How to make your colour palette more versatile

[@sheairis]

Teoh makes it super easier and helpful to narrow it down to limited palette! I've been so overwhelmed with a lot of Daniel Smith colors

[@charlie.5840]

I really like this video because its almost a summary of all the other color videos you've made in the past. As someone who is still learning how to use watercolors, your explanation of warm and cool colors was very helpful! For that empty spot on your pallet I recommend Q. Rose, its a gorgeous color.

[@AshaJacobb]

charlie.58 😊👍👍

[@liciacolore]

This video is a revelation...now I understand why my mixture are often awful 😅Thanks and love from Italy!💓

[@missusparsons]

Thank you for including the pigment numbers. That really helps for identifying hues across brands

[@lisakfogarty]

Emerald-toned greens with violet-toned purple is my favorite non-primary color mix because it makes an interesting blue. Goes against everything I know about color theory but it’s fun for limited palettes :)

[@AlejandraRafa]

I absolutely love that mix too! 😍

[@rubymarie6232]

Just tried it- its an awesome dull blue! I love the color

[@aa-mh3dn]

omg same its so like whimsical

[@ukpaul9221]

Congratulations! You are the first person on KZbin to actually demonstrate and explain colour mixing in an effective and demonstrable way. Thank you so much?! You have helped avoid so many disappointments! You have done a real service to the folk like me who are doing their amateur best to produce good colour mixes and choosing a limited palette to achieve it. Thank heaven for your good sense and clear explanation.

[@helgaleifsdottir5191]

Thank you, I did order your palette today. very expencive but I am so glad to get DS pallette. There was no Jane´s gray in the online shop, could not find any similar. Wow thank you, thank you Jane also.

[@koskey06]

I love the way you have this small palette set up. I prob change a color or two as just a personal preference but having full pans of main stay or versatile colors makes sense and having half pans of convenience or less used colors is just perfect.

[@carlycharlesworth1497]

I know this video is 4yrs old but I found it so, so helpful. I have been thinking about creating a palette for my own use that will give me the colours that will suit me best. This video has helped me see colours in a different way. Thank you for posting the video. God bless you.

[@DavZell]

Teoh, thank you for the video. I actually saw your post first. I really appreciate that you still do blog posts. They are easier for studying and for searching. Your site has been an awesome resource as I have been learning the past year.

[@teohyc]

Yeah, that's why I still write the blog posts. It's easier to write since I just photograph all the stuff I've shown in the video. lol

[@LeaGalTan]

Very, very helpful video. Thank you!

[@fatema2157]

Cant thank you enough for all the helpful content you make for us. Hope to be able to give back to you sometime soon.

[@iklasthescienceguy4109]

I don't know why but you are hundred percent my fav.. art topic KZbinr!!!lov. Ya...!!

[@teohyc]

Thanks 😁

[@jenna2431]

Found a lot of value in this video--thank you!

[@kuvira44]

I love your color selection Teoh💙 particularly love the cerulean blue for the skies ☁️

[@ladoubleu5534]

Thanks, Teoh. I really am attracted to expressive watercoloring and have been trying to emulate the techniques. This video was very helpful in my understanding the shortcomings of my palette.

[@conniebigelow8732]

Thank you so much Teoh! Iam in the process of building up my palette and your explainations of how colors work has given me the insight I need to choose new colors and how they will work together.

[@AshaJacobb]

Connie Bigelow 😊👍

[@dianneandstevehorvath2681]

Once again a really helpful video, thank you

[@catherinelampman9600]

Thank you for this video Teoh. I am fairly new to watercolor and this video has been a tremendous help. I now have a good working palette put together. Love you videos.

[@higherground711]

That was all very well explained. Very helpful. 😃 Thanks Teoh.

[@Subliminal.Radiation]

Great video, as always! This is actually perfect timing, too; I plan on purchasing some watercolors tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

[@FitFatFut]

Thanks for all the tips. I've been wanting to create a 12 pan travel palette. Lots of good things to think about.

[@teohyc]

Check out this blog post too www.parkablogs.com/content/colours-pick-12-pan-watercolour-palette

[@FitFatFut]

Thank you, I saw that post in the description box! I liked seeing what other artists have put together. I feel like I have better tools and tips to use while figuring out what will work for my own needs. Great job on putting this together.

[@lylylo613]

Thank you for some more interesting tips!

[@Cati.Colours]

Amazingly useful video, thank you!

