REDS
In time I have tried different reds and all of them have their merits. I love Cadmium Red Deep ( I don't have a use at all for Cadmium Red), I have one from Old Holland, but I only squirt a little blob as I don't use it much. Among transparent cool reds I like W&N Purple Madder very much, especially in combination with Yellow Ochre.
Among the earth reds I switch between Transparent Oxide Red and Burnt Sienna. A relatively new addition that rapidly became fundamental is MH Mars Violet Deep. It's a thick, cool and dark colour that can be warmed with Green Gold and helps me to give body to mixtures for darks.
In need, I have some chromatic colours that I can add, such as MH Brilliant Pink and MH Permanent Orange, the first opaque, the latter semi opaque.
As you can see I do care if a colour is opaque or transparent, and I like making opaque+ transparent mixtures.
BLUES
I always used W&N French Ultramarine as my basic blue. I then have a black, either Ivory Black, W&N Blue Black or W&N Charcoal Gray. The latter is grainy and thick with charcoal powder, it's not very tinting and gives the paint a dry matte quality.
Another blue that I always have on the palette is MH Kings Blue Deep.
This is the perfect cooler for skin tones. One of the mixtures I love is this blue with green gold, purple madder and white. It can easily be shifted towards each of the hues.
I some times add MH Phthalo Turquoise, a very cold and chromatic paint. Kings blue+Ultramarine and Green Gold yeld a similar colour but less saturated.
Also, I have updated my website with images from my latest ongoing series, Wrap.
4 comments:
Funny to read. I once had such a fight with my reds. I had a cadmium red and a cadmium red light and both just seemed bully’s. Only a pinprick of paint would paint everything red. Those colours are so strong, they drove me mad. But when I was just beginning in oil, I read that cadmium is a staple colour on your palette. Quite soon I stopped using it and now I am happy with much calmer reds.....such as Mussini Brilliant Scarlet and a permanent red light. and of course lots of earthy reds....
I am also always arguing with blue but one that is always on my palette nowadays is Vasari Bice.
Ooops, did I really write that? Well I guess that one falls in and out of love with colours, like I developed and aversion for Alizarin after having used it for years. I want to buy that Vasari, it seems marvellous.
I have a real love affair with Transparent Oxide Red .. I use it often in watercolor but have yet to try my oil out..
The oil is very transparent and a bit more orange than burnt sienna, very warm.
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