I mixed Quinacridone Gold with Goethite to create a brighter mixing granulating earth yellow. (Jane's Granulating Gold); I mixed Burnt Sienna with Transparent Red Oxide to create a brighter Burnt Sienna. (Jane's Sienna). I initially chose Sodalite Genuine rather than Jane's Grey (burnt sienna + Ultramarine) as a dark to add even more granulation. It was also good for colour harmony since I didn't include ultramarine in the palette (!) I'll probably switch it back to Jane's Grey though...
It is based around a primary triad of Indian red, Cerulean chromium and the earthy gold so it's a very earthy palette. Without Ultramarine, my basic blue, it'll be really interesting to paint with, especially wet into wet with a large brush.
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| Buff Titanium, Jane's Golden Earth, Jane's Sienna, Indian Red, Cerulean Chromium and a space for ? |
But my little palette has room for one more colour. I considered adding Green Apatite Genuine or Serpentine for a granulating green, but chose one from below that I think will fit in best to keep harmony with the set. What would you add?
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| Quinacridone gold and Goethite make Jane's Gold, burnt sienna and ultramarine make Jane's grey, transparent red oxide and burnt sienna make Jane's sienna. |
Update 2017.
Thank you for the suggestions :-)
I did end up adding Cobalt blue - it was the best fit for a softer blue with the other palette colours, and then switching to my Jane's Grey instead of Sodilite. The cobalt blue will probably switch to ultramarine when it runs out - I'll have to think about that one. Ultramarine and cerulean chromium are such a lovely pair for skies, but Cobalt fits in very nicely with this more subdued palette.
The other change I made was to switch the Indian Red for Jane's Earth Rose - another custom colour made from Indian Red and Potter's Pink. It combines the gorgeous granulating pink of the PR233 with the strength of the PR101. It's a strong granulating dusty rose colour - very nice :-)
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| Potter's Pink and Indian Red make Jane's Earth Rose |
I am not deliberately naming a whole range after myself but it really is the clearest way to explain that it is a colour I've created, not a commercial mix.
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| Earth palette with Buff Titanium (DS), Jane's Golden Earth, Jane's Sienna, Jane's Earth Rose, Cerulean Chromium (DS), Jane's Grey and Cobalt Blue (DS) |
Here is the palette and some of the mixes. The purples made with Cobalt Blue and Jane's Earth Rose are just lovely.
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| Mixing earthy greens, purples and neutrals with the earthy palette colours. |
Definitely Cobalt Blue or Ultramarine! There are never enough blue colors in a palette.
ReplyDeleteI usually like to have a few blues and quite a range of yellows, but I am with you on this one.
DeleteThis is hands down my favorite palette you've ever created. Living in the far north of the United States, I would add Cobalt. Alone, cobalt is wonderful for under or overglazing to change the temperature of an area. With Buff, it creates soft opaque grays and blues that are valuable for the rocks and ocean in the New England area. With the TRO/BS mix, it creates a soft, silvery gray that I use often in sky/water washes. I've never used Indian red, but I'm guessing mixed with Cobalt it creates a lively shadow color with some desaturated purpley notes. I love laying a wash of Cobalt and streaking Cerulean Chromium into it for water, and that mix also makes a nice top of the sky color. I'm guessing again on Sodalite, but the ability to do a variety of cool gray/blues is a big deal in New England.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I love this palette -- thanks for a fun exercise!
That's my feeling too. I wanted to add ultramarine but it's too strong, which is what I like about it. Cobalt had a gentler manner that fits perfectly with these colours. I may switch to Jane's Grey when I run out of sodalite as it is so easy to work with, but earth colours usually take up about half my palette - this time it's what the palette is all about.
DeleteI love Indian Red. It is another powerhouse in itself, but can be washed down to the perfect pink for skin tones and the touch or red in eyes and lips, as well as being wonderful for landscapes and rocks. It's about the most opaque watercolour there is so I also use it with gouache.
mmmm, I would say Ultramarine,.... I may have to reconsider cobalt blue now.....
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever set up one of my own palettes without ultramarine. It's such a useful all-purpose blue and I know it so well. But cobalt is very beautiful and I want to give it a workout in this palette.