[@arcuda2001]

Thank you very much for this !! It all gets so confusing .. so much to get more familiar with , as I have started painting again .... this was very clear and, again , I thank you :-))

[@KarijnsWatercolors]

Thank you so much for this video, now I think I have a better idea on how to built a new palette or what to look for in a new one. About that, I wondered what you thought about Billy Showell botanical Sennelier set. I always thought it had far too many primaries, but apparently this should be to prefer if I want to mix my secondaries/other colors.

[@terrisimmers9784]

You were the one who helped me with water color theory. And this just helps me more. Love Terri Simmers. Merry Christmas!

[@teohyc]

Thanks. Welcome 😁

[@artgirlpats1032]

Good process for creating a good palette. the certain color hues seem important

[@paulfogarty7724]

I find I usually have more blues than other colours because they are so different from each other and can't be altered to look like another blue. For example there is nothing can be done to make an Ultramarine into a Cobalt ect, and sometimes you might need Cobalt blue for a cold looking sky. They also can be used to make a plethora of different greens. I ended up with Ultramarine, Cobalt, Cerulian and Thalo ( beautifull greens ) in my palette.

[@yippiecahier9253]

Excellent video! Thanks for posting! I've shared it to Watercolour Sketchers page for our viewers!

[@teohyc]

Cool. thanks :-)

[@katf3836]

Thank you. This is very helpful to me.

[@megida8812]

Limited palette with primary warm-cool colours keep visual cohesion. I was taught Cyan-Yellow- Magenta as primaries. Colour theory is so interesting and fun. Thanks Oxoxoxmeg 🙇🏻‍♀️🤡😷🎡🌸🐇

[@cindyhorton6980]

Very useful info! I will watch it again as it was alot to take in!! Not complaining tho!! Thank you❤

[@soliferi]

this is exactly what I needed >.

[@elizzievb]

Very helpful Teoh! Thanks!

[@AshaJacobb]

😊👍

[@debsmith7050]

This information was a part of my education - same for you too I assume :) Well stated. Thanks for sharing

[@teohyc]

Welcome 😁

[@ginettelachance3280]

Thank you so much for this video!✨✨✨

[@amysamin]

Very helpful! Have you ever tried mixing lemon yellow with a dark gray or black? You get great, natural-looking greens with those colors.

[@teohyc]

Thanks. I've not tried that before. I can't imagine a yellow and black turning green 😂

[@amysamin]

Teoh Yi Chie I couldn’t believe it either, until I watched a video by Cathy Johnson. I tried, it and it really works! Of course, you need to use more yellow than black. 😉

[@AshaJacobb]

Great idea! Thank you

[@paulwhite760]

Actually , black is really a dark blue and white is a very light blue. Black of space and white of sun equal blue in the sky. The real dark of yellows cannot be achieved by adding black but by browns_the umbers...see realcolorwheel website by Don Jusko .

[@lisathaviu1154]

Watch this - this gentleman has a really great color mixing sense. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqqUlJ19mNeir6c

[@stacyamazedbylife7508]

An other great and interesting video! Thanks as always

[@teohyc]

Welcome 😄

[@Donna_G]

I have both Quinacridone Red and Quinacridone Rose. They have the same pigment number and on paper, I can't see any difference. They both make decent purples when mixed with French Ultramarine. I have not learned the difference between these two colors. It seems like what you are describing is the split-primary color wheel/palette. I was first introduced to the split-primary palette by Susie Short.

[@lisboagualberto]

Thanks for this vídeo, I have just yelow lemon, indigo, alizarin, paynes gray and brown and want to do my pallet whith then

[@rashone2879]

I think you can get sap green by mixing phthalo blue and yellow ochre.

[@katjazippel7487]

Thanks for the great video! I also always struggle with the reds 😊

[@darklightmotion5534]

the warm / cool thing finaly properly explained, only proko has said this too

[@glorisyoung9696]

Very helpful! Thanks.

[@annelogged]

Excellent information! Thank you!

[@AshaJacobb]

😊👍

[@JacquelineJax]

I like that gamboge.

[@Milkbootable]

I like to keep a neutral gray around. Useful for dulling things down, and when you absolutely need a gray, (or just a color near gray thats a little modulated) it's a heck of a lot easier than trying to mix 3 or 4 colors at once, tends to build up way more grey-soup than needed.

[@teohyc]

I mix grays with French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna

[@AshaJacobb]

Very useful info...😊👍

[@michaelwilton4545]

Teoh, your explanation of warm and cool colours is the best I have ever heard. I finally understand this clearly. Thank you so much!!!

