Insanely expensive palette boxes

These are beyond the Rolls Royce of palette boxes. Hand made of brass (so they don’t rust) and enameled for a smooth mixing surface. They cost hundreds of dollars and you have to wait months for your custom, hand made, signed and numbered box.

House of Hoffman - Steve Fanelli. Beautiful and insanely expensive. I kid you not. But I so want one. Hoffman also  offers a brass brush "vault." For that amount of money, yeah, it's a vault. For a small sketcher's box, I think I favor his design. He has developed a unique fold away thumb ring that allows you to hold your palette and journal in one hand while painting with your other. He can make them for left or right handers. I also like that all of the little parts for the Sketcher II are hinged and attached so they can't fall off or get lost, unlike the Little Brass Box Company's Travel Palette. USA

The Watercolor Paint Box Company - Craig Young. *THE* name in custom boxes. You can wait from six months to a year. I heard he has retired and his son Robert is now making the boxes. Same quality so not to worry. Boxes are brass and enameled inside and out from a selection of colors. UK

The Little Brass Box Company - John Hurtley. Exquisite. Similar to Craig Young's. I actually favor these designs over Craig Young's because of the optional flap wells and the variety of inserts. They also offer a matching brush case. For a price, of course. They have the widest range of exterior enamel colors and for an additional fee, you can customize it to any color you want. Awesome. UK

The Classic Box Company has a very limited selection but their prices are a bit more reasonable, if you consider several hundred dollars to be reasonable. They feature classic brass finishes like House of Hoffman. David Cooper.

IBA-CO - Ephraim. Out of Oakland, CA and very similar to the Craig Young and Little Brass Box company. In case you wondered why, they are all based on a traditional style created by a famous art supply company in England owned by Charles Roberson. They are sometimes referred to as Roberson boxes. I rather like his SIG box for a studio box. Brass construction and enameled outside with a variety of colors to choose from. He also offers custom colors for an additional fee, but I rather like the purple. USA

La Petite Palette - Peter Berkovski. Here's a new one I just found but the boxes are amazing. Quite beautiful and with a leather case and your name engraved for free. Classic brass finish like House of Hoffman and The Classic Box Company. Well, if you have a brass box, why not show it off? Only three are being offered for now; pocket, sketchers and studio. I quite like the studio. Looks like at some point in the future they are going to offer brushes as well. I will keep my eye on them. Bulgaria

You're looking at approximately $300 and up and up and up.

Are they worth it? Depends on who you talk to. I’ve heard two instructors say they spent prize money they have won for their paintings on these custom boxes and seem quite happy with them.
I don’t have that kind of money to splurge until I win the lottery. But I do have two brass boxes.

I have a Frazer-Price Travel Palette (looks like THIS) that I was lucky enough to pick up on eBay UK for what I consider a song, around $100 with shipping. I was really lucky as they usually go for at least double that and I've seen them listed for $400. It is a lovely little box if a bit bulky to hold in one hand, but it is self contained with a small water bottle, little containers for brush washing, plenty of mixing surfaces and space for either whole or half pans and brushes. My travel brushes do fit in there. I can put in the four primaries, plus a few extras. I might even be able to balance and still hold a journal in my left hand, freeing my right for the brush. I haven’t taken it out yet, so we shall see. I was going to take it to Yosemite but chickened out and took my Whiskey Painters and Daler Rowney instead.

Frazer-Price is still around. He is mostly retired now and paints more. While you can't get one of those 5,000 original boxes any more unless you troll eBay on a regular basis, he also designed a leather brush case that you wear on your arm (with mixed success.) You can still buy that at Jackson's Art in the UK.

I recently picked up an odd little one of a kind box. It is hand made of brass and looks very similar to the current Winsor and Newton Field Box, but it holds 15 half pans, not 12. It won’t hold a brush but the mixing surfaces are both enameled and larger. I prefer it to plastic. After it arrived and I polished it up I found some etching. One said “Sample Box”, another the name Gary Mansfield and inside Pat. Applied and a number. At one point Winsor and Newton was goingt to market the Frazier-Price box but in the end decided it was too fancy and pricey for their customers. This box looks very much like a prototype for their field box. I may never know. I sent photos and information to Winsor and Newton, heard back that it would be passed on in the company to someone who might know but since then I’ve never heard back. At any rate, I’ve “moved in” and will be taking it out for a spin.

This is the Winsor and Newton Field box. See the similarity?

If you troll eBay you can pick up some vintage boxes that can be every bit as nice as those expensive custom brass boxes. I've picked up a few, cleaned them up and repainted the insides and they're good as new for taking out for a bit of plein air. I was lucky enough to get an original Roberson

and a Binning Munro that way, plus some vintage Winsor and Newton. I prefer these metal boxes as I can put magnets on the bottom of my half and whole pans to hold them in place, yet easily switch them out to change my color palette.

Here is the mother of all palettes, a giant FOME box I purchased from Kremer Pigments, but they have been branded for others. (That's a small Winsor and Newton Bijou box on the left for comparison.) The giant FOME box is about 8 inches by 14 inches closed so quite large. I would have designed the lid with 6 mixing areas rather than three.

The giant pans in the FOME palette can hold an entire 15ml tube of Daniel Smith paint. 48 pans in total, unless I use magnets to fill the brush storage area with more pans. It is quite large but if you're using large brushes this works great. (Especially now that the wonderful large ceramic Winsor and Newton pans are discontinued. Plus they aren't very portable) If I am attending a workshop that involves very large brushes, this is what I'll take as I just don't like working with fresh paint from tubes squeezed on to a palette. But once it is filled it will weigh quite a lot. Perhaps 10 lbs or more so not what you would call portable.

Palettes - So many choices, so little money

You are going to need to put your paint somewhere, so your wet brush can pick it up and transfer it to the paper.

It could be anything and what it ends up being will depend a lot on how you feel comfortable working.

You could simply use a plain enameled butcher tray from Blick's, squeeze some paint around the edges and then use the center for mixing. Keep in mind the bigger they are the more warped they tend to be. It is normal for the center to pop up in the middle so not ideal for mixing washes as they'll all run down to the edge. But certainly economical. Or a porcelain tray from Cheap Joe's which is smooth as glass (because it is) but a lot pricier (wait until there is an insane sale, I got mine for about $12.) Pick up some white plates at a thrift store or maybe a white deviled egg tray. I've seen eyeshadow cases repurposed.

