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These colors are the ones that I have found to be the most forgiving and correctable if you make a mistake. None of these colors dries “dull”. This is also the palette that has the highest number of other colors that each is compatible with, so it is more difficult to make “mud”. These are all the colors you will ever need. You can mix an infinite number of beautiful shades with them.

Color	Code	Transparency	Liftability staining quality	Compatibility with other colors
Aurolean Yellow	PY 40	very transparent	lifts easily	Most colors
Quinacridone Gold	PO 49	very transparent	lifts quite easily	Most colors
Permanent Rose	PV 19	very transparent	lifts easily	very compatible with most colors
Scarlet Lake	PR 188	slightly opaque	lifts somewhat	Other reds, yellows
Cobalt	PB 28	very transparent	lifts easily	Most colors except yellows and scarlets
French Ultramarine	PB 29	slightly opaque	lifts quite easily	Most colors except yellows and scarlets
Antwerp or Prussian Blue	PB 27	Stain but least staining cool blue	lifts somewhat	Very compatible with many colors
Hookers Green	PO 49 PG 36	very transparent	lifts somewhat	Most colors except scarlet
Burnt Sienna	PR 101	slightly opaque	lifts quite easily	Many colors – excellent with ultramarine
Raw Sienna	PY 42	slightly opaque	lifts quite easily	Many colors excellent with cobalt
Optional Colors
Burnt Umber	Pbr 7	slightly opaque	lifts quite easily	Cold earth tone
Raw Umber	Pbr 7	slightly opaque	lifts quite easily	Cold yellowish earth tone
Cerulean Blue	PB 35	slightly opaque	lifts easily	Good mixer – useful with any earth tone for tree trunks, rocks - with perm. rose beautiful violets
Manganese	PB 15	very transparent	lifts easily	similar color to cerulean but very transparent & easily overpowered by other colors – use lots of manganese little of the mixer.

Blacks and dark shades are much more interesting if they are mixed. Tube blacks, Payne’s grey and indigo contain soot. They can look dull and uninteresting when they are dry. When they are mixed with other colors, the predictable result is mud. If you want your darks to glow, mix them from primary blues, yellows and reds. The darkest color you can get from the palette above would be mixed from Ultramarine or Antwerp blue with Quinacridone gold and permanent rose (avoid using scarlet lake to mix darks as it is semi-opaque).

As you mix, the color will lean toward violet, green or brown. You can use one of those shades if you just want a dark green-black, purple-black, etc. To get nearer a true black tone, add the complement of the shade you see on the palette. If you have a violet, add yellow; with a green, add permanent rose, and with a brown add blue.

Optional Colors