I regularly switch a few of the colors in my palette around. I do this because I either need a new color, or want to do new mixing experiments, or I have a free space after removing that one particular pan in the corner that I didn’t use after all. It’s always nice to change your palette setup a bit after a while to keep things fresh, and to adapt it to your needs.
When I cleaned and refilled my palette the other day, I realized I didn’t post a palette update in 2024 at all, my last palette setup post is from 2023. So it’s about time I guess.
I’ve made a handy PDF of my current palette (2025 edition) if you sign up for my newsletter (those of you who are already subscribed, the link is in the email I sent!).
The colors in my palette – 2025:
For a detailed description of some of the pigments see the posts at the end of this post. All colors are listed from top to bottom in vertical columns, starting on the left:
column 1:
- Titanium White PW6
- Winsor Lemon Yellow (PY175)
- Schmincke Raw Sienna (PY42, PY43)
column 2:
- Winsor Yellow (PY154)
- Holbein Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110)
- Schmincke Burnt Sienna (PR101, PBk9)
- Schmincke Green Umber (PBr7)
column 3:
- Schmincke Perylene Maroon (PR 179)
- Schmincke Vermilion (PR255)
- Schmincke Burnt Umber (PBr7)
column 4:
- Schmincke Ruby Red or WN Permanent Rose (PV19)
- Winsor & Newton Sap Green (PG36, PY110)
- Winsor & Newton Cobalt Green (PG50)
column 5:
- Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue (PB28)
- Schmincke Ultramarine Finest (PB29)
column 6:
- Winsor & Newton Cerulean Blue (PB35)
- Schmincke Delft Blue or Holbein Royal Blue (PB60)
- Schmincke Payne’s Gray (PR101, PB29, Pbk7)
What has changed:
I’ve simplified. I’ve reduced the number of colors from 22 to 18, and I currently don’t miss anything.
- I’ve removed the Jaune Brilliant Dark since I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would, and I can mix the light cream color from white and yellows or ochre.
- I’ve changed my orange from Chromium Orange/Winsor Orange (PO62) to Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110). The Iso Yellow is a touch warmer (more yellow) and it’s fully transparent. I prefer the color out of the pan more than the Chromium orange.
- I’ve removed a lot of purples. In 2023 I was crazy about sketching orchids in the field and had three different purples: Perylene Violet (PV29), Purple Magenta/WN Quin Magenta (PR122), Dioxazine Violet (PV23). I’ve replaced them with a dark red: Perylene Maroon (PR 179). This is great for landscapes as well a a botanical red. I sometimes miss having a premixed purple, but then I look at old sketches and see how they all scream: you used to much Diox violet, stop hitting people over the head with it!!
- I removed the WN Manganese Blue hue (PB15). I love this color, but it rarely matches the sky we have here and I don’t enjoy some of the mixes I get from it (too green). I’ve gone back to Cerulean blue for light skies and I really enjoy rediscovering this beautiful pigment and the muted mixes it creates.
- I’m still not adding my PB60 (Indanthrone/Delft/Royal Blue) a lot to my usual landscapes, but it’s the color I’ve been using for my blue sketches, so it can stay for now.
My palette is now very much fine-tuned for landscapes, as that is what I mainly paint right now (I’m filming a lot for my upcoming course on landscape sketching).
I have some new paint tubes sitting in my drawer – I wanted to give the earth colors from Winsor a try, and I believe I have some Caput Mortum somewhere, but these experiments will have to wait a bit – until I’ve finished filming at least.
I’m still happy with my no-name metal palette that has these nice rounded edges and lots of mixing areas, it’s great for every-day use. While I’m adding a slightly more used look every day to this little palette, I’m secretly collecting small tins and specialty palettes (like the small whiskey painter palette with the integrated water tank I bought a while back, or that very slim magnetic palette with modular pans). I keep wanting to test them, or even just open them, but then the right occasion never arrives. I need more time, and possibly someone who forces me to start using all these palettes.
