Watercolour musings - talks about materials #2

I'm often asked which colours I use in my paintings. Actually I don't use very many and they tend to be very similar in watercolours and oils - tonight here are the watercolour colours:

White
Ivory black
Lamp black
Burnt umber
Raw umber
Burnt sienna
Raw sienna
Yellow ochre
Lemon yellow
Cadmium yellow
Cadmium red
Alizarin crimson
Cerulean Blue Hue
French ultramarine
 An unknown green - maybe viridian!

I think it's just as well to have a reasonably limited palette and I find all my needs are met from this choice of colours.

Be careful when mixing colours - it is very easy to make mud. You want to keep your colours clear and vibrant. You will find, as you use them, that some are easy to scrub out almost completely whereas others have a very strong stain. Greens seem to stain the paper very quickly which I think increases my antipathy towards them;  I hardly ever use green. When I need a green I usually use lemon yellow and lamp black with the tiniest smidgen of green which may or may not be viridian!

Enjoy yourselves!

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