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In a limited palette of just twenty colors, each one needs to be a “go to” hue. While adding fresh paint recently, I realized that Chromium Green was virtually untouched. It’s a strong, neutral green, but has a milky look to it that doesn’t really fit the way I paint. So, out it goes. But what to put in its place?

Rooting through my tackle box yielded 6 candidates: Rare Green Earth, Undersea, Olive, Pthalo Yellow/Green, Cobalt Turquoise and Pthalo Turquoise.

After doing quick paint swatches and lifting tests, I painted a series of blended strips. Each green stayed in the same location as on the test chart for easy reference. I wet a small rectangle, dropped in the green, then added one of six colors that are used frequently:

As you can see, Pthalo Turquoise dropped out pretty quickly. Almost identical to Cobalt Turquoise, it lacked the granulation Cobalt gave. Rare Green Earth was next to go. It’s very grey, which was interesting, but it likes to sit where you put it and needs lots of coaxing to move. Undersea would probably have a home in a larger palette.

The finalists came down to three: Olive, Pthalo Y/G and Cobalt Turquoise. Olive will go into the “working stash” and be used for horsey browns. Cobalt Turquoise will replace Chromium Green, and Pthalo Y/G will replace either New Gamboge or Quinacridone Gold. (Another round of testing ahead!)

I’m a firm believer that the better you know your colors, the more likely you are to get predictable results in watercolor. This entire testing process took about 90 minutes, and was a great way to get to know these six greens.

A lot of my time in the studio comes in one or two hour blocks, usually during the evening on “school nights” (I work full time). I’m not sure how other artists work, but when I get going on a painting, I like to have the option of staying with it for three to four hours.

So what to do with those blocks of time in the evenings? There’s no shortage of ideas! Working in the art journal, learning with online tutorials, planning paintings, plus color studies in oil, acrylic or watercolor.

A great way to learn the characteristics of watercolors is to create “two and one” triads, where the two sides remain the same color, and the center changes each time. The color is dropped onto wet paper, and more water is added to get the paints to really move. This is a great way to learn how different colors behave when wet, and also how they change as they blend and dry.

As I was working a triad of transparent red oxide, cobalt blue (side colors) and mars yellow, I was surprised at how the yellow behaved. Unlike most yellows that turn green on contact with blue, mars yellow held its own, shading more towards grey.

As I tipped the paper side-to-side to blend the colors more, it was fascinating to see how the colors reacted to each other.

In the final, dry study (top of post), there are lovely mixes of earthy browns and greys, with undertones of the blue and yellow – and even a hint of violet. Knowing how these colors mix, and having a page full of reminders, is invaluable when I have the time to spend on a “real” painting!