I discovered the artist Lisa Spangler (@sideoats) through Art Toolkit, where she sometimes teaches classes. Lisa recently posted a “What’s on my palette?” post, which as you know, is my cue to explore a palette!
Main Palette
6 Core Colors
Lisa talks about often rotating colors but keeping her core six, which I definitely relate to! Because these are so carefully chosen for specific properties, I found it challenging to suggest alternatives that keep to the spirit of them, but I did my best. I really appreciate how much Lisa wrote about why she chose each color.
| Slot | LS Has | Some Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Yellow | DS Azo Yellow (PY151) | Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) is Lisa’s suggested alternative, but less transparent. Pure Yellow (PY154) is similar to PY97. Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) is equally transparent, but less cleanly primary. |
| Earth Yellow | DS Raw Sienna (PBr7) | Yellow Ochre (PY42 or PY43) or MANS (PBr7) would serve similar use cases (e.g. muted greens, sunrise skies), but are more yellow-toned. |
| Primary Magenta | DS Quin Rose (PV19) | SH Magenta (PV42) has a very similar hue. Quin Magenta (PR122) is more blue-toned and may be more challenging to mix clean red from. Alizarin Crimson hue is more red and may be more challenging to mix clean purples from. |
| Violet-Blue | WN Ultramarine Blue (PB29) | Cobalt Blue (PB28) is my typical pick for several of Lisa’s use cases (summer skies, mixing greens & purples). DS Indanthrone Blue (PB60) is also violet-toned, but darker/more muted. |
| Turquoise | WN Cobalt Turquoise Light (PG50) | A core color for Lisa because it’s a favorite. Cerulean Blue is also opaque and granulating cyan (but bluer). Manganese Blue Hue is kind of between them in hue. Also consider smooth blue-greens, such as Phthalo Blue GS or RS; Phthalo Turquoise; Prussian Blue. For mixing bold greens, Phthalo Green BS is also a contender. |
| Earth Orange | DS Transparent Red Oxide (PR101) | Also one of my favorites! Other earth oranges include Burnt Sienna (PBr7) and Quin Burnt Orange (PO48). |
I love this as a core set – it’s bright and happy, happens to contain some of my favorite colors, and works as a complete palette! I’ve never tried Azo Yellow but now I’m intrigued. I would probably swap Raw Sienna for MANS (it’s worth noting that Lisa paints desert scenes and Raw Sienna is a better match for those colors). Possibly also Ultramarine for Cobalt. Then it’s looking quite a bit like my dream palette!
I’m surprised to see Cobalt Turquoise as a core color because I think of it as one of my “nice to haves” and have never considered it as a load-bearing palette staple, but why not have it as your main cyan? Lisa shows how you can make a sage green from it by mixing with Raw Sienna.
Here’s a version of this core set from my collection. Checkmarks indicate that I use the same hue/pigment (but not necessarily brand) as Lisa.
I substituted Winsor Lemon (PY175) for Azo Yellow (PY151), and Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) for Cobalt Turquoise (PG50) – a very different type of color, but one I can also use to mix up greens, etc.
6 More Colors
While the above are on all of Lisa’s palettes, these are on most of them.
| Slot | LS Has | Some Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Transparent Warm Red | DS Quin Coral (PR209) | QC is my fave, tbh. Scarlet Lake (PR188) has similar properties and the WN version is transparent, but it doesn’t make vivid purples as QC does. |
| Opaque Warm Red | DS Organic Vermilion (PR188) | I didn’t realize the DS PR188 is opaque! In that case, Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) should be pretty similar. |
| Gold | DS Quin Gold (PY150/PO48) | DIY mix with Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) + earth orange; NAY can often be swapped in unmixed. Rich Green Gold (PY129) has similar glow/transparency. Or use an earth yellow. |
| Middle Blue | Cobalt Blue (PB28) | Ultramarine Blue (PB29) has similar properties but is more violet-toned (WN’s ‘Green Shade’ is a pretty similar hue). Phthalo Blue Red Shade is a similar hue but less granulating/more smooth and strong. |
| Green-Blue | Phthalo Blue GS (PB15:3) | This is what I would consider a more typical choice for a primary cyan (vs Cobalt Turquoise). See list of alternatives for Cobalt Turquoise. |
| Dark Blue | DS Indigo (PB60+PBk6) or DS Indanthrone Blue (PB60) | For adding dark values. I would also consider other brands’ Indigo (which may not have the drying-too-light problem Lisa notes) and also WN Payne’s Gray or other brands’ Payne’s Blue-Gray. |
This set contains some of my favorite nice-to-haves, including Quin Coral.
Greens
These colors are used exclusively for mixing greens.
| Slot | LS Has | Some Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Granulating Muted Green (Desert Green) | DS Chromium Green Oxide (PG17) | Mixed muted greens like Sap Green, Hooker’s Green, Undersea Green, Olive Green; granulating DS Primatek greens like Jadeite, Serpentine, or Green Apatite; granulating but bluer and weaker Viridian (PG18) |
| Blue-Green | DS Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7) | Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36) has similar properties but is more yellowy; Viridian (PG18) has the same hue as PG7 but is granulating and much weaker |
| Cool Yellow | DS Hansa Yellow Light (PY3) | Lemon Yellow (PY175), Cadmium Yellow Lemon (PY35) |
Before you buy Jadeite as an alternative here, note that Lisa has a great tip for making a Jadeite hue with Chromium Green Oxide and Phthalo Green BS!
