R Basic Color Palette

[Gordon Neal]

These are pigments that will work well both with acrylic and oil paint. It makes it very transferable when you are learning to paint. For a watercolour palette you may choose some more subtle tints that have a different undertone.

Hi Will! I was wondering, you have mentioned using Yellow Ochre for ground color in landscapes, would you also use this color in seascapes or would another ground color be more appropriate?
This was a great section, the basic classes that I took in school never went into detail about different color bias and now I know the answer to my many questions of why my colors turn to mud, thank you.

Hi Will, i contacted you a few weeks ago and showed you my motor sport drawings and now im looking to get started with acrylics, im just wondering what colours to start with as i will be going for strong/bright colours that racing cars have on them so im definitely not looking for a subtle selection.

Thanks for stopping by! So pleased to hear you have been enjoying the painting videos and they have been helping you get to grips with acrylics. There will be more free articles and videos coming soon,

Hi Will. Found your website yesterday. Really enjoyed everything I read/watched. Very informative for a newbie like myself. A lot of terms and technical items have been made clearer for me thanks to you. I have one question though regarding paint. At the moment I have all if the colours you recommend but they are a mixture of different manufacturers. I have Daler Rowney System 3, daler rowney graduate and a couple of Hobbycraft own. Would you recommend I bin them and start from scratch? Wholey System 3 or W&N Galeria? Or other?
Thanks
Gary

Hi Will
Thanks so much for the quick reply. I will take your advice and invest in some good quality white and replace the other colours as and when they run out. I look forward to looking at the website more closely and trying some of your ideas.
Thanks again.
Gary

With the colours you are using you will be able to create a reddish orangey colour perfect for an Ulura sunset. You will have to mix more than 2 colours together to be able to tone the mix down, for example a yellow, red and then add a brown (such as burnt umber) to tone the orange down.

Hi Will
Thanks again for all your help. I think what you are doing for newbie artists is amazing.
I have just one more question (I promise lol).
I know that the same colour paint can vary from brand to brand, but I have also noticed that sometimes the same colour can be transparent, semi or opaque from brand to brand also.
Is there a rule of thumb regarding this? Does the more opaque a brand mean a better pigment content? Or is it just down to a personal choice,in the same way that free flow or heavy body is?
Thanks
Gary

Your explanation of color and theory have been a wonderful aid in my understanding and confidence to move forward in creating some new and color-vibrant pieces. Thank you again and may God bless you for sharing all your knowledge and skill.

Have a look at this post on choosing a basic portrait palette, at the end of the article I demonstrate how to match your own skin tone with acrylics, sounds like it might be the perfect fit.

HI Will, can i ask you if i can use cad yellow mixed with white to make cad yellow light i ask because i have no light but have shed loads of cad yellow. I should mention i am useing system 3 acrylic I have had fun painting for many years but now i need to learn more so i can still enjoy it , its important to make progress Thank you so much for this help.

Hello Will,
just starting out in acrylics after a lifetime in water colour! Thanks for your really helpful advice. Have just retired and want to try new things. Most of my pictures up to now look a bit disturbed!!!!! I never realised that before. So I am going to change direction and spend the rest of my life painting happiness. Your advice is really appreciated.

You could achieve a wide range of ethnic groups with those colours, however, it can make it harder to mix subtle shifts when you start with the stronger mixes. In this article on a beginners portrait palette I have a list of other more subtle paints, such as Yellow ochre & Light red, rather than a Cadmium yellow light & permanent Alizarin crimson.

Namaste Will!
Your site is a treasure! I have had few informal drawing and painting classes as a kid but reading your articles have brought a new understanding to me. Thanks for putting this out on the web.
I had a query about whether it is advisable to mix and use acrylics of different brands in my paintings. The stores in my town have very limited colours and supply. So I have to make do with whatever I can lay my hands on.

