’m also finding that I enjoy dropping it into shadows.
Mixing Greens
Greens are really important in summer! Typically for my base greens I use the Phthalo Green or Phthalo Blue plus Rich Green Gold. I like having Rich Green Gold as a dedicated green mixer, which lets me keep my bright yellow cleaner for things like yellow flowers. I also just really like how RGG looks in green mixes! It is a little desaturated so it has a subtle look, but it’s also just so glowy.
This palette offers me plenty of opportunities to mix different kinds of green, too. For example, I can mix really cool, minty greens using Cobalt Turquoise; dull greens using Ultramarine Blue; or really bright yellow-greens with careful use of the Arylide Yellow in place of the RGG.
I’ve also really been digging the use of Perylene Red (PR178) for darkening and desaturating my greens, such as the dark green foreground leaves in a backlit tree.
It took me awhile to “get” the use of red to modulate greens. Rereading Jeanne Dobie’s chapter on green mixing got me to revisit it. I think that Pyrrol Rubine (PR264) or Pyrrol Red (PR254) would also work in this slot; I finally understand why it’s so important for PR264 to be included in Jane Blundell’s Ultimate Mixing Palette.
Brands
As you can see, I’m circling mostly around Da Vinci and Daniel Smith these days! I really like both brands, and they’re also relatively easy for me to get in the US.
Differences from 2023
Compared to my summer palette of 2023, the only exact same colors are Ultramarine and Transparent Red Oxide, but most of the moves are quite lateral. Just like last time, I have a yellow, a yellow-orange, a scarlet, a pink, a cyan, a crimson, and an earth yellow, and a heavy metal complex gold.
I dropped the dark colors: Naphthamide Maroon, Indanthrone Blue, and Payne’s Gray. I don’t need em! I can mix em! I also reduced my Phthalo Blues from two (Red Shade and Turquoise) to one (Green Shade).
All this gave me room to add a Phthalo Green, more textured blues (Cobalt Turquoise and Cerulean), and a larger Ultramarine pan. Whenever I use UMB, I find I have to switch to a double pan because it gets used up so quickly. With its big particles, it’s doesn’t go as far as super-concentrated Indanthrone Blue.
One thing I have noticed is that I have gradually been forming more concrete opinions about some of the colors I waffled between in previous years. I can now say that I prefer Rich Green Gold (PY129) over Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150), and Phthalo Blue Green Shade to Red Shade. Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) is solidifying itself as my preferred yellow. I think Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) is a better scarlet than PR188. Some choices I’m still agnostic about, though; I go back and forth between my crimsons PR178 and PR264, my pinks Quin Rose and Quin Magenta, and as above I even get the Phthalo Greens PG7 and PG36 mixed up!