DeleteMe too...interesting comments about the Cobalt and the other colors...will have to try them!!! With the limited palette...why are you using both the Janes Grey AND the Sodalite. Just curious as I love JG and use it a lot.
ReplyDeleteMy most used colours in any of my palettes are Jane's Grey, buff titanium, goethite, quin gold and ultramarine, probably followed by cerulean and raw umber. I thought about setting up a palette with just those, but there needed to be something of a red. And I wanted a more neutral earthy look - which is why I mixed the goethite and quin gold together. I wanted to force myself to work differently.
DeleteOne of the advantage of Jane's Grey is that it is made from colours normally in the palette. It is so useful - convenient, liftable, versatile, etc, and if I were adding ultramarine, I'd certainly also use Jane's Grey instead of Sodalite. But for this palette I want to make it a bit more challenging so I am more free to experiment. Sodalite gives even more granulation and a bit more unpredictability, as does adding transparent red oxide to the burnt sienna and goethite to the quinacridone gold. So the idea is not to have both sodalite and Jane's grey - just one of them. I only have a small amount of sodalite so once I use it up I may well go back to my Jane's Grey ;-)
I chose to add cobalt blue as the 7th colours rather than ultramarine - it is a softer, gentler mid blue that will harmonise very well with the other colours. It will also mix beautifully with the burnt sienna mix, and I'll muddle them on the paper to make a version of Jane's Grey when I want to. Should be fun.
That would depend on what subject you are painting. I think you added either cobalt blue or raw umber.
ReplyDeleteI would probably add the Green Apatite because I like to do landscapes.
By the way, I love Sodalite and both of those Primatek greens. I want to experiment with a limited palette of just Primateks, using wet in wet and very thin glazes (which I need to practice) to build up to something. While they are limiting and tricky I'm drawn to experimenting with pigments as they may have been before we had the advantages of our modern chemistry. I add Monte Amiata and Verona Gold Ochre to the Primatek palette to provide some yellows.
Yes you could certainly set up a wonderful primatek palette, but you need a few others to get the full range. Hematite burnt scarlet can act as a burnt sienna, Garnet genuine as an earth red, blue apatite genuine as an earth blue with Jadeite, green apatite genuine and serpentine genuine as gorgeous greens. Very interesting to paint with wet into wet :-)
DeleteI'd go for Perylene Green to complete this palette.. .
ReplyDeleteI love that colour and have it in my palette generally, but it isn't earthy and granulating so doesn't fit with my rules for this one :-)
DeleteGreen apatite genuine is probably the best earthy green to add to fit in with this earthy granulating palette.
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteI picked up a 5ml tube of Quin Gold from DBs not too long ago, and apparently its no longer a single pigment color. I was expecting to see PO 49, but my tube lists PO 48 & PY 150. I was wondering if you were aware of that, or had any information about it. Just wondering if its sort of like the New Gamboge situation where a pigment was discontinued???
I took a look on the DS web site, and they still list Quinacridone Gold as PO 49. But I see that Quinacridone Deep Gold is a mix of PO 48 & PY 150. But my tube says Quinacridone Gold on it plain as day, not Quinacridone Deep Gold, and lists 284 610 089, which is Quinacridone Gold, not 284 610 152, which is Quinacridone Deep Gold. Yikes :(
DeleteHi Bob
DeleteYes I know the 5ml tube is a hue. It is a close hue to the original PO 49 colour but made from PO48 and PY150. PO 48 is the colour Quinacridone Deep Gold in the DS range. PY150 is Nickel Azo Yellow in the DS range.
The pigment PO49, like all the quinacridones, was created for the car industry, which requires completely uniform particles for a smooth finish in car paint. Once they stopped using it, it ceased manufacture, and Daniel Smith bought up the last remaining stock in the world.
They used to make their oils and acrylics using PO49, but now ONLY use it in the 15ml tubes of watercolour. Not the 5ml tubes. The 5ml tube is a touch brighter than the PO49 I think.
Thanks very much Jane.
