BIG changes in my travel palette! Testing and mixing oh my!
I’ve been asked about my travel palette and above is my old primary palette. I have had this basic palette for two years with the exception of adding Da Vinci’s Rose Dore a couple months ago.
I knew I wanted a change, and went in search of a better red, transparent.
*you know how these things get going, tho, and then there is the obsession
and before you know it i was up at midnight thinking about paints…
staring at paints when we were watching the tele*
And it hit me.
*WHY did I have the Primateks in my travel palette when I had a great travel palette of my most used Primateks (above, but more on that later)???*
I pulled my Primateks from my Travel palette!
*yes i get geeky happy about these silly things
i stared at the holes and the began thinking about all the possibilities
then began a search for what i might want in an entirely new travel palette…*
After much testing — gads days of it — I finalized this travel palette. I wanted transparent brilliant colors. With my Primatek travel palette, I have all the colors I need for travel; it will be exciting to see how the new palette combined with the Primatek traveling palette will effect my sketches.
For details on the decisions, a few changes I may make, links and images of the tests you can visit the blog post!
The winning colors:
Quinophthalo Yellow (DS)
Green Gold (DS)
Sap Green (DS)
Da Vinci Hooker’s Green
Undersea Green (DS)
Phthalo Green 807 (Sennelier
French Ultramarine (DS)
Prussian Blue Holbein
Indigo Blue (Da Vinci)
Paynes Blue Grey (DS)
Imperial Purple (DS)
Holbein’s Permanent Yellow-Orange.
Holbein’s Brilliant Orange
Rose Dore Da Vinci
Quinacridone Red M.Graham
Opera Pink (DS
Aussie Red Gold (DS)
Holbein’s Quinacridone Gold
Burnt Sienna Matteo Grilli
Brown Iron Oxide (DS)
Ardoise Grey (Sennelier)
Graphite (DS)
Lots of greens! I’m not sure why, but I have trouble making myself add greens even though I use them quite a bit. It looks like a great palette!
I use so many greens — and so want shortcuts! I rarely use purples… I’ve never bought a second tube of purple! I also use blues sparingly… not sure why — I use tons of Lapis in skies and drop blues and greys into it. I wish I had a gorgeous clear red with no pink… but they are all fairly opaque so I don’t reach for them.
I find that I mostly use yellows and blues and oranges. Reds, only as mixes, unless I’m painting flowers. Since I use yellow, I do use purples (magentas) but I’m as likely to mix it as use the convenience mix on my palette. I almost always mix my greens – I think because I don’t often use the reds, I tend not to think about using green.
Great palette Kate, I think your new one is awesome. It’s always such fun to switch it all around and all the testing is sometimes the best thing, no painting, just playing.
How long will it take to absorb all this watercolor information you provide? OMGosh! It’s amazing here. I’ve also just signed up to follow your blog. I can’t believe all of you here have so much information to share with us. Thanks ever so much!!
It only takes a lifetime to learn it all, lol!
MMcBuck, I’ve only been using watercolors seriously for a few years, but I painted with acrylics (Golden only) for 20 years, used prismacolors in my architectural business, and some oils, so there are things i knew… basic color theory…
The thing about Handprint is I felt overwhelmed at first. But then I dropped my need to understand and chunked into only what I could understand, skimming things that made no sense, or going to that other thing and just trying to understand that. Also, I had bought so many paints from Daniel Smith and they were SO similar I was highly motivated to understand the numbering system One thing I did before I began to “get it” was i made swatches of the paints I had and wrote the pigments on them, and that helped me to understand the pigments. I printed the articles I really wanted to grok. For me, it is like studying Buddhism… I have reread certain books and each time I am startled at what else is in that book I read! So for instance, I have Quin Gold from just about every manufacturer — when I try a couple of colors I always try their QG, because I use tons of it and I can compare the quality of the paint well by that one color. Amazing how many paint colors are from that pigment!
I don’t claim to know a bunch, but I do speak from experience, which as a teacher (which I’ve been my whole life) is the best in my book — I always learned the most form the ones who taught what they KNEW, not the theory.
Sandra and Jean and Tonya all have taught me things like crazy…. Make sure you follow their posts too!
I’ve learned so much from the discussions I’ve had with Kate, Jenn, and Tonya as well. It has been so interesting to see where we disagree on colors and where we agree and trying to understand why the others have the preferences they do has increased my understanding of my own.
And that’s the thing – knowing the theory always helps, but knowing what is driving your choices will help more. What you like in other people’s work may not be what you like in your own.
Hey Kate, you had mentioned that you couldn’t find a transparent non pink red. I was catching up with my swatching today and swatched a Winsor & Newton Scarlet Lake. It IS semi-transparent but it’s quite beautiful and really bright and clean. I thought I’d mention it. It seems quite a pure red, maybe slightly to the orange range which is what I think you’re looking for, right?
Kate, Sandra, you’re both so sweet and I totally agree. I’ve learned so much just talking with you all. In fact, Tonya is the blog that made me think I could actually do this thing better. Watching and listening to what colors resonate with each of you has increased my knowledge of my own preferences and made me look at color differently.
Oh, and Kate, lol. Can I have a girl crush on you for using the word GROK??!! Hehehe. I will always appreciate a brain that’s read Heinlein and uses his ideas in a sentence. Which is your favorite book? Haven’t met a Heinlein lover for a while. I gotta dig “Friday” out and read it again. I wish they’d reprint many of his books into Kindle books! I’d devour them all again!
You’ve met me, Jennifer. I’ve read Heinlein since I was about nine though it has been a while since I’ve re-read any. I followed the trio that sort of competed with each other – Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke. Though to honest, when I was younger I read nearly every science fiction that I could get my hands on. Not too many true Sci Fi writers out there these days. I love Robert J Sawyer. I never agree with his endings, but I love the reasoning that gets him there.
I loved seeing what you’ve done with your palette, Kate. I admit to feeling like a bit of voyeur when it comes seeing other artists’ palettes – they’re very personal, really. I get a bit obsessive with adding/changing my own travel palettes… it’s fun!
I feel the same about DS Buff Titanium, by the way. Totally underwhelming, personally.
I only have a few DS Primateks (Goethite, Monte Amiata NS in tubes and Serpentine in the stick), but after seeing your reviews, I have a feeling I’ll be adding and using a lot more!
Lately I’ve been trying some DaVinci watercolours and I’m really impressed, especially with their earth tones. Also, thrilled that they come in larger tubes and are usually much cheaper than DS or W&N.
I so agree with you Sandra. I have yet to find anyone who writes in Sci-fi like Heinlein. I’ll have to check Sawyer out though. Nice to know we have that in common too!! I was always so disappointed in how the directors handled making his books into movies, it’s like they just didn’t understand that his characters were the most important. They just focused on the war stuff.
Beverly, it seems many people here are discovering Da Vinci, great re wetting properties, I can’t wait until mine arrive. I’ll have to go bribe the mail person with left over fudge. ;o)
Jenn I am not a Sci-Fi fan but a Heinlein fan (though I read some Asimov and Clarke… and Martians Go Home is a favorite). I can’t remember the names of the books — but I loved the one where a rich man’s brain is transplanted into a young woman’s body and the body has memory and argues with the brain! Internal man-woman arguing — whoda thot! Heinlein also wrote a woman’s point of view so well. I read them all….
Moviemakers rarely get the movies right… I was disgusted by the Tolkien movies — disgusted.
Beverly I am a huge voyeur of palettes and tools!
I MUST do a video on Primateks. I see so many people trying them out and they sue them in normal ways… I think they fall a bit flat when used that way.
