My 24-Color Watercolor Palette
For the past few months, I’ve been working on building a 24-color watercolor palette for myself, and after a few adjustments, I’ve consistently been using the current 24-colors for the past few months. The colors have met my needs pretty well and I’ve been enjoying them quite a bit.
Before I share more about my palette though, I just want to say that choosing colors is a very personal process. Depending on what you paint and how you like to paint, the colors and brands you choose may end up being completely different from the choices of other artists. The best way to build a palette that works for you is to paint often, experiment with your current paints (get to know them and see how they interact/mix with other colors in your palette), and make adjustments as you go.
I’ll be highlighting each of these colors individually in future blog posts, but here’s a list of all 24 colors that are currently in my everyday palette. All paints are Daniel Smith unless otherwise noted. I’ve also added pigment information in the parentheses.
Yellows
- Hansa Yellow Light (PY3)
- New Gamboge (PY97, PY110)
Reds
- Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255)
- Quinacridone Rose (PV19)
Blues
- French Ultramarine (PB29)
- Cerulean Blue Chromium (PB36)
- Anthraquinone Blue (PB60), M. Graham
Greens
- Green Gold (PY150, PY3, PG36)
- Sap Green (PO48, PY150, PG7)
- Serpentine Genuine (PrimaTek)
- Green Apatite Genuine (PrimaTek)
- Cascade Green (PBr7, PB15)
- Terre Verte (PG18, PBr7)
- Jadeite Genuine (PrimaTek)
- Perylene Green (PBk31)
Earth Colors
- Quinacridone Gold (PO49)* (This single pigment version of Quinacridone Gold is no longer available, but read here to learn more about the new Quinacridone Gold mix.)
- Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7)
- Transparent Red Oxide (PR101)
- Raw Umber (PBr7)
Grays
- Grey of Grey (PBk7, PW6, PB60), Mijello Mission Gold
- Payne’s Gray (PB29, PBK9)
Misc.
- Potter’s Pink (PR233), Winsor & Newton
- Buff Titanium (PW6:1)
- Moonglow (PB18, PB29, PR177)
The links provided are Amazon links, but if shipping is not an issue for you, you may also want to check out Dick Blick. I’ve found that they have the best prices for Daniel Smith paints and often have great deals going on.
Please let me know if you have any questions! Happy painting! :)