Or you could use a folding palette, which has little open squares along the edge, a hole to put your thumb through if you want to hold it, and mixing areas. These come in plastic, from cheap to pricey, metal, usually painted or enameled, from cheap to pricey and ceramic, just plain pricey. 

You'll find the ones branded with artist's names tend to be over priced, plus there are many designs from rectangles to circles.

You can also use a box called a palette box. These could be plastic or metal, cheap or pricey or upcycled from something else. The latter probably the most fun. If you want a set of paints, if you do the math sometimes the box ends up being free. Here's an empty flask palette and here it is filled with eight Schmincke half pans. The half pans run from $10 to $20 each. That is actually the first set  of artist grade paints I bought.

The two I use most often are heavy steel enameled boxes manufactured by FOME in Italy and branded for Whiskey Painters. A small travel palette that can hold 12 half pans and a medium one that can hold 24 half pans or 12 whole pans if you bend the flaps separating the pans down flat. Easily done. The middle can be used to store a brush or you can put another row of pans down the middle.  If you hunt around the best prices are usually on amazon but double check as sometimes one seller may have a considerably lower price than another.

You can buy vintage palette boxes no longer made on eBay or a new custom box on Etsy or from a manufacturer or distributor.

I knew I wanted to use half and whole pans because I had become accustomed to the round pans in my childhold Pelikan box and I wanted to continue that. I have one folding plastic palette that I haven't used since the one workshop I bought it for. I have two enameled steel butcher trays I use to hold my large size ceramic W&N pans (I glued magnets on the backs of the pans.)

Sadly, these are discontinued. I'm glad I bought mine when I did. When I use up the paint I will be refilling the pans with Daniel Smith, something I had intended all along. I have a ceramic tray for mixing the giant pan paints so when I have the work space, I spread out and they are really a joy to use. Great for using a big brush and painting on one of my biggest watercolor paper blocks. The paint in these is different than the W&N half or whole pans. It seems to be moister and rewets easily. Makes the juiciest mixes. I have a few plastic palettes, mostly W&N Cotman travel palettes (mostly they came with something else that I bought) that I empty and fill with professional half pans and a Portable Painter travel palette. I don't use plastic much as I don't like to mix on it and it stains. I have a lot of metal pans, both new and vintage, but the vast majority are heavy enameled steel. I do not like the flimsy tin ones that are sold all over the place now. The Schmincke paints I bought in such a tin were taken out and put into a heavy metal palette. So were my Winsor & Newton. I'll likely put the removed Cotman pans in these tin palettes and then give them away as gifts or donate them to charity.

My Daniel Smith paints are put into half or whole pans. Sometimes these just go into a palette and are held in place with pressure bars. Sometimes I cut magnetic strips from Home Depot and adhere them to the bottoms of the pans so they stick onto a palette or tin that has no other way of holding them. Occasionally I will glue some stronger magnets to them,

For quite a while I was using a vintage Stirling Co. watercolor palette that holds 18 whole pans plus brushes and a bit of sponge as my studio palette. I picked it up for $10 on eBay. The luck of an off brand no one recognizes. I have purchased a few unbranded, possibly home made boxes for dirt cheap this way.

Stirling is a steel manufacturing company. I suspect this palette was made in the 19th century and that Stirling didn't manufacture them for long. There is no method to hold the whole pans in as you are intended to fill the box directly so I put magnetic tape on the bottom of my whole pans to keep them in place. Many of the steel palettes will rust if you fill them directly which is another reason I prefer to use pans.

Currently I am using a vintage Roberson that I picked up in a "lot" of watercolor palettes. There was a Winsor and Newton and a cheap plastic one, some brushes and a water cup. The Roberson was either unbranded or they had no idea what it was so it wasn't even mentioned. I just happened to see it in a group photo. They didn't even provide an individual photo of it. I took a chance and when the box arrived, there it was. I've been using it ever since. I love it.

But you may not. What style of palette you use is a very personal choice and you may have to try a few to find something you really love. I tried the flat folding palettes that you put fresh paint in and I don't really care for them, but I do have a Holbein 500 I picked up on eBay.uk because it was a reasonable price and at some point I may be attending a workshop that wants fresh paint used, rather than cured pans, my preferred method.

I have a travel palette made from an empty cigar tin that holds 25 half pans. The same magnetic tape works fine to hold these in place. Lately I've been using the Art Toolkit folios since for plein air you don't require as much paint and I usually don't use a large journal so don't need large pans or large brushes. 

The advantage of using the pans and magnetic tape is that I can switch out the colors if I wish. I have changed the Stirling box three times, once for a workshop in Fallbrook, once for the Iain Stewart workshop and most recently to the palette I normally use for class. But even that one has changed a bit depending on the subject for class each week. A fruit still life will be a little different than an owl or a basket of poinsettias. I do the same thing with my current Roberson.

I have a vintage W&N Bijou Box with case, several W&N and Rowney flask palettes, some vintage W&N and Rowney folding palettes, a Reeves or two and a few that have no brand at all. One I traced to an art shop in Paris between 1890 and 1910. The paints were a mess so I dug them out and tossed them. but the box is in fine shape and will hold quarter pan sized 18 colors. Some are to use and some just to have. I don't recommend going after the W&N Bijou Box. I've seen them going for over $500 now. Yikes. Not what I paid but still. The small quarter pans they hold aren't very practical for urban sketching.

If you do happen to stumble across a vintage paint box and the paints are really old (you'll be able to tell as they will be very dry, difficult to rewet and when you do the color will be weak and grainy) toss the old paint away. It is worthless. Clean out your palette and refill with modern pigments. There is a good chance those old paints are either fugitive or toxic or both.

The little travel kit I carry with me is a Daler Rowney contemporary 18 quarter pan metal palette I keep in a harddrive case along with one pigma pen, one water brush and some cut to size Arches watercolor paper and two paper towels. Very compact.

