The Artist's Palette
When I was about 9 years old I received a paint set from my uncle. He had tried his hand at painting, producing one landscape of a grove of trees, and decided that it was not a hobby which he desired to pursue further, for whatever reason. I was thrilled to receive this gift and spent many hours in the basement, set up at a card table in the corner of my father's work room, painting. The paint set was made by Grumbacher and came in a vinyl case with many small tubes of paint, a bottle of thinner, a bottle of copal medium, a wooden palette and brushes. Having begun with Grumbacher Pre-Tested paints, I continued to replace them with more of the same as the tubes ran dry, and continued to use primarily Pre-Tested paints until 1999. As I learned more about pigments, and became increasingly serious about the work I produced as a fine artist and its longevity, I began to investigate more expensive paints for professional use. Below you will find a list of the pigments that I have used to produce the artwork on this web site. It is my ongoing effort to assemble a palette of all excellent (category 1) lightfastness. go HERE to read about my studies and my new lead-based palette used for portrait commissions. I continue to use Grumbacher Pre-Test for many of my works because they do not mix other less flexible binding oils into their paints, using linseed oil exclusively on almost all tube colors. Many other manufacturers blend linseed with safflower, poppyseed and other lighter colored oils to reduce yellowing. This may be fine for alla-prima painting, but is not recommended for layering of paint films. Though I'm sure the manufacturer's have added other compounds to try to adjust for the brittleness of some of these other oils, I prefer a linseed oil binder.
You will find an in depth discussion of the pigments listed below under The History, Definitions, and Techniques of Oil Painting in the Tutorial Section, on the pages titled Pigments Past and Pigments Present.
Out of Use Colors
Palette of Colors
Yellows | Reds | Violets | Blues | Greens | Browns
Blacks & WhitesReturn to Tutorial Introduction Page
Out of Use Colors
The colors which I have used over the last 22 years have included the following pigments which are no longer a part of my palette:
Thalo Blue: Copper Phthalocyanine and
Thalo Green: Chlorinated Copper Phthalocyanine
In there pure form these two colors are so intense that I have not found a good use for them in the work which I now do. And the amount of oils ground in to them has caused the tubes to leak, demanding that they be stored in sandwich bags so that the color does not get onto other supplies in my paint box. Because of their lightfastness they are usefully mixed with other colors to imitate less stable or more toxic pigments. If you're looking for a strong green-blue or a strong emerald green, especially for glazing, check these out.Permanent Green Light (opaque): Hydrous Chromium Sesquioxide and Arylide Yellow 10G, is a bright yellow green. Since yellow green is a color that does not sell well (for interior design reasons), this tube remains in by paint box most of the time. Its Lightfastness of category 2 makes it less desirable as well, since I can mix a yellow green on the palette using two category 1 pigments such as ultramarine blue or viridian and cadmium-barium yellow light.
Olive Green: a combination of Ultramarine Blue (PB 29), Tartrazine Yellow (PY100), and Aluminum Lake of FD&C Yellow #6 (PY104). I have no idea what possessed me to buy this lightfastness category 3 paint. But beyond being less than reliably lightfast, it is very weak in tinting strength and practically worthless. A better color can be had by mixing a chromium oxide green with browns and yellows
Cadmium-Barium Red Light: Cadmium Seleno-Sulfide coprecipitated with Barium Sulfate. (PR108:1 / PO20:1) This is a good lightfast color (category 1), but I just don't have much use for a middle value fairly chromatic orange. And besides, oranges are so easy to mix on the palette.
Ivory Black: Amorphous Carbon produced by charring animal bones. Lightfastness 1. I have recently been using Permalba's compound black instead, but may return to more traditional blacks just so I know what I'm using. Permalba keeps their ingredients a secret, fueling my fear of mixing brands.
I have also been using the lower oil and more lightfast Mars Black.
Palette of Colors:
YELLOWS: as a primary color, it's tough or impossible to mix variations of yellow, so a range of yellows are needed to build form and to mix specific secondary colors. I use a green-yellow, an orange-yellow, and two earth yellows.
Cadmium-Barium Yellow Light: Cadmium Sulfoselenide coprecipitated with Barium Sulfate. Lightfastness 1. A good yellow to the green side for mixing bright, clear greens, or for use by itself when a lemon yellow, or green-yellow is needed for local color.
