Greens
Many Greens can be mixed from other colours in your palette so they are not strictly necessary, but sometimes the single pigment greens have characteristics that go beyond their hue - intense granulation or a wonderful separation of colours within a wash. Or they are simply convenient. It takes time to mix colours every time you want to use them.
Green are also available as pigment mixes. Many of these convenience colours are so quick to mix or so rarely used that they are not worth having. Others may be mixed so often that it is worth taking up palette space with a convenience mix that you either make yourself or buy in a tube. I like to have a couple of convenience green mixes in my main palette as I paint a lot of flowers and botanicals and it is helpful to have some ready-made realistic greens so all the leaves, or all the stems or whatever look as though they come from the same plant. I choose convenience greens that are made with colours already in my palette, and that look 'realistic' straight from the tube.
Phthalo Green, one of my recommended limited palette colours, is a difficult green to use alone, but in the palette it is wonderful as you can use it to create rich greens with a warm yellow, wonderful black and shadow greys, neutralised maroons and Prussian greens with a cool crimson red, and with a blue it creates turquoises and aquas. The alternative is Viridian, which is less staining and more granulating. For a comparison of many greens see my blog entry here.
Green are also available as pigment mixes. Many of these convenience colours are so quick to mix or so rarely used that they are not worth having. Others may be mixed so often that it is worth taking up palette space with a convenience mix that you either make yourself or buy in a tube. I like to have a couple of convenience green mixes in my main palette as I paint a lot of flowers and botanicals and it is helpful to have some ready-made realistic greens so all the leaves, or all the stems or whatever look as though they come from the same plant. I choose convenience greens that are made with colours already in my palette, and that look 'realistic' straight from the tube.
Phthalo Green, one of my recommended limited palette colours, is a difficult green to use alone, but in the palette it is wonderful as you can use it to create rich greens with a warm yellow, wonderful black and shadow greys, neutralised maroons and Prussian greens with a cool crimson red, and with a blue it creates turquoises and aquas. The alternative is Viridian, which is less staining and more granulating. For a comparison of many greens see my blog entry here.
Phthalo Green
Phthalo Green (blue shade). Daniel smith watercolours.
Phthalo Green comes in two versions, a 'blue shade' usually PG7 and a 'yellow shade' usually PG36. Both are bright, powerful transparent colours. This is one of my top 20 palette colours, but as it is very staining and 'explodes' on wet paper, some prefer to use Viridian (PG18), which is a granulating pigment of a similar hue, though less intensity, that can be lifted.
Phthalo Green (blue shade) is reliable in most brands. Sennelier make a lovely version of Viridian that does have PG7 as well as PG18 so is not a pure single pigment colour, but it lifts off the page - an interesting hue!
Phthalo Green (blue shade) is reliable in most brands. Sennelier make a lovely version of Viridian that does have PG7 as well as PG18 so is not a pure single pigment colour, but it lifts off the page - an interesting hue!
Phthalo Green with warm yellow
Phthalo Green (left) mixed with Quinacridone gold (right)
Phthalo Green mixed with Quinacridone Gold or other warm yellows creates reasonably bright natural greens. This combination is made into a Daniel Smith Sap Green.
Phthalo Green with Crimson Red
Phthalo Green mixed with Anthraquinoid Red.
Phthalo Green can be neutralised by mixing with a crimson red. (See 'Cool Reds' tab for more information on reds). This combination will produce a wonderful range of Prussian Greens, greys and deep maroon reds and eggplant colours, as well as Black. the mixes will create smooth washes, as neither pigment granulates. If granulation is desired, use Viridian (PG18) instead of Phthalo Green (PG 7) but beware that this is a less intense pigment and it is often mixed with phthalo green by manufacturers.
Phthalo Green with Warm Red
Phthalo Green (left) mixed with Cadmium Red Medium (right).
With a warm red, Phthalo green doesn't completely neutralise to create blacks, but a range of brick reds and deep greens.
Phthalo Green and Ultramarine Blue
Phthalo Green and Ultramarine mixes.
A lovely range of turquoise, aqua, and other blue-greens can be created with this combination.
Unusual Neutrals - Phthalo Green + Quinacridone Violet
Phthalo Green (left) mixed with Quinacridone Violet (right).
This unusual combination of Phthalo Green and Quinacridone Violet creates a lovely range of grape purples and mauves. There is very little yellow in the green to dirty the mix.
Sap Green
There are many variations of Sap Green, a convenience colour that can be useful in a palette. I like them to be natural enough in colour to be useful straight from the tube. Daniel Smith, Da Vinci and Art Spectrum all make useful sap green hues. You can see them in the Painted Watercolour Swatches section of the website under mixed pigment greens. You will also see another of my favourites - Daniel Smith Undersea Green - a deep olive green perfect for Australian gum leaves but also for foliage almost anywhere in the world.
Jadeite
Jadeite Genuine. Daniel Smith watercolours.
Made from genuine jadeite, the granulation and wonderful range of greens possible with this one paint make it a valuable addition to the palette. It is like a phthalo green in a wash but in mass-tone as deep as Perylene green. This is one of Daniel Smith's Primatek colours, some of which, like this, give an amazing range of colours in one tube. Others are not worth bothering with. I love this colour. I use it in my little travel palette due to its versatility.
Green Apatite Genuine
Green Apatite Genuine. Daniel Smith watercolours.
Made from the mineral, this paint is a wonderful alternative to a mixed sap green, which could be created with Phthalo Green + Quinacridone Gold, but would not granulate like this. As well as the various green particles there are deep brown flecks too - wonderful for foliage. It's masstone is a deep olive green, in a wash it is more like a sap green. This is just gorgeous, and another that I use in my little travel palette.
Perylene Green
This is a very dark green made from the black pigment PBk31. It is wonderful as a deep green for the shadow areas of foliage and can be very useful as a background colour in a range of studies. You can create this hue by mixing a crimson and phthalo green, but in a large palette I find is invaluable.