Carrie Luc, the author of Watercolor Misfit, specializes in fun, colorful, modern illustrations. I really enjoy her blog posts on technique and mindset, and she has a love of bright colors that I share!
Carrie has helpfully provided her palette on her site.
| Slot | CL Has | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Cool Yellows | SH – Lemon Yellow (PY3); SH – Cadmium Lemon Yellow (PY35) | I find these interchangeable. Also consider Lemon Yellow (PY175), similar hue but less opaque. |
| Middle Yellow | WN – Winsor Yellow (PY154) | Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) |
| Deep Yellow | WN – Cadmium Yellow | Brilliant Hansa Yellow (PY74), Turner’s Yellow (PY83) |
| Yellow-Orange | SH – Cadmium Orange Light; WN – Winsor Orange (PO62) | I find these two colors interchangeable. Also consider: Holbein Iso Yellow Deep (PY110), Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65), New Gamboge |
| Scarlet | WN – Scarlet Lake (PR188) | Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) |
| Middle Red | WN – Winsor Red (PR254) | Perylene Red (PR178), Permanent Red (PR170), Alizarin Crimson hue |
| Pastel Pink | Holbein – Shell Pink (PO73/PW6) | Mix your own with white and Pyrrol Orange (PO73) |
| Opera Pink | Holbein – Quinacridone Opera | Opera Pink is a unique color! |
| Rose | WN – Permanent Rose (PV19) | Magenta (PV42), Alizarin Crimson hue. |
| Magenta (Purple Toned) | DS – Quin Lilac (PR122) | Quin Fuchsia (PR202); potentially interchangeable with Rose above. |
| Mauve | WN Cotman – Mauve | Quin Violet (PV19), Thoindigo Violet (PR88), DS Bordeaux (PV32), WN Cotman Purple Lake (PV19) |
| Violet | WN – Winsor Violet (PV23) | Imperial Violet, Rose of Ultramarine |
| Middle Blue | WN – Winsor Blue Red Shade (PB15:1) | Cobalt Blue (PB28) |
| Bright Blue | WN – Winsor Blue Green Shade (PB15:3) | Phthalo Turquoise (PB16); potentially interchangeable with Phthalo Blue RS above |
| Bright/Light Blue | WN – Manganese Blue Hue (PB15) | Cerulean Blue Genuine (PB35 or PB36); potentially interchangeable with Phthalo Blue GS and/or Cobalt Turquoise, or a mix |
| Light Green-Blue | HO – Horizon Blue (PB15/PG7/PW6) | Cerulean Blue Genuine (PB35 or PB36); mix your own with Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, and white; potentially interchangeable with Cobalt Turquoise |
| Light Turquoise | SH – Cobalt Turquoise (PG50) | Mix your own hue with Phthalo Blue + Phthalo Green (but it won’t be opaque/granulating) |
| Dark Turquoise | WN – Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) | Potentially interchangeable with Phthalo Blue GS |
| Blue-Green | DS – Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7) | Phthalo Green YS (PG36), Viridian (PG18) |
| Middle Green | SH – Permanent Green (PY155/PG7) | Hooker’s Green, Phthalo Green YS (PG36), mix your own from Phthalo Green (any shade) + choice of yellow |
| Yellow Green | DS – Phthalo Yellow Green (PY3/PG36) | Spring Green, May Green, mix your own from Phthalo Green (any shade) + choice of yellow |
| Green Gold | WN – Green Gold (PY129) | Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) |
| Yellow Ochre | WN – Yellow Ochre (PY43) | Raw Sienna, MANS |
| Gold | WN – Quinacridone Gold | Substitute with Yellow Ochre (or equivalent), or mix your own from from Nickel Azo Yellow + an earth orange |
| Brown (Yellow) | SH – Gold Brown (PY65/PBr41) | Burnt Umber, Quin Gold |
| Brown (Orange) | SH – Burnt Umber (PBr7) | Transparent Brown Oxide, SH Mahogany, SH Transparent Umber |
| Gray-Blue | WN – Payne’s Gray | Indigo, Indanthrone Blue, Neutral Tint |
| Neutral Tint | WN – Neutral Tint | any black or gray |
I found a lot of these colors covered similar palette slots with minor differences, so my “close enough” method of suggesting alternatives may not have been fine-grained enough. The good news is it seems likely that you could make similarly bright and fun illustrations with a smaller number of colors, or with your favorite colors.