[@daniellefernandes7510]

very helpful video👍❤

[@azzuparis]

I need to buy a more portable palette that the one I have and I have to choose the colours, so this video is very useful. Thanks, Teoh :)

[@azzuparis]

Yasmine S. Oh great to know. Thanks Yasmine 😊

[@esthers5876]

Wonderful video! It's very helpful to see the color mixing. Have you talked about transparent versus staining watercolors in your videos? I would be really interested in that. Thank you, Teoh!

[@teohyc]

Haven't made that video yet. Staining colours, as the name suggest, stains. They are difficult to lift off paper once they are on it. Do not drop staining colours onto clothes, floor or tables. Really difficult or impossible to clean them.

[@esthers5876]

Thanks!

[@heatherrae4126]

This was such a helpful video! Thank you so much

[@niniseconda5839]

This was very insightful. I plan on buying watercolors and tin boxes for myself, and I saw yours in the video, so could you make a video explaining about those boxes maintenance/cleaning? Thanks in advance!

[@teohyc]

I've a video talking about my watercolour boxes kzbin.info/www/bejne/il7bemSrq95skLc

[@jasneskis]

I miss your videos from urban sketchers. No one is posting videos on you tube from Portugal. Enjoy your little one.

[@teohyc]

Maybe I should go for the next one in Amsterdam

[@autchiu]

So informative - Thanks Teoh! Will you be doing a video on RBY vs CMY primary colors?

[@teohyc]

Probably not. RBY and MCY are just different sets of primary colours. Say you have the perfect MCY and can mix any colour you want. But you use red often. So it might be better to include red rather than magenta.

[@bySusuko]

Good explained, thank you!

[@nrich5127]

This is a very good video but I'm still a bit confused - from a classically trained artist's eye the Pyrrol Orange is a Red but to my eye it's an Orange ( a secondary color ) - you then try to mix it with a Blue Phthalo ( a warm blue ) and the result is a muddy grey. This is what is expected when you mix secondary colors. At what point does a color ( no matter what pigment is used ) in a visual sense does it react like a secondary color and therefore should take the name of the secondary color ? In other words when is a Red a Red and when is an Orange an Orange ?

[@ludwinvart5409]

Thanks Teoh, I have recently bought the Strathmore 500 art journal, the paper is cotton but is hard to open it flat

[@teohyc]

That journal cannot open flat

[@calamityjitt667]

Most mixing versatile jack-of-all-trade limited palette I found about is based on Jane Blundell high chroma quartet of colors. Namely: py151 (middle yellow), po73 (transparent pyrrol orange from DS that serves as warm red), pr122 (cool red, together with warm red makes nice crimson and gorgeous mixes with green), pb15:6 phthalo blue red shade (neutralizes po73 perfectly to deep but transparent black) and last pg36 phthalo green yellow shade to fill the green part of color wheel. Technically it's primary and secondary triad combined. Five colors (six with premixed neutral of blue and warm red in extra pan) that allows me to mix whatever hue I desire all around the color wheel including earth tones in quite high chroma. Quin red pv19 (red variety) can be added to "enhance" red part of color wheel for more chromatic mixed reds, but otherwise I'm not feeling any compromise despite lots of mixing required for some hues and shades.

[@mararsc]

very usefull, as always Tks!!! How ´s Tifanny?

[@teohyc]

She’s doing fine. She has grown from 2.6 to 6.8kg. lol

[@mararsc]

Are you adding yeast to her babybottle? lol please.. send pictures !! new movie!!!

[@spiritsjoy]

I know this is an old video but why not peryleen maroon for that third red. Its pretty and mixes well.

[@livexurxlifex3]

Do you have a video explaining what you mean by colors that are "granulating" ?

[@teohyc]

You can check out this video m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJvXnpuvi72AipI

[@MalamikArt]

It's really nice that someone spelled out why Ultramarine Blue makes a terrible purple. Magenta and Cyan will make a perfect violet to purple. Great explanation of color mixes. Quin Rose or lilac should be your choice?? Maybe?

[@teohyc]

Very likely to be Lilac. It mixes into a nice red with other yellows that I have. I haven’t experimented much with Q Rose.

[@louiez.9748]

The yellow lemon color is slightly greenish and when mixed with a deep red color the result will never be as expected, since it gives a brownish-brown tone. Love your videos.

