The Best COLOURS To Buy Starting Watercolour

[@sigriston]

Karen, these color suggestions are simply great. Not only are the colors mentioned here real “workhorses”, they also tend to be included in lots of good watercolor sets. This is great, so beginners won’t feel bad thinking the set they purchased is no good due to lacking one or other color. Plus, I feel super validated - I no longer think having 4 blues on my palette is overkill! 😸 (W&N French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue)

[@KarenRiceArt]

So pleased you found this helpful. I just love missing different Blues!

[@annevickers3307]

I really appreciate that you gave us alternative colors. Thank you very much.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you Anne 😀

[@Sheamarie]

Thank you for sharing all this information and links.

[@KarenRiceArt]

You are most welcome 😀

[@deenabaenen7211]

Thanks Karen! This was so helpful! Would Love a tutorial listing warm and cool colors.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Hi Deena, check out this tutorial I published last year about warm and cool colours: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGPCm3hsoZVpjdU

[@suebaumann5922]

This is an excellent tutorial, and a good review for experienced watercolor painters. Thank you!

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you Sue 😀

[@jennisalyers]

I found this very informative! Thank you

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you 😊

[@angelicamartacahyaningtyas9083]

7:43 I don't have Viridian, but I read somewhere that true Viridian PG18 is liftable and granulating. Yours looks so smooth that I suspect It is made of Phthalo Green PG7

[@KarenRiceArt]

Mine is a student grade Winsor and Newton Cotman 😀

[@angelicamartacahyaningtyas9083]

@@KarenRiceArt That's it. Your Viridian Hue is made of Phthalocyanine pigment.

[@dianemccain3124]

Best watercolor info I've ever gotten.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Wow, thanks!

[@lesleymccartney6853]

This is really great Karen loved the colour mix and alternatives. Thankyou!

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you 😊

[@carissapicchi8199]

This is amazing! So simple, because you broke it down to simple terms and the other color names it may go by AND then what colors will make that particular color if you don't have said color. I have been painting florals for a little over a year and have started to really have a fascination with the complexities of color. I call it the color need club. Too bad I didn't realize all of this BEFORE spending so much money on so many specialty colors 😅. I had them in my palette the whole time and had no clue.

[@KarenRiceArt]

So glad you found the tutorial useful. If you want more exclusive and in-depth tutorials why not think about joining my Patreon membership. www.patreon.com/karenriceart

[@mariakapatos9545]

Karen thank you so much for sharing this valuable information, so good to refer to when needing to mix Color’s.😊❤

[@KarenRiceArt]

You are so welcome! Thank you so much 😊

[@nancyrolfe3033]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of colors and different mixes! I could watch you create mixes for hours…so interesting…. You have inspired me to create a notebook for my colors in my palette, their shades and I think I’ll try mixes and record the ones I like. Thank you again, Nancy Rolfe

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you Nancy, so pleased you found this helpful 😀

[@JacquieLawrence-ee7ps]

Oh Karen wow loved this, such a helpful video. Many thanks

[@KarenRiceArt]

You are so welcome!

[@teresajordao6634]

So helpful and informative tutorial. Also it's great that you included the alternatives. Thank you so much!

[@KarenRiceArt]

You're so welcome!

[@lilyrose3011]

Thank you for the alternative suggestions 😊

[@knackability7098]

Thank you so much! This is such a helpful video, and it's great that you included the alternatives.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you 😊

[@kizzykat9120]

Thank you so much for this tutorial!! I have more spaces available and didn't see in the description for more than the 16 colors you listed. I thought I heard you say you had a list for 24 colors.

[@KarenRiceArt]

You are so welcome. Updated the description that now includes the 24 set 😊

[@kizzykat9120]

@@KarenRiceArt thank you!

[@sarahnorthrop9823]

So helpful and informative Karen thank you 😊 could you put some half pans in the middle section of that palette?

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you Sarah, I think you can 😀

[@minami8905]

Though I love art .. I'm always amazed by how well artists like you are able to differentiate between colors.😂 Especially the ones which almost look alike.

[@KarenRiceArt]

I love colour mixing!

[@catbraunwell6450]

This was great. Thank you. Some of your choices are also mine and some of them have reminded me that I should go back and try those again like Quinn acronym gold. I too like a lot of blues but I’ve never understood why so many artists think they have to have cobalt on their pallet. I find ultra marine very similar. I’m curious what you think about that? Your choices seem very good. I’ve chosen phthalo blue instead of prussian even though I love Prussian because I find it fairly easy to make by using phthalo and neutral tint. Once again thank you for your useful and interesting video

[@DianeAntoneStudio]

Cobalt blue is less granulating than ultramarine blue and for that reason I prefer it as my base blue.

