Maria Coryell-Martin is the artist/naturist/visionary behind the Art Toolkit, my favorite gear for painting on the go (and in general). I recently took a cloudscapes class with her through Art Toolkit, and it was wonderful!
Here is the list of Daniel Smith colors that make up Maria Coryell-Martin’s Expeditionary Art palette.
Click slot name to jump to my Color List and see alternatives I suggest for the same slot, or click the color name to see my Color Spotlight for that color.
| Slot | Maria Has (DS) |
|---|---|
| Middle Yellow | Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) |
| Gold | Quinacridone Gold (PY150/PO48) |
| Earth Yellow | Raw Sienna (PBr7) |
| Earth Orange | Lunar Earth (PBr11) (Not shown in class) |
| Scarlet/Maroon | Deep Scarlet (PR175) |
| Magenta | Quinacridone Rose (PV19) |
| Violet-Blue (Granulating) | Ultramarine Blue (PB29) |
| Violet-Blue (Dark/Smooth) | Indanthrone Blue (PB60) |
| Middle Blue (Granulating) | Cobalt Blue (PB28) |
| Middle Blue (Smooth) | Phthalo Blue Red Shade (PB15:6) |
| Cyan (Smooth) | Phthalo Blue Green Shade (PB15:3) (Class only; not in Expiditionary Art palette) |
| Cyan (Granulating Sky Blue) | Cerulean Blue Chromium (PB36) |
| Cyan (Turquoise) | Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50) |
| Green (Leaf) | DS Sap Green (PG7/PY150/PO48) |
| Green (Dark) | DS Perylene Green (PBk31) |
| Brown | DS Burnt Umber (PBr7) |
| Black | DS Graphite |
This is an interesting list! Some items that especially fascinate me:
Both Phthalo Blues. In class, I was fascinated by the use of both Phthalo Blues. Likely, this was just for teaching purposes, since only Red Shade is in her palette online… still, they did different things! Red Shade was great for overall skies while Green Shade specialized in the horizon.
Lunar Earth. The palette demo’d in class had no earth orange at all, which I found shocking, since I use Transparent Red Oxide for everything: making grays, making browns… But the palette does have Burnt Umber, which is itself a convenience brown and can also be used for making grays. The Expeditionary Art edition further innovates by introducing Lunar Earth as an earth orange. This is a strikingly granulating pigment that “creates fantastic textures,” according to the post.
Deep Scarlet. This is an unusually muted choice as a main red-orange. It seems to do double-duty as a scarlet and a maroon (e.g. a Pyrrol Scarlet equivalent and a Perylene Maroon equivalent).
Graphite. Graphite is an interesting gray – very opaque and heavy, which is good for thunderclouds.
General thoughts. I love that Coryell-Martin has so many blues; it validates my blue-mania, I find it impossible to get along with less than four, and she has even more! Granted, this was for a cloudscapes class, so blue is crucial. One of the featured artists (not Maria) from Art Toolkit once demo’d a palette with six blues, one orange, and nothing else, and sometimes I think I could live like that.