Using Limited Color Palettes in Watercolor Painting
By: Sarah Becktel
What is a Limited Color Palette?
When an artist talks about their “palette of colors,” they are referring to the paint colors used to create their artwork. A “limited color palette” means the artist is only using a specific selection of colors; they are “limiting” their color options.
There is no set definition for which colors or how many colors constitute a limited palette – that is for each artist to decide. But if you’re interested in experimenting with limited color palettes in your watercolor painting, a great starting point might be choosing the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. This is commonly referred to as a primary limited palette.
What are the Advantages of a Primary Limited Palette?
A primary limited palette of red, yellow, and blue works particularly well with watercolors because no white paint is needed when using watercolors – you truly only need 3 colors. White paint is not typically used in traditional watercolor painting, so when an artist wants to create an area of pure white in their painting, they just leave the white paper showing in that particular spot.
If a watercolor artist wants to use colors that are light in value, they do not need to add white paint to their color mixtures. Instead, they can just add more water to their paint mixture which in turn lightens the color. The more water added, the lighter the color will become. This means that with a limited palette of just red, yellow, and blue watercolor paint, an artist can still achieve a full range of values within their painting.
With a primary palette of red, yellow, and blue, artists can mix the secondary colors of orange, green, and purple. This is another advantage of working with the 3 primaries: even though your color palette is small, you can still mix all the major color families (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.)
Limiting the colors available to you when creating art might first seem like a confusing choice: why would you limit your options when there are so many beautiful shades of watercolor available? But there are some advantages to working with a limited palette that can make your art better.
A limited primary palette means all the color mixtures in your painting will come from the same starting point- your red, yellow, and blue. This will give your painting a sense of cohesiveness and unity; all the colors throughout the whole painting will look like they belong together.
For example, below we have 2 watercolor paintings of an eye. On the left, the eye was created with a limited palette of red, yellow, and blue. On the right, the same primary colors were used, but a 4th color (green) was added to paint the iris of the eye. The green was just used in the iris, not anywhere else in the painting.
Can you see how the green iris on the right seems unnatural and out of place compared to the green iris on the left? This additional green is an intense color which creates an extreme example, but it shows that when you add a new color to your artwork in just one area without considering the whole painting, you can end up with art that doesn’t look harmonious or cohesive. This doesn’t mean that you can’t add more colors to a painting, but you’ll want to consider how it affects the entire artwork and whether it’s giving you a result that you’re happy with.
How Do I Choose my Primary Colors?
Once you’ve decided to try a primary limited palette, then you need to decide exactly which shade of red, yellow, and blue to choose – there are so many options!
One important characteristic to consider is the temperature of the primary color: is it “warm” or “cool.” A color’s temperature is going to have a huge impact on the resulting color mixtures, so it’s important to consider whether you want a warm or cool shade of each primary.
Let’s take red for example. Below, we have 2 reds: one is “warmer,” meaning it had more of a yellow/orange undertone. The other is “cooler,” meaning it has more of a blue/purple undertone.
I used each of these reds to create a purple by mixing them with the same shade of blue. But look how different the resulting purple mixtures are:
The warm red created a very subdued, neutral purple, and the cool red created a very intense purple. These two purples are completely different, but one is not better or worse than the other - they’re just different. So when choosing your primary limited palette, you’ll want to consider the mixing potential and limitations of each color. Which colors will give you the effects you’re trying to achieve in your painting?
The list below can help give you some general guidance on what you can expect from warm and cool shades of each primary:
Warm Yellow: Leans towards red/orange, will create intense orange mixtures but less intense greens.
Cool Yellow: Leans towards blue/green, will create intense green mixtures but less intense oranges.
Warm Yellow – Gamboge (left)
Cool Yellow – Permanent Yellow Lemon (right)
Warm Blue: Leans towards red/purple, will create intense purple mixtures but less intense greens.
Cool Blue: Leans towards yellow/green, will create intense green mixtures but less intense purples.
Warm Blue – Ultramarine (left)
Cool Blue – Primary Blue - Cyan (right)
Warm Red: Leans towards yellow/orange, will create intense orange mixtures but less intense purples.
Cool Red: Leans towards blue/purple, will create intense purple mixtures but less intense oranges.
Warm Red – Pyrrole Red (left)
Cool Red – Magenta Quinacridone (right)
Below are 4 examples of color wheels. Each color wheel was created with a different selection of red, yellow, and blue. You can see how changing the 3 primary colors drastically changes the overall feeling of the color palette and the secondary color mixtures of orange, green, and purple.
Choosing Colors to Reflect Mood and Artistic Style
The primary colors you choose for your limited palette will also influence the mood and overall look of your painting, so it’s important to consider what emotions, energy, or ideas you want your painting to convey.
For example, what ideas would a palette of muted, earth-tone colors project? If the colors are subdued, the painting may suggest a calm energy. Because you’re using colors that are similar to colors used historically during the Renaissance era or prior, your painting may have a more historic or classical feel. For example, if you were trying to create art that mimicked prehistoric cave paintings, you probably wouldn’t use the same colors that Andy Warhol used in the 1960’s.
If you choose a palette of intense, bright colors, what does that say? Because these colors were not available during historical times, the painting will naturally look more contemporary and might convey a feeling of high energy or intensity. Bright, bold colors are often seen in things like candy, toys, company logos, and advertisements, which means these colors will feel connected to our modern, pop culture more so than muted, earthy colors.
Below we have 3 paintings of the exact same subject matter, but each was painted with a different palette of colors. Can you see how the colors influence the overall look of the painting?
Ultimately, you can choose any shade of red, yellow, and blue that you want for your limited palette. Hopefully the examples in this article will give you some inspiration, but I would encourage you to test out different palettes for yourself. There is no right or wrong, and you can experiment with different colors until you find the perfect combination that speaks to you!
All images in the article were created with MaimeriBlu Watercolors and Princeton Velvetouch brushes on Strathmore 500 Series Ready Cut watercolor paper (cold press.)
Sarah Becktel is an American artist based at the NJ shore and Bozeman, MT. She earned her BFA in painting from the Tyler School of Art and continued her studies of representational drawing and painting at multiple locations. She has shown her work in exhibitions throughout the United States and her work is held in private collections across the world. Becktel has been awarded artist residencies at Brushcreek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming and PLAYA in Summer Lake, Oregon. She has won numerous awards including a 2024 grant through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship program.
When Becktel is not working in her studio, she is educating artists and students about their mediums and materials. As an Artist Educator for Dixon Ticonderoga (which includes art materials brands such as Strathmore, Canson, Arches, Princeton brushes, and Maimeri) Becktel lectures at art schools and ateliers about the characteristics of art materials and how to choose the right products for each artist’s individual needs. She served as Product Research Director for the Colored Pencil Society of America from 2009 to 2015, which led to a rich understanding of lightfast testing and art materials manufacturing.
Website: www.sarahbecktel.com
Instagram: @sarahbecktel
Facebook: Sarah Becktel - Artist
