My Palettes
I have shown a number of palettes in different styles in other sections, but here I thought I'd just show the palettes I use. I have set up quite a few for different purposes and use them at different times. I'll show a paint-out of each as well. I use Daniel Smith watercolours in these palettes, unless mentioned otherwise.
Some of my palettes - Littlebrassbox studio palette (left), Classicpaintboxes brass travel palettes (centre top and bottom) and Herring compact palette (right)
I've shown these four palettes together for a size comparison. I'll show each one in more detail below. They all have the same colours in common - Daniel Smith: buff titanium, hansa yellow medium, transparent pyrrol orange, pyrrol crimson, quinacridone rose, ultramarine, indanthrone blue, cerulean chromium, phthalo blue (red shade), phthalo green (blue shade), perylene green, Undersea green, sap green, goethite, burnt sienna, Indian red, burnt umber, raw umber and Jane's Grey. Three of them have 24 colours so they also have raw sienna, rich green gold, transparent red oxide and piemontite genuine. I can change these 'extras' around as needed, though this is more easily done in some palettes than others.
My studio brass palette (left in main photo)
Littlebrassbox Robertson palette with 20-well insert.
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This is a hand made brass palette from Littlebrassbox in the UK. It is a lovely design with great brush access and nice deep mixing wells. I don't take it out of my studio though. It has my personal favourite Daniel Smith colours - buff titanium hansa yellow medium quinacridone gold (PO49 - I stocked up) transparent pyrrol orange pyrrol crimson quinacridone rose ultramarine indanthrone blue cerulean crhomium phthalo blue red shade phthalo green blue shade perylene green undersea green sap green goethite burnt sienna indian red burnt umber raw umber Jane's Grey |
My plein air sketching palette (right in main photo)
Herring Compact half pan palette modified and set up with 24 half pans and a brush space.
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This is a Herring compact palette set up with 24 colours. It is lightweight and, like the brass palette above, has great mixing wells. Its flexible design can be adjusted to fit the 16 half pans it is designed for, or, with the thumb hole filled in, 24 like this. The brush area can be filled with another 8 half pans if you wish.
Colours are as above with 4 extras in bold. buff titanium hansa yellow medium quinacridone gold (PO49) transparent pyrrol orange pyrrol crimson quinacridone rose ultramarine indanthrone blue cerulean crhomium phthalo blue red shade phthalo green blue shade perylene green undersea green sap green rich green gold goethite raw sienna transparent red oxide burnt sienna indian red piemontite burnt umber raw umber Jane's Grey |
My brass plein air sketching palette (bottom of main photo)
Classicbrassboxes travel palette with 24 wells.
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This hand made brass palette from Classicpaintboxes is a little smaller than the Herring shown above, but also a bit heavier, being brass. It contains the same 24 colours as the Herring, though in a slightly different order. The first 20 colours are exactly the same as my studio palette buff titanium hansa yellow medium quinacridone gold (PO49) transparent pyrrol orange pyrrol crimson quinacridone rose ultramarine indanthrone blue cerulean crhomium phthalo blue red shade phthalo green blue shade perylene green undersea green sap green goethite burnt sienna indian red burnt umber raw umber Jane's Grey and the 4 on the right are raw sienna, rich green gold, transparent red oxide and piemontite. The idea here was that I can change those colours on the right more easily if I wish. There is another tiny brass palette pictured in the top photo with the same colours as this one. It is also from Classicpaintboxes and is a little gem. |
My teaching palette
Mijello 20 colour palette set up with Daniel Smith watercolours.
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This great palette has my recommended Ultimate Mixing Set of 15, (which was released as a half pan set by Daniel Smith in 2018) along with 5 extra Daniel Smith colours - sap green, undersea green, perylene green, yellow ochre and raw sienna. It's a fabulous range to work with and I use this one for all my teaching and workshop demonstrations. If you are setting up a 20-colour palette this range is hard to beat.
I have written more about this palette in my blog here.
I have written more about this palette in my blog here.
The new Daniel Smith Ultimate Mixing Set Palette
This is a lovely small and portable Daniel Smith half pan palette filled with my Ultimate Mixing Set - not painted out here as you can see them all here.) Designed to be used to paint any subject - landscape, portrait, urban-scapes, seascapes, animals, florals - you can mix any colour!
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Plein Air/Urban Sketching palette
When painting plein air, having some mixing space is a bonus and this palette from Mont Marte works really well. I've set these before with my Ultimate Mixing Set plus yellow ochre, but this one I've set up quite differently without any phthalo colours but with a few convenience greens - it's purely a plein air/urban sketching palette.
The 16 well Mont Marte palette set up with a personal range of urban sketching colours.
Studio extras
My studio extra colours.
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In my studio I have loads of paint choices, but I've set up a palette with the ones I tend to go to most as special effect colours or convenience mixes. It also has the two colours from my recommended ultimate mixing set that are not in my personal palettes.
They are (in order top to bottom and left to right) hansa yellow light, new gamboge (PY153), transparent orange (schmincke), pyrrol scarlet, imperial purple, moonglow, coblat blue, phthalo blue green shade, coblat turquoise, jadeite, green apatite genuine, serpentine genuine, rich green gold, yelow ochre, raw sienna, transparnet red oxide, piemontite genuine, lunar black and Jane's Black R/G (a custom mix of pyrrol crimson and phthalo green blue shade) |
Plein air painting extras
Pocket palette set up with my plein air painting extras.
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My plein air extra colours.
These are the watercolours I occasionally use when sketching and travelling. They are (clockwise from left) cadmium yellow light, Cadmium yellow deep, yellow ochre, mont Amiato natural sienna, potter's pink, YInMn blue, cobalt blue, sodalite genuine, cobalt turquoise, Jadeite genuine, green apatite genuine, serpentine genuine, graphite grey, lunar black. They are set up in a tiny Pocket Palette.
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Last updated March 2019