Color Palette and tips

 Here are some useful tips to keep your watercolors fresh and vibrant. I use Windsor Newton watercolors and place them on my palette in the following groupings.


Yellows
Cadmium Yellow light
New Gamboge

Reds
Cadmium Red Medium 
Alizarin Crimson
Perm Magenta

Blues
Ultra marine Blue
Colbalt Blue
Cerulean  blue 
Prussian Blue

Greens
Cascade Green
Veridian ( Daniel Smith brand )

  Neutrals
Naples Yellow
Aureolin
Yellow Ochre
Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Indigo

I use a covered palette so that paints can stay damp. When paint becomes dry and
"crumbly" it will loose  its luster.

Final tip...mix the color you want don't use water to "get there"
That will only produce wimpy washed out looking paintings. Be brave, load the brush and have fun.

Watercolor artist Brienne Brown has a great description of paint consistency on her site. It is titled are you painting with Tea or butter?
She has a chart that shows five squares . The first is a light wash of blue "tea", the next is a darker patch of the same blue but painted with more pigment it is titled "coffee", The next is even more saturated in color and is titled "milk", the second to last is darker and thicker and is called "cream" and the final almost dry brushed patch  is called "butter". I can not make a link to her posting that here but you may find is on her website at briennebrownart.com.