A Beginner's Color Palette: Part 3, A Semi-Limited Color Palette Expansion Pack

Adding colors to your semi-limited palette can be pretty overwhelming, there are just so many colors! Here I will be covering what colors I think are the next step in expanding one's color palette along with the characteristics of each color and why that color is beneficial. You can purchase all of these colors if you would like, but I suggest picking one or two colors you need and then building as you go. For my favorite oil paint brands to purchase, read here.         

A note on Tint, Tone, Shade, and Glaze.

Tint: Color + White

Tone: Color + Gray

Shade: Color + Black

Glaze: Color + Lots of Oil Medium

Indian Yellow – (warm, transparent) Originally made from the urine of cows feed exclusively on mango leaves (not good for the cows), it is such a great orange. FYI, it is no longer made from urine.

Why - It is hard to mix an orange and keep it super transparent. This is a super transparent color and it mixes well into any other color.

Alizarin Crimson– (cool, transparent) It is one of my favorite colors. In Turner's painting below, you can see alizarin both as the dusty pink (when white is added) to the left and slightly above the ship, as well as the deeper purple/red below the dusty pink.

Why - It is a wonderfully versatile color. It makes lovely shadows and color mixtures. Make sure that you only purchase options labeled as permanent, otherwise the color will fade with time.                    

The Slave Ship - J W Turner

Dioxazine Purple - (cool, transparent)

This is the strongest of all paints. A little goes a long way. I am still on the same tube I purchased 15 years ago.

Why - Beyond just being a lovely purple, I use it when I am painting a black background. It creates such a nice depth. Be warned, however, it takes weeks and then some to dry to the touch.

Ultra Marine Blue - (warm, transparent) As the original blue, Ultra Marine has such a wonderful history. More expensive than gold, today the paint is synthetically made. You can still purchase paint made with the original stone, Lapis Lazuli, however, it is $100 plus.

Why - It is an electric blue and adds something special when you are looking for a pop of color, or a moody sky.

Sap Green - (warm, transparent) Originally made with berries, this is a great base green.

Why - As an over all good base green, Sap green can also be easily warmed with Hansa Yellow Med or cooled with Prussian Blue. Making it a must for landscapes and florals.

Napes Yellow - (warm, opaque) Actually considered a brown, Naples Yellow was originally made with lead. Now almost all are synthetic options without lead, but always check the label before purchasing.

Why - Unlike most yellows and most opaque colors, Naples Yellow recedes into the background. It is the creamy yellow used in Turner's painting above. This can be helpful when you need a yellow that doesn't scream.

Raw Umber - (cool, semi-transparent)

Most browns are quick driers, and Raw Umber is fast.

Why - A cool brown is always needed.

Transparent Earth Red - (warm, transparent) I love this color. I use it in just about every painting.

Why - If you are painting animals of any kind, this is a must have color. Mixing it into alizarin or dioxazine purple creates such pretty variations.

Van Dyke Brown - (warm, semi-transparent) The warmest black, it has more of a black-brown tone. It dries very quickly.

Why - Excellent for making skin tones, however, I use it to make a warm gray. This is also a color I use in almost every painting.

Payne's Grey - (cool, transparent) The coolest black. It is a bit of a weaker color, and requires layers to build it up to the darkest parts of its hue, however, I love it. I use it in almost every painting.

Why - A cool blue black is an essential for landscapes (mixed with yellow is makes a lovely green) and for deep shadows.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive, but these coupled with the original nine of my semi-limited palette (you can read more about those colors here), will give you such a versatile color collection.

In future posts I will be covering each color family and the history of some of the most popular and readily available colors within each family. If you don't want to miss any future color posts, you can subscribe to my newsletter below:

Subscribe Here

If you would like to know what paints a specific artist, modern or old master, painted with check out the blog Oil Color Palettes.

Below is a video from the Web Art Academy, here they recommend their own palette as well as some additional information about old masters:

What do you think? Is there a color that you would add to the expansion pack? Or one that I should remove? Let me know in the comments.

This is a rewrite of my original blog post, Color Palettes: Basic and Beyond.