It's still made and cheaper from the UK than from amazon. You can get it from Cassart or Jackson's. They don't come with the case any more (although Cassart has had a case made for theirs) but I don't use my case since I keep it in the harddrive case. I have occasionally seen them on eBay but be careful. I bought mine for less than $20 but recently saw one sold for over $75. Better to buy new from the U.K.

If you're looking for compact, you may want to check out Expeditionary Art. She uses make-up pans in business card sized cases to make travel kits. She has expanded to larger pans and cases but they are still very portable. The pans are shallow and only hold about a quarter pan worth of paint, but because they have a larger surface area are easier to use than the quarter size pans. You can buy them empty and fill them yourself. Extra pans of various sizes and shapes are available. Occasionally she will have a special set that has been filled with Greenleaf and Blueberry paints. 

I have seen repurposed Whitman's Sampler vintage tins, Celestial Seasonings tea tins, cigar tins, Sucrets and Altoids tins, business card cases and even eyeshadow boxes.

You may end up becoming a palette addict, in which case I'll welcome you to WetCanvas, but eventually you will find yourself returning to one palette over and over. For me it was my Whiskey Painter's master palette of 24 half pans, then it was my cigar tin of 25. Then my Stirling 18 whole pans. Now it is my vintage Roberson that holds 22 whole pans. Even so I will occasionally bring a second palette. I have one that holds all of my Primatek colors and if I think I'll use some, I just throw that palette in my bag with the other rather than switch pans in and out. I like the versatility of changing colors easily.

For some artists, they use the same basic colors on their palette and just use a different 5 or six with each painting using them to make the same mixes. A folding palette is fine for that. The plastic ones are cheap enough you can fill several of them with different paints and then just grab a different one. Eventually you settle on a set of colors you use consistently, then a second set you switch out occasionally, then a few that you use only every so often. Once you develop your own favorite selections you can fill a palette rather than using whole pans. I've been painting for four years now and even though I have my basics I am still switching out mostly convenience colors.

While the U.S. has several fine paint manufacturers (Daniel Smith, DaVinci) I find that for supplies my best shopping is in the U.K. Japan also has a good number of watercolor supplies but the language problem is generally too daunting to overcome. The UK online stores such as Jackson's and Rosemary are much easier to navigate. I have bought brushes from Belgium but only from a site that had an English language version and could convert from Euros to Dollars. You will find some websites do not allow you to put in a US address so that hinders purchases. But don't let that put you off. Some are excellent. I have had great success with both Jackson's and Rosemary &Co.

Paint manufacturers.

These are the major paint manufacturers. They may not sell direct but will have information on pigments and characteristics on their websites you may not find on a supplier's website.

Daniel Smith - one of the largest lines of watercolor. Tubes only in 5ml and 15 ml. He also carries watercolor sticks which are a great value since the pigment is so concentrated and they are all priced the same so the primatek sticks are a real bargain. His Primatek line is paint from natural minerals, rocks and earth. Very unusual. He also has iridescents, interference, duochrome  and pearlescent watercolors for special effects. This is the paint I use almost exclusively. He also manufactures several colors of "ground" allowing you to do watercolor on anything you can apply the ground to.

DaVinci - While only established in California since 1975, the history of the company can be traced back to Peru and before that Italy. It is still a family business. DaVinci has 37ml watercolor tubes which offers a great savings. Not many companies offer tubes that large. 15 ml is pretty standard as the largest you can get. They also developed the first PERMANENT Alizarin Crimson. (Remember if it doesn't say "permanent" or "hue" it is possibly fugitive.)

Winsor and Newton - Winsor and Newton does not sell on their website so it is for information only. Based in the UK, not all of their materials are available to the U.S. market. If you're looking for something specific, you might try Jackson's Art in the U.K. They will ship to the U.S. and the prices are very competitive. Order from them direct as on amazon they will charge you shipping for each item, whereas on their website, you put it all in your shopping cart and pay just one shipping fee. You can also get some of their pan paints at Blick's but you might pay less buying directly from the UK. They offer watercolor in both tubes and half and whole pans. They also had a giant ceramic pan, now discontinued. The paint is very nice, better than their regular whole pans. The giant pans are no longer available but sometimes you can find a few on amazon or eBay. The advantage is once the paint is used up, you can refill. The disadvantage is very few colors are left and they are going for a ridiculous amount of money. Don't pay $45 for one pan. When I was buying mine, they were newly discontinued and I could get them for $5-7 mostly. I never paid more than $10 for any one color. At $5 I bought three of a color and then popped them out and refilled with colors that were no longer available, like sap green or my Daniel Smith Buff Titanium which was never available from W&N.

Schmincke - Website is for information only. Horadam is the artist grade. Available in tubes and half and whole pans.

Holbein - Website is for information only. Tubes in 5ml and 15ml and a limited selection of half pans.

M. Graham - Website is for information only. Their paints include honey so may not harden in your climate depending. I don't use any paints with honey due to drying time and possible mold issues.

Sennelier - Website is for information only. Tubes, half pans and whole pans. Also honey based.

Old Holland - Website is for information only. Tubes available. Not sure about pans.

Grumbacher - Website is for information only. Finest is artist grade. Academy is student grade.

Maimeri - Website is for information only. Blu is artist grade, Venezia is student grade. Tubes in 5ml and 15 ml. I believe the Venezia is also available in pans and there is a travel set.

Mijello Mission Gold - Many of these colors are mixes of two or more pigments. They also include several fugitive colors. They are artist grade but I don't use them.

Royal Talens - Website is for information only. Rembrandt is the artist grade of Royal Talens. I don't care for the quality of their other products so would not recommend their watercolors. It is available in 5ml and 20ml tubes and half pans.

Golden - Website is for information only. QoR is their artist grade watercolor. They are in New York and fairly new, 1980,  compared with some of the other manufacturers.

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I am including some boutique paint producers. These are hand made and very pricey. But at some point, you may decide your art takes you in a direction that commercially available paints cannot support and you have the means to indulge in custom paints.

