How I Choose My Palette

I get asked very often about the colors I use.

So I filmed a Draw Tip Tuesday where I show my watercolor palette, the crayons I use, and the colored pencils I often pick.

But the real message of this video is that you do not need my colors.

I built this palette slowly over many years. Color by color. Discovery by discovery. It works for me, because I know it well. Your palette will grow and shift with you too. It takes time. So do not let shiny new supplies distract you from actually drawing.

Keeping things simple makes you more creative. Less choice means quicker decisions. When you go out to draw, bring fewer supplies than you think you need. This gives you less pressure and makes it more likely that you actually open your sketchbook and draw.

Below is everything listed on my swatch page I made for the video.
Again, I'd like to emphasize to not go buy any of them. Get to know the materials and colors that you have first. Once you've used them a lot, you'll know what color(s) you're missing or would like to replace.

• Daniel Smith Watercolors:

  • Permanent Red Deep

  • Quinacridone Rose

  • Transparent Pyrrol Orange

  • Hansa yellow medium

  • New Gamboge (=warm yellow)

  • Monte Amiata natural Sienna

  • Quinacridone gold

  • Sap Green

  • Hooker’s Green

  • Cerulean Blue, Chromium

  • Ultramarine Blue

  • Indigo

  • Van Dyck Brown

  • Italian Burnt Sienna

  • Burnt Umber

• Winsor and Newton Designer's Gouache, Titanium white

• Colored pencils, currently in my pencil roll:

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 719

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 225

  • Derwent LightFast, Foliage

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 015

  • Faber-Castell Polychromos, May Green

  • Faber-Castell Polychromos, Juniper Green

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 185

  • Faber-Castell Polychromos, Cobalt Blue

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 159

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 002

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 504

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 802

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 495

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 820

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 036

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 041

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 030

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 061

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 571

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 872

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 876

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 037

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 069

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 077

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 009 (black)

  • Caran d'Ache Luminance 691 (white)

• Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons (watersoluble), currently in my pencil roll:

  • Moss Green

  • Turquoice Blue

  • Cobalt Light

  • Sky Blue

  • Violet

  • Purple

  • Salmon

  • Orange

  • Saffron

• Caran d'Ache Neocolor I crayons (waterproof), currently in my pencil roll:

  • Black

  • White

• In my daily kit, currently:

  • Sailor Fude fountain pen (55° nib) with Platinum Carbon Black ink (waterproof)

  • Sailor Fude fountain pen (55° nib) with Sailor Black ink (watersoluble)

  • Pentel pocket brush pen (with the waterproof ink cartridge that comes with it)

  • Lamy Safari nib B, filled with Platinum Carbon Black ink

  • Faber-Castell Pitt Oil Base pencil extra soft

  • Daniel Smith watercolors

  • Pentel Aquash waterbrush

  • Derwent Inktense pencil, Black (watersoluble)

  • Derwent Inktense pencil, Spring green

  • Derwent Inktense pencil, Felt green

  • Lyra Ferby Rainbow pencil

  • Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayon Moss Green

  • Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons Salmon

  • Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons Paynes Grey

  • Pencil sharpener with container

If you'd like a drawing assignment this week:

Choose five colors only. Any five. They can be markers, crayons, watercolor, colored pencils, whatever you have. Put the rest aside for today.
Make a drawing using only these five colors. Notice which colors you reach for most, and which ones surprise you. Keep it playful.
The drawing itself does not have to be perfect. The point is to get to know your colors better by using them.