I kind of made fun of myself in the New England Palette post for attempting to prepare “palettes of place” for places that I don’t know using third-hand research and commercial palettes as guides, but guess what? I don’t know any other way to prepare for travel. I’m going visiting near Phoenix, AZ, for the first time for Christmas, so I’m trying to figure out what colors to bring!
I was nonspecific about the exact desert when I made my desert palette in 2022, but it was made for the Mojave Desert; I was visiting relatives near Las Vegas. This year, I’ll get to find out what updates to make for the Sonoran Desert!
Inspiration
My own 2022 desert palette!
Surely there is crossover between the colors I used in Nevada and those I’ll need in Arizona. Here are the colors I found most useful near Vegas:
- DV Raw Sienna (PBr7) – an earth yellow-orange; more useful in the desert than my typical cooler earth yellows. Could take this or WN Gold Ochre (PY42), which I found too finicky last time but I’ve gotten more used to its quirks since using it for fall.
- Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48) – a very classic color warm, sunkissed, orangey rocks and cliffs. M Graham and Daniel Smith still offer it, but as it is being phased out, I have also been trying to find workarounds. Typically, I use Transparent Red Oxide (PR101) instead.
- Quinacridone Coral (PR209) – perfect for mixing oranges and sunrise/sunset glow. A must-take.
- DV Indian Red (PR101) and Violet Iron Oxide (PR101) – opaque, granulating earth reds, perfect for red rocks.
- Cobalt Blue (PB28) – great for skies and bright blue shadows. Could also consider taking more of a cyan.
- Chromium Oxide Green (PG17) – plant base color; especially useful to dab some random dull-green plant life onto an otherwise-finished desert scene, because it’s opaque.
M. Graham’s Desert Southwest set
M. Graham always seems to have a location-specific palette available for my inspection; I also considered their choices for Pacific Northwest and New England palettes. While I find their choices hit-or-miss for locations I know well, it’s at least somewhere to start. Here’s what they suggest for their Desert Southwest set.
- Quinacridone Rust (PO48) – aka Quin Burnt Orange (PO48). Another vote for this pigment.
- Yellow Ochre (PY43) – earth yellow. I will likely take a warmer version.
- Indian Yellow (PY110) – I call this pigment by its Holbein name, Isoindolinone Yellow Deep. This was on my second tier of useful desert colors. Similar (but more yellowy) options include New Gamboge or Hansa Yellow Deep.
- Mineral Violet (PV14) – more commonly called Cobalt Violet. I tried this for the first time very recently! I am still not very familiar with it, but I’m curious to try it more. It’s a weak, granulating, pinky-violet. Given my test mixes, I can see this being great for red sandstone mixes. Last year, I considered Potter’s Pink but found it looked too “Potter’s Pink”-y in every mix, and the dusty hue was not exactly right for the location. I think this might be a better choice.
- Turquoise (PG7, PB15:3) – a combo of Phthalo Blue GS and Phthalo Green BS; likely similar to Daniel Smith’s Phthalo Turquoise or Holbein’s Marine Blue. The Southwest is the home of the gemstone turquoise, so including a turquoise makes sense to me. Cyan is also a nice color to contrast with the scarlet tones of red rocks. Personally, I might opt for a bluer PB16 Phthalo Turquoise, and/or the light opacity of Cobalt Turquoise (PG50).
Shari Blaukopf’s Desert Course
Shari Blaukopf’s desert class takes place in the Sonoran desert near Tucscon, AZ. The colors she uses:
- WN Ultramarine Blue Green Shade (PB29)
- WN Cobalt Blue (PB28)
- WN Cerulean Blue Red Shade (PB36)
- DS Phthalo Blue GS (PB15:3)
- WN Raw Sienna (PY42) – an earth yellow type
- WN Burnt Sienna (PR101) – actually TRO
- DS Cadmium Red Medium Hue (PY53, PR254) – a scarlet
- DS Quinacridone Rose (PV19)
- HO Lemon Yellow (PY3, PW6) – a pastel cool yellow
- MH Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65)
- WN New Gamboge (PY150, PR209) – similar to Quin Gold
- HO Lavender (PV15, PW6)
- HO Turquoise (PB15, PG7, PW6)
Lisa Spangler’s Cactus Palette
Lisa Spangler has been spending time in Arizona lately (her latest newsletter has some great photo inspo). Awhile back she did a cactus painting collab with Letter Sparrow.
- Titanium White (PW6)
- Buff Titanium (PW6:1)
- Black Ochre (PBk11) – aka Lunar Black
- Primrose Yellow (PY3) – aka Hansa Yellow Light
- Sunflower (PY74)
- Cosmo (PO73) – aka Pyrrol Orange
- Ruby Red (PR254) – aka Pyrrol Red
- Quinacridone Magenta (PR122)
- Mayan Red (PR287)
- Pistachio Green (PG17) – aka Chromium Oxide Green
- Kelly Green (PG50) – aka Cobalt Green
- Peacock Green (PB15, PG7) – a lot like mixed Phthalo Turquoise
- Turquoise – pigment N/A but looks a lot like Cobalt Turquoise
- Ultramarine Blue (PB29)
- Mayan Blue
- Raw Sienna
- Pink Pipestone (natural catlinite)
- Potter’s Pink (PR233) – Lisa specifically loves the Letter Sparrow version of this pigment, though it doesn’t seem to be available right now.
- Burnt Sienna
- Violet Ochre (PR101)
- Mayan Violet – pigment N/A, looks like a granulating Dioxazine Violet
- Shimmer and gold special fx paints
The Arizona Palette: A Preliminary Draft!
This is the palette I was playing around with when I practiced my flat shader.
Top row:
- SH Aureolin Modern (PY151) – a good middle yellow, cool-leaning
- HO Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110) – second-tier last time; for mixing those bold oranges
- DS Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255) – a solid, rocky scarlet
- DS Quin Red (PV19) – staple color
- DS Quin Magenta (PR202) – dark magenta; dark red/shadow mixer
- DV Cobalt Blue (PB28) – staple color, first tier last time
- WN Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) – cool blue/mixer
Bottom row:
- DS Quin Gold (PY150, PO48) – alternative to straight PO48; alternative to WN New Gamboge
- DV Raw Sienna (PBr7) – first tier last time
- DS Transparent Red Oxide (PR101) – staple color, PO48 alternative
- WN Venetian Red (PR101) – warm, bricky rock red
- WN Cobalt Violet (PV14) – new, oddball, granulating pink
- SH Ultramarine Finest (PB29) – for those bright desert shadows
- HO Terra Verte (PG17, PG23) – green mixer; first tier last time
Just in case I don’t like these choices, I’m still bringing my usual palette, and some backup colors!