Specialty Colors
Some fun extras:
| Slot | LS Has | Some Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | SH Transparent Orange (PO71) | There are other single-pigment oranges such as Pyrrol Orange (PO73), Perinone, Benzimida etc. but I agree this one is pretty unique. |
| Middle Red | DS Perylene Red (PR178) | Pyrrol Red (PR254), Permanent Red (PR170), Alizarin Crimson hue, Pyrrol Crimson (PR264) |
| Blue Violet | WN Smalt (PV15) | This is a blue form of Ultramarine Violet (PV15). DIY: mix Ultramarine Blue (PB29) with a lot of Ultramarine Violet (PV15) or a teensy bit of Dioxazine Violet (PV23). |
| Earth Scarlet | DS Venetian Red (PR101) | Indian Red (PR101) is most similar (opaque, granulating, earth red). Tranpsarent alternatives: Light Red (PR102), Deep Scarlet (PR175), Quin Burnt Scarlet (PR206), Perylene Maroon (PR179), Imidazolone Brown (PBr25). Really I mostly usually just use an Earth Orange here. |
| Granulating Earth Orange | DS Lunar Earth (PBr11) | Magnesium Brown (PY119) is extremely similar. Quin Burnt Orange (PO48) is another granulating earth orange. Or for a granulation agent in another hue, consider Goethite, Potter’s Pink, or Buff Titanium. |
| Granulating Earth Maroon | DS Piemontite Genuine | Granulating maroon browns include Violet Iron Oxide (PR101), Indian Red (PR101), Venetian Red (PR101), SH Mahogany Brown (PBr33). Non-granulating maroons include Perylene Violet (PV29) and Imidazolone Brown (PBr25). Granulating browns include Burnt and Raw Umber (PBr7). |
Also a fun slate of colors, with lots of granulation. This set is especially suited for the desert.
Winter Palette
I was also inspired by Lisa’s earlier post on putting together a winter palette, and as I’m working on my winter palette at the moment, I thought I could use hers as inspiration! After doing this post, I realize that the winter palette contains basically all the colors described above, plus a few extras Lisa was trying out at the time.
What I love about Lisa’s palette, especially as a winter palette, is that it feels fun and happy! It is in no way dreary. She specifically describes choosing winter colors “so that I could play with lots of reds, oranges and yellows plus have some moody darks and easy ways to mix snow.” I never thought of reds, oranges and yellows as being wintry, but I too feel motivated to include a lot of them – warm, cheerful colors to keep my spirits up! Although I typically think of cool colors for winter, I suppose bold holly red also does strike me as being a winter color.
Another cool thing about Lisa’s palette is that is contains several colors I added to my palette last season specifically for the desert, such as Raw Sienna and Oxide of Chromium. Thinking of these as “winter colors” totally recontextualizes them colors! It will be interesting to see if I find them flexible enough to be stars in the desert as well as in urban winter sketching.
Addendum: Nature Spot Challenge Palette
I’m editing this post to add that I’m participating in Lisa Spangler’s Nature Spot Challenge on Instagram right now, and Lisa has posted the 8-color mini-palette she is using for this challenge. It is incredibly inspiring for its compactness! It inspired me to make a smaller palette for this challenge, as it is certainly easier to use a small one in the field.
| Slot | LS Has | I Have |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | DS Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) | SH Aureolin Hue (PY151) |
| Earth Yellow | DS Raw Sienna (PBr7) | DV Raw Sienna (PBr7) |
| Earth Orange | DS Transparent Red Oxide (PR101) | DV Burnt Sienna Deep (PR101) |
| Scarlet | DS Organic Vermilion (PR188) | DS Quin Coral (PR209) |
| Magenta | DS Quinacridone Rose (PV19) | DV Red Rose Deep (PV19) |
| Violet-Blue | WN Ultramarine Blue (PB29) | DV Ultramarine Blue (PB29) |
| Green-Blue | DS Phthalo Blue GS (PB15:3) | WN Winsor Blue GS (PB15:3) |
| Turquoise (or Green) | WN Cobalt Turquoise Light (PG50) | WN Winsor Green BS (PG7) |
These are roughly 1:1 except for the last slot; as much as I enjoy PG50, I find Phthalo Green more useful for mixing greens. Also, my palette is larger by a handful of colors: I’m also including Nickel Azo Yellow and Indanthrone Blue, as well as Schmincke white gouache which I’ve already used in the field several times to make pastels. Still, 11 colors is much smaller than my normal palette, and it feels good to be working so light!
EDIT: I ended up swapping out some of these colors, notably Aureolin for Winsor Yellow (PY154), and the Winsor Blue and Green for WN Phthalo Turquoise. See more in Reflections on Lisa Spangler’s Nature Spot Challenge!