Indispensable Secondaries – Two often used secondary colors, especially in landscape are green and purple. For this reason Azo Green and Dioxazine Purple have been included. Third Row: Ultramarine Pink, Quinacridone Violet, Dioxazine Purple, Burn Umber, and…room for two more!

Place rags in a sealed water-filled metal container, taking care to assure to completely wet rags with water. Ok… Great! So that just gives you one more choice to make! But let me make life simple for you – choose tubes! Jewel Tone set of 5 contains:Maroon Perylene,Permanent Green Light,Anthraquinone Blue, Cobalt Violet and Hansa Yellow. Warm Blue – French Ultramarine: PB29 (Transparent & single pigment). This hue also counts as a blue-violet, almost purple color. The pigment used for French Ultramarine is quite granular but it’s also a very stable, single pigment, warm blue. You often see pans in ready to go palettes. The problem here is that you don’t get to choose your own colors, which I think is restrictive. For a better range of mixing possibilities it’s best to choose your own hues (more on which colors to choose below).Spontaneous combustion occurs when a drying oil or similar material is combined with cellulose or another material capable of holding onto the oil and the heat generated in the process of drying is not allowed to dissipate. The heat then builds up until it reaches an ignition temperature and combustion occurs. Rags and paper towels are two examples of cellulose material that, when crumpled or folded, can prevent heat from escaping and start to ignite. Ambient temperature can either slow or accelerate the process. In general, the higher the temperature, the more rapidly the oil dries and the greater the possibility of combustion. Tubes are filled with liquid paint, whereas pans are little containers with dried cakes of paint in them. These pans exist in two sizes known as “full pan” or “half pan”. Much of what brand you prefer depends upon how you paint, so favorite brands vary widely from person to person.Many artists (like me) use a mix of brands. When it comes to watercolor brands, the only “rule” is this: Use the color that you love regardless of brand. For a start, not all brands of paint are available in pans. So if you’re keen on trying some M. Graham paints for example, you simply can’t buy them in pans! When lurking in painting forums and stalking well-known art bloggers, you'll likely see Daniel Smith, M. Graham, and Winsor & Newton mentioned most often. Though I use a mix of artist-grade watercolors from a variety of manufacturers, these three watercolor brands comprise the bulk of my palette.

Ask five watercolor artists which brand they recommend and you’ll probably get five different answers! Quinacridone Burnt Orange: PO48 (Transparent & single pigment). This is a beautiful orange earth color. It has a similar color appearance to burnt sienna, and makes some wonderful colors when mixed with blue. Cobalt Teal Blue: PG50 (Semi-transparent & single pigment). This is another beautiful blue-green hue. The paint retains its saturation well after drying. You’ll find the same pigment used in paints with various names, but “Teal” is the pure version of this turquoise color. This paint is quite granular. I’m often asked, “What brand of watercolors do you recommend?” Actually, I don’t. There are more than a dozen major manufacturers of artist-grade watercolors, and there are also many small companies producing watercolors. Most of these folks make excellent watercolor paints overall. Below is a breakdown of all the colors currently in my studio palette. These are mostly single pigment and transparent paints which I selected after long deliberation. I suggest you begin with a set of six primary colors (a warm and cool version of yellow, blue, and red). In theory, you can mix any color using just the primary colors, but in reality you need at least one warm and cool version of each primary color to get a full range of mixable colors.According to known sources, M Graham’s watercolor paints are manufactured with minimal use of fillers or brighteners, so you get real color intensities and good control when you mix your colors due to its heavy pigment load. The paints retain their brilliance even when diluted out. However it also means that the paints are very staining and therefore difficult to be lifted out when the paint dries on paper.

Common sense and care must be used with any solution you decide to adopt. Do not, for instance, lay rags down on other cellulose materials or place them on an object in direct sunlight during the summer months. Do not place rags near a source of ignition such as a stove or fireplace, etc. I have to admit…when I first started watercolors I agonized over my choice of paints. It can be pretty confusing trying to compare different brands, colors, and all the various characteristics of this beautiful art medium. I’m sure there are others, but these are some of the best known paints – although I still believe that Daniel Smith, Winsor and Newton, and M. Graham count as some of the highest quality paint brands. Which Colors to Choose? The South set of 5 contains: Viridian, Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Neutral Tint. I highly encourage anyone who asks to buy artist-grade paints. When it comes to watercolors, you usually get what you pay for, so splurging for quality materials can be worth the cost. But once you enter the world of well made paints, there really is no perfect brand.Sap Green: PO48/PG7/PY150 (Transparent – multiple pigments). Ok I admit it. I include this one because I’m lazy! It gives me a consistent sap green appearance when I want a fast color for vegetation. It provides a natural looking green that can be used straight from the palette. Earth Colors:

The ingredients used to make paint include one, two, three, or sometimes more pigments. Pigments are identified by a color index code. For example, if the paint label says “PB28” this means it contains “Pigment Blue number 28”, which is commonly used to make cobalt blue. Transparency Adding Azo Yellow to Sap Green in varying amount lightens and brightens the green if you are painting light on trees and grasses. Adding Ultramarine cools off the green and deepens the hue, relatively great for shadows of trees. Alizarin Crimson greys out the green adding more variety to the hue. You may also add mixed orange , violet and even Burnt Sienna to get a broader range of hues and a spectrum of warm and cool greens for your painting. You will also see that from my test, it is easier to add Sap Green to mixed Orange than it is vice versa. Student grade paints are cheaper than professional watercolors. This is because the ingredients aren’t the same (something has to make them cheaper… Right?).

Sign up to our newsletter to receive exclusive special offers!

A tip I learned from the Guest Doodlewasher Jane Blundell on filling pans that is genius – only fill them part way, and at an angle. This creates a slanted surface for your brush to slide in, and a little reservoir at the bottom for more diluted paint. This works much better than stabbing the brush into a full pan. I angled these when I squirt the paint into the pan, and did a little tapping of the pan on my desk. On a couple, I used a palette knife to get the angle. I don’t think you should select your watercolors without knowing a little bit about what you’re buying first. And that means you need to understand a few basics about the characteristics of watercolor paint.