Anyway, here’s the palette freshly refilled and already in need of a good cleaning:
My previous palettes:
My 2023 palette
My Summer 2022 palette
My 2021 palette
My 2020 palette(s)
My updated 2019 palette
My 2018/19 palette
Basic tips for setting up palettes
Oh Julia!! I love this post!! Your thought process in choosing your colors is so helpful for me in choosing mine. For example, manganese is the exact color of Florida skies–so I keep it. My blues are Manganese, Fr Ultramarine and Indathrone Blue (I love this dark blue!). Quin Magenta somehow finds it’s way in my landscapes here as well. Buff Titanium is the color of the our sands. I still struggle with greens. It is always green and lush here (which is a blessing), but there are SO many different shades of green. I do like to have sap green for convenience, but I still haven’t mastered mixing the greens that I see. I like my yellows to be transparent so I’ve been experimenting with DS Azo yellow and DS Monte Amiata and sometimes DS New Gamboge (is this transparent?). It is encouraging to read your blog and see your videos. You make things so doable and simple but still so lovely. Thank you!!
Hi Betty, your palette sounds great! I would love to be able to paint more with manganese blue, it’s such a pretty color. Sadly, it’s almost useless here in my part of the world, I need the more muted blues from cerulean and cobalt.
As for greens, it’s good to modify greens with yellow and blue, I think that always adds some life to a wash. DS new gamboge should be similar to what I use as orange, so it’ll give the green a warm glow. It should be transparent?
I’ve sort of given up on matching the colors 100% and instead try to keep the sketch harmonious, the watercolors often help with that because they do their own thing anyway. ;-)
Julia, thank you for sharing your new palette. Really appreciate learning how you decide what to keep and what to swap out.
I think there’s an important insight lurking somewhere inside the observation that “the right occasion never arises” to try out some new tools. I wonder if that could be a door into recognizing that we are finite creatures. There is not time in our lives to use all the tools; sometimes we’re wise to go deeper into the ones we have?
I have not been drawing for over a month, after having cataract surgery. I still only have vision about 3 inches from my face. With luck my new glasses will be arriving this week. My fingers are itching to sketch.
Thank you so much Rebecca and I hope you’ll have a speedy recovery! Fingers crossed that you’ll get your new glasses soon and will be able to sketch again.
And you’re absolutely right with your observation, it’s important to remember we can’t do it all and that our time isn’t infinite. This thought has given me the motivation to find a scenario in which I can use all these shiny new palettes, before they sit unused in my drawer for another year.
I laughed out loud at “too much diox violet, stop hitting people over the head with it”. I went through that with the phthalos too. While I do, at times, choose to exaggerate colors the diox and phthalos always fail to look anything but exaggerated to me. I also realized how much water it takes to clean these pigments out of my brush when I was hiking in the desert.
Haha yes, I know what you mean, I can’t paint well with Phthalos either. They are lovely pigments, but so intense and you have to be so careful when picking them up, and washing out the brush takes ages.
Nickel azo yellow is another one that I can’t use anymore, I can date all the sketches I used it in because they all look the same, those glowing yellow halos everywhere.
This is a very interesting palette with some pigments I don’t know at all. Can you talk us through the greens of your choice (perhaps in your upcoming course?) and their various uses plus mixing abilities? I’d love to know. The choice of Green Umber, Cobalt Green and Sap Green suggest you mix most of your own greens. Also I have trouble with Payne’s Grey – I find it rather assertive and would really like to know how to handle it, since it’s a useful mixture. And how you mix your darks. I use Ultramarine a lot but I wonder whether in the north of the Northern hemisphere it’s a bit too strident. I love cerulean and cobalt and find them much more versatile mixers than some people say.
I should have added this comment to your latest post, but it seemed more appropriate here.
Very Nice.
I think your primary choices are awesome!
Opting to create your own secondary colors is a great idea.
Julia,
Which is the physical palette in here?
Thank you
It’s a no-name black and white metal palette in a small size you can get at most art supply stores. Many paint brands also offer it with paints and their logo on top.
Thank you Julia
Hello Julia,
I’m interested to hear your thoughts about Perylene Maroon which is one that I haven’t used but am interested to try. How do you use it and why do you prefer it over other similar pigments?
Thanks,
Melanie
Hi Melanie, I find Perylene Maroon is particularly helpful for botanical sketches, it matches the dark red color with a slightly brownish tendency of many plants very well. Apart from that I like it for landscapes, particularly for mixing dull violets (think dark skies, or background hills, shadows). You can also mix a nice neutral gray if you combine it with Cerulean Blue or Cobalt Green. I like that it’s quite lightfast and transparent, apart from that you could substitute it with other dark red pigments you might have.