[@KarenRiceArt]

So pleased you found this helpful. I agree about Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine. I use one or the other. 😀

[@christianebehr138]

Hello Karen, what avery good idea showing the very nice emty tin. Yes it is a good present ., I like it. I enjoyed looking at how you mix colours. Do you prefer the tubes? Thank you ,I also like the book that you use for the colours and how they fade and you know how they are called. Greetings from Christiane Berlin Germany 😊

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thanks so much for your comment. I prefer tubes rather than pans. I squeeze them into empty pans.

[@cassv350]

Thank you Karen.

[@KarenRiceArt]

My pleasure 😊

[@colorsmith659]

LOL. This palette was my first empty box for artist grade watercolour, some thirty years ago. (Some of the paints in it are not available anymore...🙄) And you can fill the middle row too, at least my Schmincke half pans do fit. Nice colour ranges, but I would switch Opera Rose with Indigo.😁 Thanks and have a wonderful time.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you for sharing 😀

[@dianefranklin6056]

Thanks for your suggestions. I’ve read many times that Opera Rose is a fugitive pigment that fades badly in light. Would you use this color for paintings that you sell or only for a sketchbook or other things that won’t be hung in the light? Also, would you recommend making mixes of colors that you’d use frequently, e.g., Paynes Gray, and filling a half pan with these favorite mixes rather than recreating them each time?

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you for you comment... You are right, Opera Rose can fade, especially if your painting is hung in direct sunlight. I love the colour, but don't often use it in paintings that I sell. I never pre mix colours. I love colour mixing while I paint... it is part of my process.

[@stacys447]

Thanks for the helpful video. Always helpful to get different thoughts on this. Is your viridian PG7 or PG18? The names get so confusing depending on the brands. Lovely choices. I always want all the convenience greens for landscapes :).

[@patlatour2465]

Thankyou I’m not much for swatching but made me understand more the value scale thank you for the lesson.😊

[@KarenRiceArt]

I am using W&N Viridian. Really pleased you found this helpful 😀😀

[@georgiajensen9614]

WOW...just discovered your lovely, in depth channel.....this video was eye opening.... kizzykat9120 2 months ago asked you where the list for 24 half pan sets colours were and you answered "Updated the description that now includes the 24 set " and it seems to have disappeared...any chance of getting that list back? Thank you

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you so much, you should find the 24 colours suggestions in the description below.

[@georgiajensen9614]

@@KarenRiceArt 💓

[@arlenehefner7261]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you 😊

[@eyediggit2]

When squeezing paints into the pans, don't they go hard? Mine always seem to go rock hard. I use Cotman tubes. Great tutorial as I'm a fairly newbie.

[@KarenRiceArt]

Yes it hey do go hard if you don t use them everyday. If they do spray them with water 30 mins approx before painting, it should soften them up.

[@eyediggit2]

@@KarenRiceArt Thank you. I'll try that, are the paint pans better than the tube paint?

[@KarenRiceArt]

@@eyediggit2 I prefer tubes to pans because you can make larger washes more easier.

[@migdaliarodriguez3652]

Its a great class thank you

[@KarenRiceArt]

Thank you 😊

[@ritaserafini7532]

I cannot find the link for the Loxley box. Help, please

[@KarenRiceArt]

It’s by Ken Bromley: www.karenriceart.com/art-supplies-links

[@alexandraj325]

Are all your colors Cotman or are they different brands? I ask, because the color “names” aren’t always the same across different brands and I like to look at the pigment(s) used. Thank you for a great video. Edit: The color mixing information was especially helpful

[@KarenRiceArt]

So pleased you found this helpful. I use Daniel Smith watercolours. And also at times Windsor and Newton.

[@litylu]

So you let the white gouache dry in the palette? I thought gouache didn’t work that way.

[@stacys447]

I have Schmincke white gouache in my palette this way. Not sure that I love it dried, but it stays put. I am going to try the Daniel Smith Titanium white watercolor stick (from another tutorial) to see if that works better.

[@mouseketeery]

Winsor & Newton's one (as per Karen's suggestion) is usually okay and doesn't crack out, or at least, it's not as prone to it as other brands' formulations.

[@scoiataeli]

it does.

[@jht3fougifh393]

It can be reactivated just fine.

[@sharatainx3990]

When making a blending chart for watercolours how do you know that you've mixed equal amounts of two different paints?

[@KarenRiceArt]

Practice helps. Some colours behave differently.