[@creativecolours2022]

I would replace the Yellow Ochre with a Pyrrole Orange PO71. ( this one in particular) This gives browns and grays when mixed with the Blues and nice bright reds when it is mixed with the Magenta. You don't need the sap green if you have the Phthalo Green that can mix Sap Green with the yellows that you can mute with a touch of the Q. Red. Phthalo Green is in fact the ultimate mixing colour. Mixed with Magenta gives Indigo, when mixed with red gives all sort of browns and darks ( depending the ratio) and it gives all sort of green hues when mixed with the yellows. I would replace the Sap Green with a cool Blue like Cobalt ( you have already three blues that are considered warm or warmish). You don't need either the Grey because you have already included the B.Sienna that can mix greys when mixed with any of the blues and particularly with the Ultramarine and the Phthalo Green of course. I would replace it with a Q. Rose ending up having two Yellows, four blues, two reds ( warm and cool), two orange ( or better say orange-ish colours if we include the B. Sienna), one pink and a Green.

[@starshinesoldier]

Hi I really like the design of the larger palette box (not the portable painter box). May I ask what brand that is?

[@teohyc]

Winsor Newton Deluxe sketcher box. amzn.to/2NKufrR

[@starshinesoldier]

Teoh Yi Chie Thanks!

[@davidamosphotography]

What palettes are you using there, the holders, where did you buy them, and can you buy them empty?

[@teohyc]

The 12 pan palette is called Portable Painter. The bigger one is Winsor Newton Deluxe sketcher box.

[@davidamosphotography]

Excellent, thank you!

[@ChericeByler]

What brand of palette is show in this video? I’m interested in the one that has the six squares on top for mixing. Thanks!

[@teohyc]

Winsor Newton Deluxe Sketcher Box www.jacksonsart.com/w-n-cotman-watercolour-painting-box-set-12-full-pans?___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=c9f0f895fb98ab9159f51fd0297e236d

[@astrog8tr]

This is an excellent video, but to me kind of begs the question of why there aren't more "pure" colors-- say a yellow that is not greenish or orangish for instance? Also, you show a 12 color box but what number of colors due you prefer to work with and why? Thanks.

[@teohyc]

Not sure what's pure and what's not pure. Anyway, I'm currently only using 10 colours in this set. The brown at the bottom right is seldom used.

[@HaleysArt]

What colors did you use in the first color wheel you showed where you got vibrant secondary colors too?

[@lisathaviu1154]

I know you don't like Qor paints very much, but their Quin Magenta is the best version I have ever seen - it makes the most beautiful purples as well. Another color I have come to love is Perylene Green from Daniel Smith. I wish you would tell us why you are using Sodalite Genuine - does it sparkle or just give extra granulation?

[@teohyc]

I don't use Sodalite Genuine much. I can't remember why I had that colour. lol. QoR colours are good if you use them in tube form.

[@nataliemfineart]

What if you were to add a cool yellow with a warm red, or a warm blue with a cool yellow? Would the result be more muted if you mix a cool with a warm? Thanks for the vid :)

[@teohyc]

I don't have the answer for that. Each mix of yellow red and blue is going to be different. There are some that will give you a beautiful gray (with shades of colour within) and there are the muddy grays. You have to explore mixing through trial and error to find that gray you like.

[@richardmika2136]

mine looks similar it dosent have alot of browns in it one or two got it of ebay from a russian box

[@claam6230]

What type of watercolor paper is that?

[@teohyc]

Daler Rowney Aquafine

[@miguelsimarrogonzalez2128]

Very informative, but I've always wandered why splitting the primaries when you can get both primaries and secondaries for the same price... thanks anyways for the video

[@CherzArts]

Speaking about warm and cool colors, I bought a box with 6 colors, 3 cool, YRB and 3 warm, YRB. The box includes a color chart that names the cool colors on one side of the pallet and the warm colors on the opposite side. I was very upset about the warm and cool blues as I thought they were mislabeled. Thalo blue is in the cool group and ultramarine blue is considered warm. Bottom line for me is to ignore that, because I know that I can't get a nice purple with a warm red and ultramarine blue, so what to tell the students?

[@teohyc]

It's easier to use the colour chart for reference. To mix a secondary colour, just use colours that are closest to the secondary. E.g. for vibrant purple, it will be cool red (magenta, rose) and warm blue (ultramarine)

[@AmandaMG6]

I’m with you. Ultramarine being closer to purple than green makes me think it’s cool and I have just seen recently people flipping that. I’m not changing. 😔

[@Jennifer-wr9si]

I could have sworn you had quin gold as your warm/earth yellow. Am I mistaken? And if not, why did you change?

[@teohyc]

My main warm yellow is New Gamboge. The other warm yellow is usually either Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna. I've Quin Gold but I don't use it often. I'm trying to use up certain colours first.

[@MatheusFerreira-mu6lu]

i just get 3 primaries and the rest are just colors i like. simple..