Wallace Seymour (formerly Pip Seymour). Out of the U.K. Their website mostly lists U.K. shops and none of them currently ship to the U.S. You can get their paints from Select Fine Art Materials in Canada. Not exactly a one person operation but not a big manufacturer. They have a regular line of paints as well as historic pigments. They are either tubes or whole pans. I suggest the pans as I have read of problems with the tubes. They do not rewet easily but if you do get them going some of the colors look amazing. They are also pretty pricey so as soon as I win the lottery I am going to invest in 18 whole pans and keep them in my Stirling vintage palette.

Greenleaf and Blueberry - There is no "store". They open their shop on their own website periodically, about once a month, and it's first come, first served. They usually sell out in a few minutes so you have to be fast. Make and account and log in with pre-saved payment information to give you your best shot. Join their mailing list. Really nice paints but really expensive. They are sold by the half pan and by the whole pan and in sets. They also offer the equivalent of a quarter pan in natural sea shells, like artists used to use. They are just starting to offer metallics and micas. They occasionally coordinate with Art Tookit to offer a special set.

A. Gallo - Online only. This "shop" is out of Italy but purchasing is very easy and shipping is as quick as you'll get from Europe. Like Greenleaf and Blueberry the paint is hand made and they open the shop about once a month. Unlike Greenleaf and Blueberry they are pretty consistent with their shop opening. Usually the last Sunday of the month at 4pm Italian time. Figure it out where you are. I have no idea how Daylight Stupid Time affects the time. 

Rosa - Rosa is another recent watercolor manufacturer getting some attention. Supposedly very fine paints but they are located in Ukraine so are having supply issues. I have not been able to purchase them yet but am checking periodically for when they may be in production again. 

JasperStarDust - Also out of Colorado, her paints seem to be on a par with Greenleaf and Blueberry but not all natural occurring pigments. I have ordered one from her, supposedly lapis lazuli, because I haven't been able to get it from Greenleaf and Blueberry as it sells out every time I try. So I'll see if JasperStarDust has an acceptable paint. If so, I may be ordering more from her because she keeps stock on hand and they don't seem to be quite as pricey.

Ruby Mountain - not as pricey as Greenleaf and Blueberry and in the U.S. so shipping not as expensive as Matteo Grilli. Have not bought her paints but have heard they are very nice.

Rivervale - Out of Arkansas, she includes metallics and micas in her offerings.

Matteo Grilli - Matteo is in Australia but I buy his Indian Yellow half or whole pans because he still has a stock of the discontinued PY153. Just check with him first to see if he is still using it. I have his complete range of colors in half pans in a small FOME travel palette for sketching. He only offers a basic range but the quality is very nice.

* * * * * * * * * *

If you want to try your hand at making watercolors, all of the pigments, binders and tools are available from Kremer Pigments. They have a store in New York City. I think they may even have instruction and workshops.

A source in California is Natural Pigments. They have materials for making your own paints and also stock Rublev watercolors.

For a more in depth analysis on many of these watercolor manufacturer's lines of paint, I highly recommend Jane Blundell's blog.

Paint - how to choose a color palette and mixing colors you don't have.

Palette can mean both the range of colors you are using and the physical method you are using to hold your paint.

In this case, I'm talking the colors of paint you are choosing.

Here are some basic formulas for creating a color with the basic colors you have in your palette. What colors you choose may depend on what colors you are going to want to mix. If you're not using Cobalt Blue, why include it if everything you mix is going to depend on Ultramarine blue?

These are based on Daniel Smith which are mostly single pigment paints. If you are using another manufacturer, your milage may vary.

Payne's Gray - Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Sienna or Quin Burnt Orange
Violet - Quin Rose + Phthalo Green blue shade
Imperial Purple - Quin Rose + Ultramarine
Red - Quin Rose + Hansa Yellow Medium or New Gamboge. Add more yellow for scarlet.
Orange - Quin Rose + Hansa Yellow Medium or New Gamboge or Quin Gold.
Phthalo Blue green shade - Phthalo Blue red shade + Phthalo Green blue shade
Phthalo Turquoise - Phthalo Green blue shade + Ultramarine Blue
Sap Green - Phthalo Green blue shade + Quin Gold or New Gamboge
Cascade Green - Phthalo Blue green shade + Quin Gold or New Gamboge
Hooker's Green - Phthalo Green blue shade + Hansa Yellow med. + Quin Gold or New Gamboge
Olive Green - Ultramarine Blue + Hansa Yellow med. + Raw Umber
Olive Green - Cerulean Blue or Manganese Blue Hue + Raw Umber.
Undersea Green - Ultramarine Blue + Quin Gold
Green - Phthalo Green blue shade or yellow shade + Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Quin. Burnt Orange, Quin. gold, Hansa Yellow Medium, New Gamboge.

If you see a lot of the same paints used to mix the colors, those are the ones you want on your palette. You can print a mixing cheat sheet to put in your palette to remember.

In a previous post on choosing your palette colors I mentioned that you don't put white or black on your palette. The white is your paper. But what about black when you really need black?

Black = Phthalo Blue red shade + Pyrrol Orange
Black = Phthalo Green blue shade + Pyrrol Crimson
There are many ways to make black but that's a start.

Remember that the Phthalos are the most powerful colors you have. A little goes a very long way. AND THEY STAIN! So don't start with a Phthalo, start with the other colors. Then put a tiny bit on the tip of your brush and mix. You can always add more if you need to.

You want mountains in the far distance? Mix a bit of quin rose with Ultramarine, then add just a touch of phthalo green and maybe an earth color to tone it down a bit. Then add water until you have a pale violet color. Take a flat brush and put in some mountains in the background. Be sure to leave some white where the brush has skipped a bit. Now they are snow covered. A pale violet gives you distant mountains.

While sometimes you want to mix colors on your palatte sometimes you want to mix them on the paper. Want a really nice grassy meadow. Put a wash of Hans Yellow, New Gamboge or Quin Gold on your paper, then wash over it with some Ultramarine and allow it to mix on the paper. Use a diluted blue at the top in the distance but as you wash farther down the page add more blue as you get toward the foreground. You can do this with a lot of the green mixes above. Start with a wash of the yellows and then wash again with the blue color, adding more blue as you wash down the page to give the impression it is coming toward you.

Lastly, remember not to paint everything solid. This is not a coloring book. Go ahead and leave those areas of white where the paint skipped because your brush was a little dry. That gives you reflections on water or snow and texture on wood or clouds in the sky.