DeleteIndanthrone blue is a gorgeous colour that I usually have in my palette, along with perylene green and raw umber - all great darks. But it doesn't fit with my rules for this palette - earthy and granulating. Do try it yourself though :-)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting... I love Quinacridone Gold... I better buy another 15ml tube while PO49 is still available.
ReplyDeleteThere is enough for many years now that it is only being used for the 15ml tubes of watercolour, but keep a spare just in case :-)
DeleteHi Jane,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting palette, and I would choose cobalt blue also, as it has that indefinable 'something', that no other blue possesses, and is never overpowering. A lovely triad is cobalt blue, raw sienna and alizarin crimson, which makes lovely evening skies, add burnt sienna and raw umber and it's a really good all rounder.
Thanks Jane,
David.
I love exploring triads with earth colours. And I agree Cobalt blue is lovely. It's beautiful with hansa yellow medium and quinacridone rose too.
DeleteI assume you don't mean genuine alizarin crimson (PR83?) as I don't use that at all - though I think the closest lightfast version I have found is the Da Vinci Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19) - a lovely crimson that looks and mixes almost exactly the same as PR83. Daniel Smith Carmine is another lovely lightfast alternative to the fugitive PR83.
I am so used to Ultramarine that I find Cobalt almost too gentle (which is why I suggested in my update that I may change it) but part of the idea was to make a challenge for myself and I do LOVE the cobalt blue colour :-)
wow, that Jane's red earth is pretty close to pinkcolor deep!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I was so amazed by your Pinkcolor deep - a single pigment colour rather than a mixed one! But I'll just keep mixing my own. It's a gorgeous colour in both versions :-) I wonder if the deep pigment has some iron oxide in it??
DeleteWhen I have tested both the pinkcolor pigments I thought many would love the pinkcolor - the earthy pink whereas the pinkcolor deep seems similar to many iron oxides pigments but a bit redder. And most people asked for the pinkcolor after they have tested the dots so I purchased more pinkcolor pigment rather than the pinkcolor deep and decided to keep the pinkcolor deep for self use. I'm quite surprised it became the colour you feature out of the dots I sent you haha and now some people are asking for it. The chemical formula for both pinkcolor are the same though.
DeleteSchmincke's new colour includes potters pink and I'm guessing it could be similar to pinkcolor deep which is quite worth the money if the same pigment is used.
I really need to get hold of the new Schmincke colour card!
DeleteSince I've tested well over a thousand watercolours (I need to load hundreds more onto my website), it's not often that I come across a 'new' colour. Your Pinkcolor deep was a new colour, and I guess since I'd been making it, one I was tuned into. The lighter Pinkcolor is also lovely but closer to those readily available.
Apart from Buff titanium, I choose to have very strong pigments as I can always water them down. I've only ever used potter's pink (the normal lighter version) in one painting - a snow monkey - and even then I had to also add crimson and indian red to deepen it. I do love the granulation :-)
lovin' Jane's Earth Rose :) Wasn't sure, but Potter's Pink is definitely going in the empty half pan I still have in the palette of your favorite 48 colors I got together :)
ReplyDeleteYes Jane's Earth Rose if the colour I've been searching for to really make this earth triad sing - I couldn't find it so made it up. I was amazed at the Pinkcolor Deep that Sharlie made though (shown in my other post on handmade watercolours) - my colour in just one pigment...hmm.
DeletePotter's pink is very beautiful and granulating but just so gentle that it doesn't play so well with my other colours. You can, of course, add some Indian Red or even Quin rose when painting to beef it up a bit :-)
I use a polymer repair system called 'Selleys Aqua Knead it' to make bits and pieces or adjustments - it's a two part roll that you cut a little off, knead it to blend and activate, model it and allow to dry - it can be sanded back. So I'd use something like that to make the division in the half pan. Or get some plastic sheet from a model store and cut a small piece and glue. Or use cardboard and seal it. Do it yourself works fine :-)
ReplyDelete...and the other thing you can do is just put both colours in the half pan at the same time and allow to dry. They won't actually mix if they are both well shaken tubes and squeezed in together! Then use your brush carefully to take from one side or the other to paint once dry..
ReplyDelete