[@CarolBittencourt]

Every time you show the Kremer pigments chart or talk about it, I feel like buying a set too. I am really trying not to buy more colours or sets as I already have colours from 4 brands. :P

[@teohyc]

Best not to buy so many colours. Anyway, it's not easy to get hold of that Kremer Pigments set now. Seems like they are no longer being sold on Amazon US. They are only available through their own Web store now if I'm not wrong.

[@CarolBittencourt]

Teoh Yi Chie that's true. I live close to Germany so it's not too hard to get it sent from there. It costs 59 euros now, though.

[@CarolBittencourt]

I agree. My pain palette has only Schmincke and it is fairly easy to get them here, but these Kremer just look very different. :D

[@CarolBittencourt]

Yasmine S. Indigo is one of my favourite colours and I use it a LOT. I also have neutral tint but I must confess I don't use it so often because I neutralise colours by adding their complementary colour. I think my favourite yellow is Aureolin hue, favourite blue is cobalt turquoise, favourite red is geranium red. I also use a lot of Indian Red, and transparent green gold. 😊👍

[@kr2112]

Can you please speak to your use of sodalite? You don’t mention it here. Thank you.

[@teohyc]

See this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZm9aYeojdiFaZo

[@suzalasuzala1135]

moon glow, or raw umber violet. ( just a suggestion.

[@DerGremlin]

The thing is: primary colors are: yellow, magenta, cyan yellow+magenta = red yellow + cyan = green magenta + cyan = blue most of the times people tell you the primarys are: yellow, red, blue So when you try mixing a purple from red and blue you are using: yellow + magenta + cyan. And when mixing a green from yellow and blue you are using: yellow + cyan + magenta and when you mix all 3 together you get muddy colors.

[@Shiruvan]

but that feel when you have no more space in your 'limited' palette and feel like needing another primary without ditching the already in palette ones 😂 edit, and note; for some of us that are more inclined to use certain colors for certain items/things, it does get into a standoff I think. for instance, the base of things that are gold in color with yellow ochre and it felt perfect, but can't feel right when the yellow was replaced by another with similar hue, thus colors would just add up more and more ;;

[@teohyc]

Yellow Orche is very useful. I don't paint gold objects a lot but for human skin tones it's a convenient colour to start with.

[@cynthiazick3125]

I am STILL ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT wondering WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE???? please solve the mystery for us! of course it will not be the same for everyone or even you at all times - but what did you do?

[@soliferi]

okay but theres cool greens you can't mix and cool toned orange. I'm struggling with paint knowledge though so I'm always changing whats the best. right now I'm going with lemon, red orange, Senn (mid) red, pink (rose madder lake) red, diox purple, ultramarine deep, phthalo blue, cerulean, Senn green, raw umber and burnt sienna. this is of course just for a flexible palette. this is all sennelier for reference. trying to choose a simple, flexible mixing palette but its not so easy =-= probably obvious i have a preference for cooler tones i think.

[@teohyc]

Cooler tones have a cleaner and brighter vibe. You can get cool greens with Lemon Yellow and Phthalo Blue. That's the most vibrant yellow green I know of.

[@soliferi]

I can't believe I never tried that thank you! still not mixable but pretty close.

[@calamityjitt667]

soliferi hansa yellow light py3 and phrhalo green yellow shade pg36 - strong neon green ensued :)

[@zimrianispresent8123]

👌👽👌

[@thatswhatshesaid.literally737]

🤔 *I've heard that the size of the palette doesn't matter; it's the motion of the brush...* 😂 😉 😊

[@sentientnpc0]

Doesn't your palette lack the white color? You know, to lighten a color with

[@teohyc]

You can add more water to lighten the colour. Adding white may make the colour look chalky and or more opaque

[@sentientnpc0]

@@teohyc oh okay. Always thought mixing with white was the best way to go. I'm still a noob at painting 😅

[@Wildboy789789]

Add quin lilac, and white... I agree magenta is the primary color, u can actually hit red with magenta and a small touch of warm yellow... I dont know how you get by without white it would allow you to mix so many more colors

[@teohyc]

Without white, I just add more water. White is opaque and make other colours opaque and more chalky/pastel like.

[@pesto12601]

wildboy.. white = no no for watercolor.... just use water!

[@paulwhite760]

See the palette of Holbein WColour palette by Chung Wei Chen ...he uses his w/colours like oils.

[@MatheusFerreira-mu6lu]

if you mix a red and green you can get yellow. i just realized how weird it is a few days ago.

[@teohyc]

What specific colours did you use?