I spent some time on the Daniel Smith website recording what pigments they use to mix their colors. Remember this is for Daniel Smith only. For some I recorded how many parts in the mix, I.E. 1:PBr7 would be 1 part of raw sienna, burnt sienna, burnt umber or raw umber, depending on if I could identify which PBr7 it was. If you want to know what colors the numbers correspond to, you can see the single pigment Daniel Smith colors in the post called Pigments.

Olive Green 4:PY97 1:PB29 2:PBr7 (raw umber) (Or PY175 for PY97)

Undersea Green 1:PB29 (FrUl) 1:PO49

Emerald Green 8: PG18 2:PY35 1:PW4 or 6

Permanent Green PY3         PG7

Permanent Green Light PY3         PG7

Terre Verte PG18 PBr7 (raw umber)

Prussian Green PB27 PY35

Spring Green PG36 PY151 PY53

Hooker’s Green PG36 PY3 PO49

Sap Green PO49 PG7

Deep Sap Green PB27 PY3 PO48

Phthalo Yellow Green    PG36 PY3

Phthalo Green Light PG7          PY153

Green Gold(PY10) PG36 PY3 PY150

Cascade Green PB15 PBr7 (raw sienna)

Cadmium Orange Hue PY53 PO73 PY83

New Gamboge PY97 PY110      or      PO48 PY150

Indian Yellow PY97 PY150

Aussie Red Gold PY83 PR101 PV19

Quin. Deep Gold            PO48 PY150

Quinacridone Sienna PO48 PY150 PR209 (or PO49 & PY150)

Naples Yellow PW4 PY35 PR101 (Venetian Red)

Naples Yellow Reddish 20:PW4    20:PW6 0.01:PY42 0.01:PR242

Flesh Tone PW4 PW6 PO62

Phthalo Turquoise PB36 PB15

Ultramarine Turquoise PG7           PB29

Indigo PB60 PBk6

Verditer Blue PB28 PB36 PW4

Cobalt Blue Violet PV19 PB28

Perm. Aliz. Crimson PR177 PV19 Q.red PR149

Rose Madder Perm. PR209 Q.Yellow PV19 Q.Red PR202 Q.Magenta

Wisteria                        PW6 PR122 Q.Lilac

Lavender                      PW6 PV15 PB29

Shadow Violet PG18 PB29 PO73

Imperial Purple PV19 PB29

Raw Umber Violet PV19 PBr7 (raw umber)

Rose of Ultramarine PV19 Q.red PB29 U.Bl

Moonglow PG18 PB29 PR177

Burnt Sienna Light PR101 PO48

Terre Ercolano PR101 PBr7 (raw sienna)

Sepia PBk9 PBr7 (burnt umber)

Neutral Tint PBk6 PV19 PB15

Payne’s Grey P               PBk9            PB29 or    PB29  PY42   or   1:PB29  1:PBr7 (burnt sienna)

Payne’s Blue Gray PB60 PBk6

Pigments

Pigments. Not paint. Pigments.

Pigments are building blocks for producing paint. It could be chemical or natural. They have a universal color code if they are chemical. If they're natural they're usually named for what they are and/or where they came from.

You get paint when you mix a pigment with a binder using some sort of proprietary formula and/or manufacturing process and sell it under your brand name.

Color is how your eye perceives that pigment.

If you want to get into the science of color, there are several websites but I would suggest exploring Handprint. It’s extensive.

Why is knowing the pigments so important? Because manufacturers use any names they like to describe the color of the paint they sell.

Daniel Smith's Quinacridone Rose is PV19. White Knight's Quinacridone Rose is PR122. Winsor and Newton's Quinacridone Rose is PV19 only they call it PERMANENT Rose.

This is why it is important to know the pigment numbers rather than rely on names. Names are arbitrary but pigment is pigment.

BTW, the color wheel isn’t so much a wheel as it is a ball. And the three primaries are not yellow, red and blue. And there aren’t three but four if you go back in history. More on that later.

There are many yellows. Depending on the manufacturer they may have fanciful names or they may have chemical names. But if you are going to compare one manufacturer to another, you need to look at the pigment number. Not always easy. One of the best sources on both color and pigments for manufacturers in Jane Blundell. Check out her tutorials and her blog. She has sampled all of the major manufacturers, so can tell you how the paints feel and react, plus she has their names and the pigment(s) used to create them. She prefers single pigment colors as do I because they are more predictable when mixed. But in the end, you get used to whatever you use most often.

I mentioned in passing PY153 as being discontinued when I talked about paints. This would be Pigment Yellow 153. Called either New Gamboge or Indian Yellow, depending on whether it’s Daniel Smith or Daler Rowney. Also discontinued is Quinacridone Gold or PO49 (Pigment Orange 49.) The pigment was discontinued in 2008 and Daniel Smith bought the remaining world’s supply. They must have run out because they discontinued their last use of it in October of 2017. They were the last manufacturer to have a single pigment Quin Gold, all others having a 2-3 pigment mix since they didn't have access to any P049. All Quin Gold paints are now a mix of two or more pigments. Usually PY150 and PO48 but which pigments and combinations will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Why do pigments go extinct? Blame the car manufacturers. Pigments exist because there is a demand by commercial manufacturers that need it for some reason or other. Huge amounts of it. Perhaps it’s painting taxi cabs or tractors or something. Companies that produce pigments do so according to demand by these big businesses. When car manufacturers don’t order any more PO49, then manufacturers stop producing it. Artists rely on big business for their pigments. The production of art supplies is so small that it isn’t viable for these companies to continue to produce pigments for such a small market. If you’re lucky, you can pick up some “new old stock” or slightly used tubes on eBay or Etsy.

Here is a list of pigments from Daniel Smith. The numbers are standardized. You can read up on that on Handprint. The names of the pigments are generally standard but then you'll get some manufacturers getting creative. Quin Magenta in Daniel Smith is PR202, but for other manufacturers it might be PR122. This is why it is important to pay attention to the pigments, especially if you are going to cross over and buy from multiple manufacturers.

