I’m really enjoying the Urban Sketching Handbook series: short, image-packed books that focus on watercolor on location. As a color enthusiast, one of my favorites so far has been Working with Color by Shari Blaukopf.
In the book, Blaukopf does list the colors in her current 23-color palette, though she cautions, “Don’t lock yourself into a final selection. In fact, I’m constantly swapping colors because I love to experiment.” Same!!
Still, let’s look at the palette listed in the book.
The Colors
Blaukopf lists color names next to swatches, but doesn’t give brands. I understand why she didn’t want to shill for particular brands, nor introduce pigment numbers and have to explain them, but it does make it difficult to tell exactly what these colors are. Where possible, I’ve guessed at a brand (my guesses in parentheses) based on color name or appearance. Again, these are guesses, I don’t actually know.
| Color | SB Has (Brand, Pigment Guess) | Other Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Bright Yellow | Hansa Yellow Light (Da Vinci or M. Graham, PY3) | Lemon Yellow (PY175), Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97), Pure Yellow (PY154) |
| Yellow-Orange | New Gamboge (from appearance, Winsor & Newton, PR209/PY150) | Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65), Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110) |
| Gold | Quinacridone Gold (likely PY150/PO48) | Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, mix your own from Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) + earth orange |
| Orange | Transparent Orange (Winsor & Newton, DPP) | Transparent Orange (PO71), Pyrrol Orange (PO73), Benzimida Orange (PO62), any earth orange |
| Bright Red/Scarlet | Cadmium Red (PR108) | Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255), Scarlet Lake (PR188), Pyrrol Red (PR254), Perylene Red (PR178) |
| Crimson | Permanent Alizarin Crimson | Pyrrol Crimson (PR264) |
| Magenta/Pink | Quinacridone Rose (PV19) | Quin Magenta (PR122), Magenta (PV42) |
| Purple | Carbazole Violet (Daniel Smith, PV23) | Ultramarine Violet, Quin Violet, mixed violets |
| Yellow-Green | Leaf Green (Holbein, PG7/PY154) | Phthalo Green YS (PG36), May Green, DIY mix of Phthalo Green + yellow |
| Convenience Foliage Green | Sap Green (Daniel Smith, PG7/PY150/PO48) | Hooker’s Green, DIY mix of Phthalo Green + Quin Gold |
| Green (Blue Toned) | Phthalo Green Blue Shade (Da Vinci or M. Graham, PG7) | Phthalo Green YS (PG36), Viridian (PG18) |
| Dark Green | Forest Green (Sennelier, PBk7/PG7/PY42) | Perylene Green (PBk31) |
| Turquoise | Cobalt Teal (Winsor & Newton, PG50) | Cerulean Blue (PB36) – also granulating but less bright. Phthalo Turquoise – smooth and darker. |
| Blue (Green Toned) | Cerulean Blue (PB36) | light value Cobalt Blue, Phthalo Blue GS (not granulating), Prussian Blue (darker, not granulating) |
| Blue (Middle) | Cobalt Blue (PB28) | Ultramarine (redder-toned), Phthalo Blue RS (not granulating) |
| Blue (Violet Toned) | Ultramarine Blue (PB29) | Indanthrone Blue (darker/not-granulating), Cobalt Blue (less red-toned) |
| Dark Blue (Green Toned) | Prussian Blue (PB27) | Indanthrene Blue (PB60); muted Phthalo Blue GS |
| Dark Blue (Middle) | Indanthrene Blue (Winsor & Newton or Da Vinci, PB60) | Indigo, Prussian Blue (greener) |
| Earth Orange | Burnt Sienna (Da Vinci, PBr7) | Transparent Red Oxide (PR101), Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48) |
| Earth Yellow-Orange | Raw Sienna (Da Vinci, PBr7) | MANS (PBr7), Yellow Ochre (PY42) |
| Earth Yellow | Yellow Ochre (Da Vinci, PY42) | Raw Sienna, MANS |
| Very Dark Blue | Indigo | Payne’s Gray (esp. WN) |
| Black | Lunar Black (Daniel Smith) | Neutral Tint, any black, Payne’s Gray (DS or SH) |
Some observations:
- There are enough colors here that I found some hard to swap without using a color that is also listed. To me, this indicates that it would be relatively easy to have a smaller palette.
- Love the sheer number of blues. I also love blue and have a lot of my palette. I struggle with deciding between Ultramarine, Cobalt, and Cerulean blues, so it’s kinda inspiring to see someone who hasn’t chosen and just has all of them. (Though I also like to have Phthalo Blue!)
- Darker browns (Burnt Umber, Raw Umber) conspicuously absent from earth tones. Intriguing.
More Cool Tips I Learned From This Book
This is the book that inspired me to try Alizarin Crimson hue + Cerulean for a nice cloud mix! Also, that a light value Raw Umber (or MANS in my case) painted on before adding stormclouds can add contrast to the cool clouds.
And plenty more. It’s a great book!