My Palette and Colours (Colors)

  

My current palette is made up of Art Spectrum oils Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Spectrum Yellow, an orange mixed from Spectrum Yellow and Red, Spectrum Red, Burnt Umber, purple mixed from Spectrum Red and Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Spectrum Blue, Phthalo Green, and a green mixed from Spectrum Yellow and Ultramarine Blue (or sometimes from Spectrum Blue).  The mixed orange, purple, and green are short cuts to other oranges, purples and greens, and saves some mixing time during painting.  Also having the ready to go complement on hand to dial down saturation is a handy thing.

I thought I might just create a series of posts to record the colours on my palette and why I've chosen these.  Over time this might provide some insight into how the colour choices change and the effect this has on the paintings.  It will also save space in my posts because I can link to these posts and just call out anything that's not my standard palette.  

I'm not receiving any benefit, financial or otherwise, from Art Spectrum.  I'm just letting you know what I use.

Why Art Spectrum?  

They are good quality oil paints.  I have a stash of oils from years ago that are in good condition (this speaks to a decent shelf life too).  I'm more familiar with how they perform than other paints.  I like supporting local business when its possible to do so and this is an Australian company commonly available through local art supply stores.

Any drawbacks?

None that should stop you trying them out.  The Art Spectrum oil paint straight out of the tube tends toward a consistency which applies smoothly to a canvas or panel surface.  I happen to like a more pasty, stiffer consistency.  So I layout the paint on paper towel first up in the morning while I'm having a coffee and let the towel draw out some of the oil.  The stiffer consistency I find better for building up paint on paint when working wet in wet.  I can always add oil or other medium when I want to.

What I think I'll do differently.

Probably not much for a while because my stash is not insignificant in size and the colours are doing a fair job of what I'm asking them to.  I've also built up a familiarity with them.  This is good argument for keeping the palette as is.

If anything, a likely change is swapping Burnt Umber for Alizarin Crimson or something similar.  Presently I'm using Burnt Umber like a second red on the palette because I have such a large tube of it.  Often the majority of the Burnt Umber I've squeezed out just sits there, eventually oxidizes, and gets scraped off and replaced with more.  If for nothing else this has been useful for finding out I want a cooler, darker, more transparent red which Alizarin Crimson will deliver.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about the colours, brands you use, and their strengths and weaknesses, or any tips for my palette.