Colours to have on your Watercolour Palette (Tela's Picks)

Are you a beginner painter or someone looking to change their watercolour palette? If so, you are in the right place!

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Below is a list of Tela's most used watercolour colours, and a few helpful tips.

Tela has been painting with watercolours since she was a young girl. In the early 40's at the age of eight, her art teacher sent her to an art supply store to buy a Winsor & Newton pan set of artist watercolours. She was taught from an early age to use artist quality colours. She has been using professional Winsor & Newton watercolours ever since. 

For those starting out painting, Tela recommends, at minimum, the following 3 primary colours. 

• Alizarin Crimson for your RED
• Cadmium Yellow for your YELLOW
• French Ultramarine for your BLUE

 

From these three colours, secondary colours can be mixed.

For a larger palette, Tela recommends to also include: 

REDS

• Cadmium Red
• Vermillion Hue (The true vermillion is not made anymore, it was a stunningly beautiful, but toxic colour)

BLUES

• Cerulean Blue
• Cobalt 

YELLOWS

• Cadmium Yellow Pale & Cadmium Yellow Deep
• Lemon Yellow
• Naples Yellow
• Yellow Ochre 

GREENS

• Hooker's Green
• Sap Green
• Terre Verte

BROWNS

• Raw Umber
• Burnt Umber 
• Vandyke Brown
• Raw Sienna
• Burnt Sienna

PINKS

• Rose Madder (Madder colours tend to be impermanent, but beautiful)

Tela's Colours:

WHITE

For the whites, try to leave the space of the paper as your white. In watercolour, you paint from light to dark colours (opposed to oil), thereby starting with the palest tones and leaving spaces for your whites. For example, leaving the crusty white of the paper for a snowbank would be much more effective than painting it white with Chinese white.

If you require a tiny bit of white after your darker colours have been applied (e.g. for the reflection in a eye where you painted over the paper already), Tela recommends Chinese White, but cautions to use it sparingly. It is an opaque pigment and would not have the sparkle of the original paper.  

BLACK

Tela recommends mixing your own black using various pigments. Nature rarely shows solid true black colours. Dark zones are often more subtle and a rich mix of dark tones. Pre-mixed blacks tend to lack richness. Lamp Black is a particularly punchy and powerful colour, and if one desires a premixed black, this is what Tela would recommend. However, keep it off your palette as it can muddy up your other colours.

Professional or Student Grade Colours?

If your budget allows, it is well worth the investment to purchase professional grade watercolours; particularly for the primary colours. 

A Few Other Tips:

If your watercolour tubes have hardened, do not throw them out! Split them open with a utility knife and either use the colour directly out of the tube with a wet brush, or scrape the paint onto your palette. 

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