Awhile back, I proposed green mixes for all four seasons, based on my observations of foliage in the Northeast US. Recently I thought, hey, I’m two-thirds of the way to a triad there, why not just fit a red to each of those? So I did. Here are my seasonal triads!
Spring
For spring, I knew I wanted to go with a pink or magenta to be able to paint all those pink flowers. Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), a bold violet-toned primary magenta, seemed like an obvious choice.
I immediately ran into a roadblock because I chose a green mix for spring based on a yellow and a green (Hansa Yellow Light (PY3) and Phthalo Green BS (PG7)), not a yellow and a blue. In order to be able to make violets, I switched the green for Cobalt Turquoise (PG50), a bright, opaque turquoise that makes very nearly as bold greens! Also, after being unsatisfied with the dull oranges made from PY3 + PR122, I switched the yellow for slightly warmer (but still boldly cool) Imidazolone Lemon (PY175). It’s a subtle change that, in my opinion, improves the oranges a lot.
Because PG50 is opaque, the mixes never get very dark. This means this trio can’t make deep purples or pine greens. However, if what you’re after is a bold, bright bouquet of lilacs and new shoots, this is a great set for brights/pastels.
Suggestions to expand this palette
- Add a dark, warm blue to offset the deficiencies of PG50. Ultramarine Blue is the obvious choice.
- Add Titanium White to really mix up pastels.
- Classic earth colors, like Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, can help to mix the dull background colors of dead leaves, tree trunks, and dirt that set off the brights.
Summer
I actually already did this one; when I created the Summer Palette Mark II in summer 2023, it was helpful for me to identify the core triad, which I noted as being Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150), Permanent Red (PR188), and Phthalo Turquoise (PB16). Since I also chose NAY and Phthalo Turquoise as my green mixers in the green article, I decided not to question it!
Suggestions to expand this palette
- Dark colors for shortcuts to dark shadows, e.g. Payne’s Gray, Indigo, black, Indanthrone Blue, Perylene/Naphthamide Maroon.
- Bold floral colors, including a bright yellow (e.g. Imidazolone Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium) and maybe a crimson (e.g. Pyrrol Crimson, Permanent Alizarin).
- Intense earth colors like Naples Yellow Deep (PBr24) and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48). PO48 + the PY150 lets you mix a Quin Gold hue!
Fall
My main objective in choosing a red for fall was mixing vibrant oranges. Quin Coral (PR209) mixes the brightest oranges I know. When I fit it into my pre-chosen yellow and blue, Imidazolone Yellow (PY154) and Phthalo Blue RS (PB15), I liked the way it also made soft, muted violets.
While this mixes in a versatile way, it doesn’t scream “fall” to me. It feels more like late summer. One idea would be to switch the yellow for warmer Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65), which makes the oranges even more orangey and keeps everything warm and golden; but this makes the greens with PBRS too grayish for me. To solve that, I tried swapping the blue for Prussian Blue (PB27), which makes top-notch greens with nearly anything.
I like this, and it feels more classically “fall” overall, though now we can’t make violets. So if painting New England Asters is a priority, I would go with the previous version. That said, perhaps we can consider the previous one the “late summer/early fall” and this the “late fall/early winter” triad.
Suggestions to expand (either) palette
- Other kinds of intense scarlet/orange/red for red foliage, e.g. Pyrrol Red (PR254), Perylene Scarlet (PR149), Naphthol Scarlet (PR188), Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255).
- A deep red like Alizarin Crimson, Pyrrol Crimson (PR264), Deep Scarlet (PR175), or Quin Burnt Scarlet (PR206).
- Warm earth colors for changing leaves, like Gold Ochre, Transparent Red Oxide, and Indian Red.
See also The New England Fall Foliage Palette, or, Autumn Palette Mark II!
Winter
This is another palette where my pre-chosen green colors did not lend themselves especially well to a triad, since the “yellow” is Rich Green Gold (PY129), a very greenish color. This time, though, I decided not to change it. I don’t think of orange as being a particularly wintry color, so I decided to fully sacrifice my oranges in the service of great greens and violets by using the RGG with a cool red. Looking at the low chroma and intensity of RGG and Indanthrone Blue (PB60), Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone stood out to me as a color that would fit right in.
I’m surprised by how much I like this trio. I though the ACQ with the Rich Green Gold would be horrible, but it makes these very muted burnt oranges that remind me of drying leaves – very wintry! ACQ is bright enough to serve for cardinals or winter berries, but mixes lower-chroma mixes. The violets are lovely enough to stand for winter night skies or snow shadows (if diluted). I love how this triad creates hues of dioxazine violet and perylene green without including those colors.
Suggestions to expand this palette
- A normal yellow, just in case
- Bold icy blues, like Cobalt Blue (PB28) and Cobalt Turquoise (PG50)
- Carbazole Violet (PV23) and Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) are my preferred snow shadow mix
- Cool earth colors like Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Raw Umber
Conclusion
Here’s a quick guide to every color I recommended above:
| Season | Yellow | Red/Pink | Blue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | PY175 | PR122 | PG50 |
| Summer | PY150 | PR188 | PB16 |
| Fall | PY65 | PR209 | PB27 |
| Winter | PY129 | PV19 (ACQ) | PB60 |
However, I’m not sure I would use this as a palette in and of itself. It has some duplication, and lacks some useful non-primary colors, including secondary colors, earth colors, and neutrals.
Creating a triad is different than creating a larger palette. Every color has to be very flexible and do multiple things – but may or may not be a specialist in a single thing. My larger seasonal palettes don’t always contain all the colors in the triad. For example, my winter palette no longer contains Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone; instead, I split its use cases into Quin Red and Perylene Scarlet. Neither of those colors would be as good in a triad, because they specialize in different types of mixes.
Additionally, some of my favorite colors would likely never make it into a triad, because they aren’t general enough in their use case; I would be unlikely to make triads with Transparent Red Oxide, Payne’s Gray, any form of green, etc., as useful as those colors can be on a larger palette.
But I find that making triads is a useful starting point for palette-building, even if I intend to expand them and sometimes replace the colors altogether, because it focuses my attention on the trade-offs for the situation in question. Which colors are most important to mix? Which colors can I do without? What surprising harmonies are possible?
I had a lot of fun just making these color wheels; sometime I’ll have to come back and show actual paintings made from these triads!