Cadmium-Barium Yellow Medium: Cadmium Zinc Sulfide coprecipitated with Barium Sulfate. Lightfastness 1. Yellow to the orange side is good for mixing with reds as well as for use in making neutral greens when mixed with blue. Good chromatic warm yellow.
Yellow Ochre: Natural & Synthetic Hydrated Iron Oxide (PY43 & 42). Lightfastness 1. Light tone natural earth yellow of lower chroma than the Cadmium-Barium colors. Good in skin tones and landscape, among other things.
Raw Sienna: Natural Iron Oxide (PBr7). Lightfastness 1. Nice natural golden yellow has a richer hue than the ochre and can be used with it to gradually shade yellow objects. Many other uses as a golden brown.
REDS: like the yellows, this primary color needs to be provided in some variation to properly represent life and to mix secondary colors. It is good to have an orange-red and a purple-red on the palette. Earth reds have their own place and special uses.
Cadmium-Barium Red - Vermilion Hue: Cadmium Seleno-Sulfide coprecipitated with Barium Sulfate. Lightfastness 1. A good stable medium orange red that takes the place of Vermilion adequately well when used to warm skin tones. Other Cadmium reds (light, medium, dark) can also be used for various effects.
Alizarin Crimson: Dihydro Anthraquinone on Aluminum Hydrate. I have used this "traditional" synthetic blue-red since the start with little problems. But questions about its lightfastness have me looking for a replacement.
Quinacridone Red: Gamma Quinacridone (PV19). A more recent acquisition with which I am well pleased. This blue-red has a lightfastness rating of 1, making it much more stable than Alizarin Crimson. It creates wonderful pinks when mixed with white and glazes well. It has proven itself to be a satisfactory replacement for alizarin and is available in various shades of red and red-purple.
Burnt Sienna: Calcined Natural Iron Oxide (PBr7). Lightfastness 1. A standard, stable red brown that has many uses. In this age of suntans, you could paint a wonderful portrait with just Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber and White. Other red-earth iron oxides are available as well: Red Ochre, Light Red, Indian Red ("Caput Mortuum" used by the Flemish), Venetian Red, Mars Red and Brown, English Red, and Spanish Red. I would like to experiment with some of these more in the future, especially to warm flesh tones.
Venetian Red: I purchased this traditional pigment (Liquitex brand) while in college studying indirect painting with Nathaniel Larrabee. While I did set this pigment aside for a number of years, I have more recently found that it produces beautiful flesh tones under cool lighting, as in traditional portraits.
VIOLETS: sure you can mix these, but, like any secondary color, sometimes it's just easier to buy them in the tube.
Ultramarine Violet: Complex Silicate of Sodium and Aluminum with Sulfur (PV15). Lightfastness 1. A stable variant of Ultramarine Blue, this is an excellent, rich blue-purple. Good for use in flesh shadows when appropriate.
Cobalt Violet Hue: Cobalt Phosphate with Manganese Ammonium Pyrophosphate (PV14, PV16). Lightfastness 1. Though somewhat toxic, when handled with care it works well as a red-purple complement to Ultramarine Violet's bluer hue.
BLUES: As with the other primary colors, a variety is good to have on hand. Any palette should have at least one purple-blue and one green-blue with which to mix.
Ultramarine Blue: Complex Silicate of Sodium and Aluminum with Sulfur. Lightfastness 1. This synthetic replacement for the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli makes exquisite azure skies and is the all-around winner for a primary blue. If I could have only one blue in my box, this would be it. Mixes well with other colors to create a full range of secondary colors with no toxicity. Tends toward the purple-blue and of dark value in its pure form.
Payne's Gray: a premix of Ultramarine Blue and Lamp Black. Lightfastness 1. I've heard so much about this color being used as a blue gray that I decided to try it. I used it for much of the underpainting on "The Thought of Love's Return" as shown in Tutorial 3. Ralph Mayer states that true Payne's Gray is a mix of Ultramarine Blue with black and ochre. I really could have just mixed my own. Lately, it just sits in the box...