P stands for Pigment

B=blue
Bk=black
Br=brown
G=green
O=orange
R=red
Y=yellow
V=violet
W=white

PB15 Phthalo Blue GS (green shade)/Manganese Blue Hue/ Phthalo blue RS (red shade)

PB27 Prussian Blue

PB28 Cobalt Blue

PB29 French Ultramarine Blue/Ultramarine Blue

PB35 Cerulean Blue

PB36 Cerulean Blue Chromium

PB60 Indanthrone Blue

PBk6 Lamp Black

PBk9 Ivory Black

PBk11 Lunar Black

PBr7 Burnt Umber/Burnt Sienna/Raw Umber/Raw Sienna (decide which one)

PG7   Phthalo Green BS (blue shade)

PG18 Viridian

PG36 Phthalo Green YS (yellow shade)

PG50 Cobalt Teal

PO48 Quinacridone Burnt Orange

PO49 Quinacridone Gold Now Discontinued

PO62 Permanent Orange

PO73 Pyrrol Orange

PR83 Alizarin Crimson (fugitive, don't buy this)

PR101 Red Oxide/Indian Red/Venetian Red/Red Ochre/English Red Earth

PR122 Quinacridone Lilac /Opera Pink

PR177 Permanent Alizarin Crimson

PR179 Perylene Maroon

PR202 Quinacridone Magenta

PR209 Quinacridone Coral

PR242 Cadmium Red/Permanent Red

PY3    Hansa Yellow Light 

PY35 Cadmium Yellow Light 

PY40 Aureolin Cobalt Yellow ( it's fugitive, use PY175 instead)

PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide/Gold Ochre/Indian Yellow/Yellow Ochre/Raw Sienna Light

PY53 Nickel Titanate Yellow

PY83 Azo Yellow Deep/Cadmium Yellow Deep/Gamboge Extra

PY97 Hansa Yellow Medium

PY110 Permanent Yellow Deep

PY150 Nickel Azo Yellow

PY151 Azo Yellow
PY153 Nickel Dioxine Yellow  (New Gamboge) Now Discontinued

PY175 Lemon Yellow

PV15 Ultramarine Violet 

PV19 Quinacridone Rose

PV49 Cobalt Violet

PW4 Chinese White

PW6 Titanium White

Paint - So many kinds, where to start?

Which paint manufacturer you choose will depend on how you plan to use your paints. There are those that dry so hard it is difficult to rewet them. They aren't very practical for filling pans and taking on the road.  If you are working in a studio with a tray palette rewetting may not be a problem and it doesn’t matter if your paint dries out as you can just add a bit more from the tube.

If you travel, bringing along all of your tubes may not be practical, in which case you will either want to fill pans or load a folding palette in which case, you will need your paints to dry enough not to slide around while you're traveling but still rewet. You may want to avoid those using honey in the binder or other substances that don't allow the paint to dry sufficiently. You should also avoid QoR, M.Graham and Sennelier. They are best used fresh from the tube and do not rewet well if you put them in pans so they are better for studio work. QoR does offer a pan version as do several other manufacturers such as Winsor and Newton. Daniel Smith now offers pans but you must buy them in a palette; you cannot buy them individually at this time. You  can adjust them a bit by adding gum arabic but best to just buy a brand that rewests. If you're going to both travel and do studio, better to stick to one set of paints for consistency rather than, say, using Daniel Smith for plein air and QoR in the studio. Not only is it difficult to switch from the feel of one watercolor to another but it gets very expensive having two sets of colors. It also messes with your consistency as every manufacturer has their own formula and the Ultramarine and Raw Umber mixed together from one manufacturer may not make the same color when mixed from another. They also don't behave quite the same when you are picking them up, adding water and manipulating the paint. Consistency is the key.

Perhaps permanence isn’t an issue. But if you want your paintings to look the same years from now, try to avoid fugitive colors like genuine rose madder or alizarin crimson. Fugitive means exactly what it sounds like. They don't last. They fade or the color shifts.  If you don’t care about how many pigments are used to produce a color or what they name it, that’s fine. You get used to what you have and how it mixes with other colors. I prefer single pigment colors so I know what I'll get when I mix them. Mission Gold and Cheap Joe's American Journey brand are good paints but they have interesting names so you'll need to check the pigments to see what exactly that color is. For instance Joe's Blue is really Phthalo Blue green shade. Winsor and Newton's Winsor  Blue is also Phthalo Blue green shade. I prefer standard names so I know what pigment I'm using. Personally, I'd rather know it's carbazole violet than Purple Passion.

I use Daniel Smith. When I go to a workshop where the teacher, for instance, uses Mission Gold, I then have to research the names of the Mission Gold and how they relate to my Daniel Smith, as I'm not going out and buying a set of Mission Gold Watercolors for one workshop. Most teachers list what they'll be using in their color palette and say "the equivalent," but you have to know what that is. The names won't tell you. The names aren’t the same across all manufacturers. So I have to go to the Mission Gold website and look at the pigment numbers for the colors she wants on our palettes, then find the same pigments in my Daniel Smith. I had to mix one color for the class using the pigments listed and mixing until it looked like the swatch on the website but it worked for me. This is why knowing the pigments is more important than knowing the names. (Mission Gold “Viridian” is Daniel Smith Phthalo Green blue shade for instance. Daniel Smith has a different paint called Viridian with a different pigment number. More on that regarding "Pigments.")

Once you’ve decided on a paint line, then you need to decide exactly what paint you need.

You’ll need some sort of yellow, some sort of red and some sort of blue. Don't buy black or white.

Remember I told you that historically there were four primaries, not three.

Now you could go by printer’s dyes and choose yellow, magenta and cyan and you’d do just fine. Except some paint lines don’t have “cyan”. The equivalent paint would probably be a phthalo blue, a manganese blue or a cerulean, depending on the manufacturer. They all might be the same pigment.

Handprint has a very interesting article on the Four primaries. They are yellow, red, blue and green. Specifically PY153, which is nickel dioxine yellow, now discontinued although you can use Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) or Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150), Quinacridone Rose (PV19) although you could use Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) or PERMANENT Alizarin Crimson (alizarin crimson is a fugitive color, more on that later), Phthalo Blue green shade (PB15) and Phthalo green yellow shade (PG36). Supposedly from these four colors the masters mixed all of their colors. I suspect they had plenty of earth pigments to save on mixing browns, ochres, umbers and such.

