Copy of Creating Your Own Artist Palette

Karen Hanna
Jul 27, 2025
7 min read

I've been reflecting on how my choice of colors has evolved since I began painting. Initially, we all begin with a basic palette influenced by someone else's color selections, gradually adding more colors over time. Many of us don't invest time in learning to mix colors; instead, we keep purchasing more tubes of paint, much like a child in a candy store, eager to have everything.

Artists today have access to more pigments than ever before in history. You can purchase colors that were used by the masters, as well as 20th-century innovations like phthalocyanine and quinacridone pigments, which possess an intensity that would thrill color-loving Impressionists. It might be beneficial to begin with a limited or restricted palette to create coherent and harmonious paintings.

Your palette can be unique to your style of painting

Forming your own unique color palette for painting

Examine the colors on your palette; are they appropriate for the subject matter you paint? A landscape artist will have different colors on her palette compared to a mixed media artist. It's worthwhile to explore ideas that might add a bit more vibrancy to your color palette and spark your creativity. When choosing a paint palette consider the subject, you are painting, the desired mood and available colors.

When selecting a paint palette, take into account the subject, the intended mood, and the colors available.

Reflect on the subject. What are the primary colors present in it? For instance, a landscape would typically feature greens along with blues or browns. Consider the mood or atmosphere you aim to evoke. Remember, warm colors convey energy, whereas cool colors tend to be more soothing.

Consider beginning with a limited palette and incorporating additional colors as necessary, using the 60/30/10 rule as a guideline for color distribution in a painting. This means 60% of the painting should be the dominant color, 30% a secondary color, and 10% an accent color.

To choose colors for your palette, it's important to understand that complementary colors are located opposite each other on the color wheel, analogous colors are adjacent, and triadic colors form a triangle. Additionally, consider color temperature to enhance depth in your painting. Cool colors tend to recede, while warm colors appear to advance. For instance, painting mountains in the background with cool colors will make them seem distant, whereas using warm colors for a field of flowers in the foreground will bring them forward, adding depth and distance to the painting.

Utilize color saturation by applying your brightest and most intense colors to focal points, while using low-saturated, muted, or grayed-out colors for backgrounds or shadows.

By selecting your colors thoughtfully, you can create a palette that naturally achieves key effects without constantly considering cool, warm, muted colors, and saturation. Begin by developing your own unique palette with a limited selection of colors, which will serve as the foundation for your painting. This approach can be more effective than starting with a larger palette because, once you refine your limited palette to include the colors you love working with, you can then incorporate additional hues that truly excite you.

As we approach August (oh my, so soon), it's an ideal moment to pause and experiment with our color palettes, discovering the hues we truly want to use consistently. To explore, let's consider some limited palettes to identify the perfect blues or reds that suit your subjects or painting style.

Beginning with a monochromatic palette can serve as an effective learning tool and an excellent method to explore color value, which is crucial in determining the success of a painting. This approach enables you to concentrate on precise shapes and varying light and dark values. Experiment with different shades of black or create your own black to discover which one you prefer.

Beginning to experiment with black and white might appear unexciting, but it enhances the understanding of values, which involve the lightness or darkness of a color. You can incorporate a color like blue into the black and white. This not only aids in achieving tonal accuracy but also allows you to discover your preferred shade of blue. You can introduce any single color to the black and white to help identify which colors you prefer.

When considering a limited palette, it's important to include both warm and cool colors. Many professional artists organize their palettes with both a warm and a cool version of each primary color: blue, red, and yellow. This approach enhances the diversity of their palettes. As you paint, observe how each color either recedes or advances. This effect, combined with changes in value, can effectively convey both space and form. Space and form are two elements of art I discussed in last month's blog, "The Elements of Art." If you missed it, you can revisit last month's blog to understand these terms better.

Another palette to explore is the Zorn palette. Many professional artists favor a limited palette, and one of the most renowned for this approach is Anders Zorn, whose name the palette still carries today. There has been discussion about whether his specific red was vermillion or cadmium red light, but both are suitable. The other colors include ivory black (which has blue undertones) and yellow ochre. These colors can produce a wide range of hues due to the blue undertones of ivory black.