Cobalt Blue: Oxides of Cobalt and Aluminum (PV28). Lightfastness 1. A unique color favored by many a past artist who wished to depict a softly lit sky. When mixed with white it is slightly grayer than Ultramarine, and of a lighter value straight from the tube. As with Cobalt Violet, it should be handled with care.
Cerulean Blue: Cobaltous stannate in its true form, Pre-Tested paints provide the less expensive mix of Copper Phthalocyanine, Zinc Oxide, and Amorphous Carbon produced by charring animal bones (Thalo Blue, White and Black). Lightfastness 1. A light green-blue that has unique uses, whether in skies, water, clothing, or other areas. Obviously, this color could be mixed if you have Phthalocyanine Blue as part of your palette. But, as noted above, the intensity of Phthalo Blue gives it far fewer uses than a Cerulean hue with the convenience of being premixed.
Prussian Blue: Alkali Ferri Ferrocyanide. A strong tinting strength green-blue often replaced by Phthalocyanine Blue today. I use this very little, but occasionally have need to glaze a deep green blue in ocean water or the like. It is said to fade somewhat when mixed with white, so if you want to use it that way, you're better off with the Phthalo.
GREENS: It has always been tough for the artist to find a good green that was both pleasing in color and lightfast. For the work I do in landscape and figure painting, my top choices are the Chromiums. Only the occasional need to reproduce a man made color in clothing might necessitate a Phthalo Green.
Chromium Oxide Green: Anhydrous Chromium Sesquioxide. Lightfastness 1. A wonderfully mild neutral green that is perfect for landscape painting. It can easily be modified by mixing with browns, blues, and yellows.
Veridian: Hydrous Chromium Sesquioxide. Lightfastness 1. As Chromium Oxide's more chromatic brother, this yellow-green has many uses and works well as a glaze where it is not as overwhelming as Phthalo Green. However, it has weak tinting strength when mixed with white, where the Phthalo may be better suited. Phthalocyanine Green is often used as a substitute for Veridian but, being much stronger, it is often found reduced as Veridian Hue in students' grades.
BROWNS: I have listed the yellow-browns under yellows and the red-browns under reds, leaving only the true brown browns here.
Raw Umber: Natural Iron Oxide containing Manganese and Synthetic Black Iron Oxide. Lightfastness 1. A low-oil (lean) cool brown that is very good for use in underpainting.
Burnt Umber: Calcined Natural Iron Oxide containing Manganese. Lightfastness 1. A warm, chocolaty-brown that has universal applications. Mixed with Ultramarine Blue it makes rich blacks.
BLACK AND WHITE: the foundation of form and light. Considering that white is added to so many of the colors in every layer of a painting, it becomes a major part of that painting. For this reason it is important to choose a white that works well and can be controlled in its oil content. For that the best is still Lead White, despite its toxicity.
Mars Black: Lghtfastness 1. For permanence, this low oil warm black Iron Oxide pigment can't be beat in the blacks.
Permalba Black and White: Lightfastness 1. These are composite pigments blended with oils and additives in a mysterious mixture that is nontoxic, nonyellowing, and flexible. Formulated to be the perfect pigments of buttery texture, they work well, but do raise questions concerning the indirect method: if you don't know what's in it, you don't really know how it will stand up when layered. In some of my paintings, I have used Flake White (lead white) for the underpainting and restricted the Permalba white to top layers.
Griffin Alkyd Ivory Black and Titanium White: Both Lightfastness 1. These oil-modified synthetic resin colors are fast drying, which is an aid when you're on a deadline. Alkyd paints can be purchased in a full line of colors if you like their properties. I primarily use the white combined with my other traditional linseed oil colors. When mixed with traditional oils, they should be used throughout the painting in a fat-over-lean approach by increasing the addition of resin (in the form of an alkyd resin medium, like liquin, or other traditional linseed based mediums). The paint film produced is more flexible than a normal linseed oil paint layer, which may reduce cracking when painting indirectly. Alkyd white therefore has the benefits of greater flexibility, even than lead white, and has the opacity of titanium. Both features of this paint should make it age well. Since white is the largest part of any painting, the one you choose is an important element in the structure and stability of your work of art. This has become my primary white for everyday studio painting. But one should be cautious when using it. I have found that overexposure to its fumes causes extreme headaches and dizziness, so ventilate your studio properly.
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