Jane Blundell has some excellent blog posts on limited palettes. What if you only had 16 colors or 12 colors or 6 colors. If you buy FOME or Whiskey Painter’s metal tins you can vary what you take from 8 to 24, depending on if you use half or whole pants.

For my yellows: I have PY153 and PO49 (both discontinued) so I’d take New Gamboge and Quin Gold. Quin Gold can be used in lieu of a Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna.

For my reds: Quin Rose, PV19. If I can’t have that I’d probably go with Permanent Alizarin Crimson or perhaps Quin Magenta (PR122). You can also use a Rose Madder HUE (that means it's not genuine but created) but in Daniel Smith it is not a single pigment. Genuine Rose Madder is made from a plant root and is very fugitive. It will fade within a few years.  If I had space for a second red, it would be one of the scarlets. Perhaps Pyrrol Scarlet.

For the blues, my first choice would be Phthalo Blue GS (PB15). Then I would add Ultramarine Blue (PB29). If I had room for a third it would be either Cerulean Blue Chromium or Manganese Blue Hue. Why? Because of mixing. More on that later.

I would have at least Phthalo Green but probably blue shade (PG7), although you can turn yellow shade (PG36) into a blue shade. You can also turn Phthalo Blue green shade into red shade. It has to to do with color mixing.

That’s eight.

For more I would next add Burnt Sienna (Or Quin Burnt Orange) and Raw Umber. Why? Because Burnt Sienna with Ultramarine gets you Payne’s gray and Raw Umber mixed with Cerulean gets you a really nice olivey green.

That’s ten.

Two more? Buff Titanium and Neutral Tint. These would be substitutes for straight white or black, which you should avoid. There is a time and place for Chinese White or Titanium white but to begin with, try to avoid using them. Where's your white? It's the PAPER.

Buff Titanium is a beige sort of white and a bit opaque. But if you mix it with colors not only does it lighten them up but also tones them down a bit. I love it. It used to be proprietary to Daniel Smith but I noticed Cheap Joe's has it in their American Journey line and a few other manufacturers are offering a version. The color will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Neutral tint will darken a color without changing it. It can also be effective for some shadows as it isn’t quite a black, just an almost black. It is quite versatile.

(If I didn't go with neutral tint, relying on my Payne's Gray mix instead, then I would add Daniel Smith's Moonglow, a three pigment mix that is a very convenient purple for shadows.)

That’s twelve.

Beyond that you’re looking at convenience colors like more earth tones or some greens so you don’t have to keep mixing. Maybe another yellow or red or blue to offer more mixes.

I'll post some formulas for mixing and you’ll see how you can really use what you’ve already got to create just about any color you really need. Plus, you don’t want to use every color you have for a painting. This isn’t a coloring book. Keep it down to a handful and you’ll have a much more successful painting. For practice, try doing a painting with just one color. It's called a value study and is good practice for seeing light, medium and dark in your subject. Many artists do one before starting a painting as a way to organize themselves and plan how to accomplish their painting.

If you want to learn more about deciding on a basic color palette, I highly recommend Jane Blundell's blog and website. In my opinion she is the world's expert on color, mixing and the characteristics of each manufacturer's line of artist grade watercolor.

Brushes

You’re going to need something to get the paint on to the paper and swoosh it around. That means a brush. Likely more than one. Brushes are a personal thing and there are more brushes to choose from than you’d think. You'll use paint up and buy more, but your brushes should last a long time if they are treated well. That means you can pay more to invest in a high quality brush and if treated properly it will last a long time. It also makes the choice of what brand to buy more difficult. Plus, there are all sorts of choices as to materials, shapes and sizes. You really need to know what you're looking for first. You'll also need to decide what you like. How much water, how stiff or soft the brush is, how pointed, etc. Some people also have issues with hair brushes from animals. I don't. Animals are not killed for their hair to make brushes. They are killed for other reasons. I feel it honors and respects an animal more to use a brush made from their hair than to have it wasted and thrown away as trash. If an animal is to be killed for a reason, then every possible part of that animal should be used. I also feel that animals that are bred for slaughter should be treated well while alive which is why I don't eat CAFO meat. But I do eat humanely raised meat. I do not know how humanely some of the animals were treated before their hair was made into brushes so I do not buy cheap unbranded brushes or those made in China or Asia. I trust Rosemary & Co to responsibly source their materials so I own quite a few of her brushes.

Be aware that "sable" is a generic term for hair sourced from various rodents such as muskrat. They are not just sourced from an animal called a "sable." Many of these animals are classified as "vermin". The are not raised to make brushes and are killed anyway because they are considered vermin. To me using a brush made from their hair honors them but you may feel differently for whatever reason. If so, there are many man-made fiber brushes that perform as well as natural hair brushes and some synthetics perform better than the poorer quality natural hair brushes.

I like the Connoisseur Gold Taklon blend brushes but DaVinci Casaneo and Escoda Versatil and Perla are very fine synthetic hair brushes. I do not care for Princeton, Raphael or Winsor and Newton brushes but many do and you may. Just make sure you are buying professional quality and not student grade. For Winsor and Newton that means avoiding the Cotman line in both brushes and paint.

Your brush should be able to hold a good amount of water and release it evenly. It should hold its shape. It should feel good in your hand. If you are buying in a store, at least you can hold them and see if they feel good in your hand. The hairs will have sizing on them so you won't be able to judge anything about that. If you have to shop online, you just have to trust in the reviews you read that led you to that brand. Jane Blundell reviews brushes periodically. But you can tell a little from just looking at it. Is the ferrule, the metal collar that holds the hairs, attached straight? If it's crooked, move on to a different brand. Is the handle cheap? If so, the brush probably is too. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, I.E. crap.

You have the choice of the shape of the brush; round, flat, long, short, filbert, rigger, risson, cat’s tongue. There are a plethora of specialty brushes and I have quite a few, mostly from Rosemary.