Hi again, Will, Another question: The first paint I bought was a set of Antelier Interactives due to a video I saw on youtube. Can I substitute the Antelier Crimson (series 1) and Atelier Arylamide Yellow Light (series 3) for the Alizarin Crimson Permanent and Cadium Yellow Light? Thanks! Deborah

Thanks Will, I only wish I had found you before I started buying supplies! My plan is to go in order and do all your free lessons. For now, due to expense, I will make a stay-wet pallete with parchment paper and paper towels in a plastic container. The Atelier Interactive paints I have can have water added any time for blending, I think :)
Thanks so much for providing so much guidance to beginners like me. Deborah

10 days from the himalayan painting trip and about to purchase acrylics. However, one small but probably silly notion has been planted by one art shop assistant. Paints in tubes on air flights. Now I do plan to have them in under carriage baggage but is there any history of paints in tubes not handling airplane pressure.

good evening sir i keep watching your videos i really found them inspiring what i would like to know about colours , how can i give depth to my painting by choosing different colours and specificaly how should i choose colour for my painting sir help me

Regarding the choice of cadmiums it varies depending on the other reds you already have and the particular subject your painting. But in general the cadmium red medium gives you the most flexibility as you can get some nice muted purples with it and when a little cadmium yellow light is mixed in you can achieve a colour close to cadmium red light.

I just found your website in the last few days and just cannot express how valuable your posts and videos are for me. I have just started painting with acrylics and your generous sharing of information as just been amazing. I am so grateful for your clear explanations presented in such a fresh vibrant manner. I watched your color mixing videos several times.

I have a couple quick questions please about reds. Presently I have the Modern Theory Set from Golden- which came with the Quinacridone Magenta, and I also have a tube of Napthol red light. 1) In the posts above I see mentioned that Alizarin crimson mixed with titanium white makes a brilliant pink, and also has possibilities for purples and warm oranges. How do these pinks compare to the pinks created by the Quinacridone magenta (mixed with the white)? 2) I am wondering how the Napthol red light compares to cadmium red (light)? In order to have the most versatility for mixing, if I buy another red should I buy the cadmium or alizarin crimson?

However, Golden does not seem to offer a Cadmium Red Light Hue, only a Cadmium Red Medium Hue. I imagine that the Cadmium Red Medium Hue would be even warmer and more opaque right? So maybe this would be a fun option for me and provide more variation with the Quinacridone Magenta and Napthol Red I already have?

The Cadmium Red Hue is darker in tone so it quite close to your reds you have already have due to the face that the inorganic pigment used to create this version of a cadmium red is a mix of Naphthol AS-D & Napthol ITR pigments.

I have tried some of the typical classics recommended pallettes, like Y.Ochre, Alizarine, R.Sienna, B.Umber, U.Blue and so on, but I have found that for me at least, skipping all those pre-made shades and sticking with this pallette does the job just as good. And I have more control over my mixing:

I really want to limit my pallette even more.
My question for you is, if you were going to limit a palette to just TWO colors (not counting titanium white and neutral greys/grey-blacks), what colors would you limit them to in, say, a portrait of a girl sitting on a chair in a room?
I see that a limited palette can give you a lot more to play with in values, and it really pushes the painting, almost like a drawing.

So; 2 colors, which ones? One warm and one cold? One darker, one lighter and warmer? I am looking for the real minimum here, I am experimenting and trying to figure it out by myself, I just want to know if you have some good advice from your own experience.

I loved the painting by __ that was painted only in mars violet and blue black that you mentioned in your post about black. My goal is to limit it so much that I can make a lot from very, very little.

Just wondering why no greens are part of the standard palette that you advise? Are they that easy to mix? All the different shades of green are really luring at me in the art supply store. My starter kit came with phthalo green (blue shade).

The web-page here where you discuss choosing a palette, solved a niggling problem already. I wanted to keep mine small but I feared snobby local artists sneering if they saw phthalo blue for a Provence sky (I live in the Ctes du Rhne). But your Lowry quote and the impressively simple but effective jug by Larine Chung sorted that out: the skills of the artist trump the palette. In fact I now know that the best artists would show genius with a palette of mud, blood and guano.

Regarding your snow scene painting, which I like very much, was there definitely no yellow involved? I have been unsuccessful at creating the orange and green tones that you have there with only the white, ultramarine blue and burnt umber.

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