Watercolor 101 ~ My Top 10 Tips for Creating a Palette 🎨✨✨✨

Hi & Welcome to the Video! Here are my 10 Top Tips for Curating your own Watercolor Palette.. . Enjoy!

1. Do your colors have mostly warm or mainly cool undertones.. .

This is a big one for me as I have many colors on my palette. When painting, I usually narrow it down to only a handful, but i can choose these from any colors in my palette.. . the reason this works is because all the colors have the same cool undertones, so I can choose 3 or 4 of any colors on the palette to mix with neutrals, & it will create a harmonious palette.

This can be done with cool or warm undertones, and you may want a palette for each.

2. How Easily do your Paints Re-wet?

This is something I may not talk about enough but is a crucial part of deciding on your palette, & on being able to use your colors to their full potential

Some colors rewet with the slightest application of a wet brush, others need water to be placed on them & a small amount of time to activate.. . This is something I’m quite comfortable with now & it doesn’t bother me either way, but when I was first starting I did appreciate colors that rewet easily.. .

Some Brands I recommend for this are
Schmincke, they are the creamiest!
Holbein
Michael Harding
KJDesignsbyKaren {for shimmer colors that rewet with the touch of a brush}

This may also differ even between colors in some brands, because each pigment is different


3. Granulation

Do you prefer a smoother wash, or do you like the texture granulation provides.. . This may also depend on what you need to paint, for example, you may need a smoother brown for hair, or a granulating brown for a tree trunk

4. Staining or Non Staining Colors

Staining colors are very vivid & pack a wonderful punch in the vibrancy department, however, they are often harder to control {because of how saturated they are, in washes they can overtake every other color} so they may need some practice if you have them on your palette

5. Lightfastness

Some colors, often brighter, Flourescent colors will fade over time. I still like to use them because they are so beautiful & I think it’s important to have lovely things to create memories & beauty in the now as well as things that will last.. . I like to paint everything first, then glaze these colors over the top, to have the best of both worlds!

6. Opaque vs Transparent

This can also be an important part of your palette decision making.. . Some watercolor artists use only transparent colors to get very specialized effects & clean glazes

There may also be instances where one or the other is more useful, I have heard some botanical artists say that after working on a project for 40 hours if they make a tiny mistake, they will use some more opaque white to rectify this if needed


7. Tonal Range

This is a big consideration for me.. .

You can see I like to have softer versions & more saturated versions of the color, but you can also create tonal variety using water, or using white {titanium white for a more opaque look, zinc white for a more translucent one}

I’m also interested in tonal decisions because of a process called equi~luminance {I used a bit of creative license to make it equi~luminescence ☺️} This is when colors from the same tonal range are placed kind of hovering or floating next to each other, to create a shimmer or glowing effect.. . I really love the way this looks & feels to the viewer

8. Mixing Ability

How well do your colors work together, & can you get the range of colors & textures you’re looking for from your palette.. .

This is one of the most fun things to work on ~ I could fill {& I have, but I could still do more!} whole sketchbooks with color swatches & color mixes

9. Sparkle Colors

I love them! I also love to balance these out with more earthy colors, like a holographic champagne gold with a grainy violet brown earth

10. Do you love your palette?

This should be pretty intuitive, but I feel like a lot of time goes into telling us how to set up a palette based on that particular artists likes & needs.. . Your palette should reflect your work, your aspirations, & how you want to paint.. . it’s where your style even begins!

I’m sure Ive forgotten a few key things, let us know in the comments if you have any other palette necessities, considerations, or recommendations.. .

Have a wonderful week! Happy Painting! 🥳🎨💗✨🪷🦋🐾
.. . Links & Mentions Below



Colors Mentioned ~
Azalea from Nibs

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NibsWaterco...

Begonia from Little Reverie Studio

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleRever...

Purpurite from Daniel Smith
Lapis Lazuli & Cobalt Blue from Daniel Smith



The Artist i mentioned is Julia Barminova on Instagram, shes one of the world class watercolor artists! I love her work so much & you will see her palette is the opposite of mine, a limited palette with strong colors!

Amazing Bulbs from Dutch Grown

https://www.dutchgrown.com

Seeds from Eden Brothers

https://www.edenbrothers.com