Summer Palette Update

 I just made a few adjustments since the last palette update, the blue shade of phthalo green (PG7) was removed, and the green area adjusted accordingly. Now the green gamut (range) is created with phthalo green yellow shade (PG36), lemon yellow (PY175), raw sienna (PBR7) and indo yellow (PY110). For construction pylons I also brought back pyrrol orange (PO73). Now that I have used this palette setup extensively it has become more instinctive. In fact, I even forgot the pigment codes as I prepared the paint-out, and had to look them up on the tube! 

Every paint has a purpose, and there is really nothing lacking from this selection when painting landscapes. The way it works, is there are 9 of the highest chroma (hue purity) examples of yellow (PY175 and 154), orange (PO73), red (PR255 and 255), magenta (PR122), blue (PB15 and 28), and green (PG36). Those are basically the rainbow colours and can make any other colour by mixing the adjacent ones, for example blue plus green equals turquoise. Then there are three low value (darker) paints including dark blue (PB60), dark green (PBk31) and dark red (PR179). Even though they are dark, they are still high chroma. Finally, my indulgent selection of earth paints including two yellowish (PY43, PBr7 raw sienna), two brownish ( PBr7 umber and raw umber), and orange reddish (PR101 red brown ochre and violet). The earth paints are lower chroma (duller) which is good for landscapes. A typical landscape is about 50% colour saturation according to Handprint (MacEvoy), in the city it is probably closer to 25% if that. 

After redoing my whole approach to painting watercolours in 2020, I feel like it has started to pay off, it took awhile to adjust to a near complete overhaul of the paints. Like a golfer rebuilding their golf-swing, it took me a lot of practice to get the hang of these new paints and learn their personalities better. Now when I analyze a landscape, I have a good idea about how to make the various effects without thinking much. I may write a more specific guide with examples at some point, there are a few watercolour painters on facebook more interested in my work and the methods now.