You have the choice of material; synthetic or natural. Natural includes anything with hair: sable, squirrel, goat, ox. Mixtures of two or more. Mixtures of natural hair and synthetic. If you have issues with natural hair there are plenty of modern synthetics that are as good or better than some natural hair brushes.

There are different sizes. Round can go from 10/0 or 0000000000 to a size 14, 16, 20 or 36. Flats can go from 1/6 to 2, 3 or 4 inches wide. Riggers can be quite long. Mops can be small to very large, blunt or pointy. The mid ranges tend to be the most economic. Once you get very small or very big the price goes up. It is not unheard of to pay $150 or more for one brush.

If you want to dig into the manufacturing, et al, of brushes, I'm sending you back to Handprint. That guy is awesome.

Brushes can be quite pricey. Price doesn’t always mean quality. You may find you go through quite a few different brands of brushes before you find one you really like. You may find you like rounds from one manufacturer and flats from another. You may find you like working with flats mostly and can do everything you need with one. Or you may find you can do it all with a mop. You may find you need an entire set of rounds. I have quite a range because the size of brush I use varies in proportion to the size of paper I am using. The larger the paper, the larger the brush.

My advice is still to buy the best brushes you can afford. But not yet.

I’d advise you to start with a few cheap, student grade basic brushes to see what you like. A number 6 and a number 10. Then a flat, from 1/2 to an inch. Once you have determined what you prefer, you can buy a few really nice brushes in the size, shape and material you favor. While I like Kolinsky sable for some of my brushes, I have a few that I prefer in synthetic. This is because "Kolinsky" and "sable" don't really guarantee quality and will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also the technology for manufacturing the synthetic hairs for watercolor brushes has advanced quite quickly in the last few years. There are some very fine synthetic brushes and some very mediocre Kolinsky sable brushes.

There are plenty of good manufacturers out there and several that I don’t really recommend.

Don’t go to Michael’s and buy Princeton, Loew-Cornell or even Winsor and Newton (Cotman) brushes when it comes time to get a serious set you plan on keeping for years. They’re fine for a few beginning brushes to see what you like, but only if you can score a great sale, such as 50% off or buy one, get one. Even their “artist grade” aren’t that good in my opinion.

I started with a set of Loew-Cornell La Corneille gold Taklon brushes and I still have them and use them occasionally. They are budget brushes and not quite professional grade but still perform pretty well. Better than the Princeton. They're fine for traveling as I wouldn't cry me a river if they were lost or stolen on a trip.

Rekab is a step up and a bit pricier but still a fine brush.

Once you know what you like in rounds, flats, etc. you can move up to better quality brushes. If you’ve got a Blick’s you can go there to look at choices. And there is always amazon. Escoda makes some fine brushes but they are very pricey. I have a set of Escoda Versatil travel brushes which are synthetic that I like quite a bit. I’ve also used the Joe Miller 50/50 from Cheap Joe’s. I have a set of Connoisseur line brushes from Loew-Cornell that are gold taklon, a synthetic that I started with. But I don’t use them much any more. Now I use the Escoda, some Tintoretto brushes I bought in Italy (I haven’t found anywhere local that carries them) and some brushes made by Arches that are  discontinued now.

Cheap Joe’s line of Legend Kolinsky brushes is actually quite nice especially if you can get them on sale; they are a better deal as they are still pretty pricey. They are made in Germany but I don’t know by which company.

I have a few Isabey but don't really recommend them. While I don't not love them, I've found other brushes I like better. I have one mop that just doesn't point like my Arches and I have two travel mops from Rosemary & Company that have taken the place of the one Isabey travel mop I bought because it was the only travel mop I could find at the time. So skip Isabey. Some people love them but I think they have more hype than they deliver.

To start, I would suggest a #6 round. If you want to add to that, add a #2 for detail and a #10 for larger washes. If you want to try flats, then add a 3/4 or 1 inch. You may or may not want to add a mop.

I have quite a few brushes from Rosemary & Company in the United Kingdom. Her brushes are hand made and the cost is competitive with Isabey, Escoda and some of the other brands. She also carries some unique brushes. I like to have a set of travel brushes and she carries a small and medium mop which I always include in my travel kit. She also has a comb in a travel.

I really love my Arches mops but unfortunately, I don't think Arches makes brushes any more. I think The Fine Art Store has the remaining new old stock, which seems to be on sale until they sell them all. Anything out of stock never becomes available again. I love their #3 squirrel mop so much I made a travel brush out of it.

Depending on where you live you may have to buy brushes online.

So bottom line is I don't use paints from several manufacturer but I sure do for my brushes.

I prefer hand made brushes such as Rosemary & Company and quality reputation like Escoda.

After making that investment in a quality tool, your brushes will live a long and happy life if you treat them properly.

I don't like rolls. I keep the protective plastic tubes that came on the tips on my brushes on them except when in use. I keep them in a case that doubles as a stand. I have a designated masking fluid brush that I coat with soap before using and clean thoroughly afterwards. It's one of my cheap student brushes that I kept for that reason. I never use my good brushes for masking fluid or to use with any other medium. They are watercolor only.

Don't let them sit in the water. The water will swell the wood, the ferrule that holds the hairs will loosen and either fall off or the hairs will come out.

Wash them occasionally with a good brush soap. Even if they look clean, just rinsing them in water isn't enough. Don't over do it but do wash them occasionally. I've found The Master's Clean-up Survival Kit to be my best buy. It has a small container of brush soap that will last you quite a while as you don't use that much to clean your brushes. I still haven't replaced mine. Plus it's small enough to fit in with your supplies if you travel. Speaking of traveling, it includes a stain stick. That saved my bacon when I went to Italy. The last thing is a small travel hand soap which feels just wonderful.

Don't use your brushes to scrub the paper if you are lifting or doing some other effect. You can get specialty brushes to do that. Check out Rosemary & Company.

Don't twirl your brushes into your half pans to dig out paints. It's bad for your brushes and your paints. Stroke the top of your pan. If the paint isn't lifting then either your brush needs more water or your pan is dry. Keep a spray bottle with your kit to rewet your palette.

Don't point your brushes by putting them in your mouth. Your brushes will hold paint residue and you have no idea what toxic substance might be in there. If you use cadmiums or cobalts that is a big no-no.