Learning to paint can be quite overwhelming, so it's beneficial to experiment. If you've been painting for some time and are dissatisfied with your results, simply altering a color or two in your limited palette might rejuvenate your artwork. Switching from phthalo blue to cerulean blue could be the change you need, or including both warm and cool tones of each color can help you easily achieve the right temperature for your shadows.

In conclusion, if you favor a simpler color palette that falls in the middle, here are some colors you might consider trying.

A red with an orange bias for mixing orange

Cadmium Red

A red with a violet bias for mixing violet

Quinacridone Red

A yellow with an orange bias

Cadmium Yellow deep or Indian Yellow

A yellow with a green bias

Cadmium Yellow light or Hansa Yellow

A blue with a green bias

Phthalo blue (green shade) or Prussian Blue

A blue with a purple bias

Ultramarine Blue

You can choose two reds, two blues, and two yellows by picking a warm and a cool shade of each color, along with white and black. The level of complexity in your selections is completely your decision. Above all, have fun and explore as much as you wish.

Freebie

When I lived in San Antonio I had an outdoor fish pond filled with gold fish and beautiful white water lilies. I always took pictures each spring when the first lilies bloomed. Here is one of the images of the lilies you may use to transfer to a canvas or use it as a coloring page to enjoy a quiet moment on a summer afternoon.

What I'm working on

I'm thrilled that this week marked the end of my last cardio physical therapy session. I'll be exercising on my own again, and I've realized that even though I've always had some form of exercise routine, it wasn't sufficient. Being a senior, three days of exercise isn't enough for my body. Everyone has different exercise needs.

I've built my flower beds in the backyard to attract and feed birds, butterflies and birds. I'm not fast enough to catch a hummingbird, but I keep trying.

So, I'll return to walking, yoga, and stretching, but I'll also incorporate more weight training for upper body strength. I'll switch to using my Pilates reformer in the fall when the weather is less favorable, and my multi-purpose guest room is ready. This room has been a challenge since I moved into my little cottage, as I've tried to organize it for multiple uses. I think I've finally figured it out. It will serve as an occasional guest room, a space for my Pilates reformer, and house my sewing machine cabinet. I've been eager to start sewing again. I learned to sew at a young age on a Singer treadle machine, which I wish I still had. In my late teens, I began making most of my own clothes but stopped in my early 30s due to motherhood, work, and daily life. The only sewing I did was minor mending. After all these years, it will be enjoyable to create something with my sewing machine again.

My passion for painting remains unchanged. However, I've altered my approach to the business side of my art. Previously, I unconsciously devoted too much time and energy to making the business aspect overly complex. It wasn't until I was forced to rest after the septic shock and heart attack that I realized this. I was so focused on handling the business correctly that it impacted how I approached creating my art. Now that I've stepped back from the business side, I've been able to explore how I truly want to create. I'm studying more, practicing techniques, and tackling subjects I previously didn't have time for. It feels great. I still want to sell my artwork, but I'm not going to stress about it as much. It's in God's hands now. I believe my health events have given me the chance to see how far I can push myself to produce exceptional pieces in my own style. I'm excited to embark on a new adventure, not only in my artwork but also by returning to my original creative journey of sewing. I hope your creative journey in life keeps you excited to continue.

I'm also really enjoying my garden beds this year. I had to start the beds from scratch as the only things in the yard are three very old oak trees. They are somewhere around a 100 years old. The front yard had only grass, not a shrub or flower in sight. Grass is my least favorite and dI do not enjoy maintaining it at all. I am in the process of creating beds in the front yard and will start to plant in the fall. My flower beds in the backyard are really coming together and it feels good to to have fresh flowers to bring into the house again.

On my website

I was thinking that if you don't want to explore your color palette how about experimenting with a few new painting tools. I have two styles of trowels to move paint with.

There a bit smaller than the type of trowels found in the hardware stores and fit a woman's hand well.

They are excellent for moving paint washes over a large canvas, spreading modeling paste, and troweling paint over furniture. they are also great for spreading paint over a stencil. They're available now on my website along with brushes you can find uses for on canvases and furniture. All the tools are well made by Posh Chalk a division of Woodubend trims and molds.