The “Split Primaries” Landscape Painting Palette

Although there are dozens, even hundreds, of colors available from the paint manufacturers, painters never use all of them. Instead, they use a much narrower set of pigments that are chosen to “fit” the color strategy they are working with. Like ingredients in a recipe, the particular pigments that make up a palette will direct the kind of mixtures or “flavors” that can be achieved — which is exactly the point. Some palettes are called “limited palettes” because they use as few as three, four, or five pigments. Limited palettes can be quite useful, as they encourage unified and harmonious mixtures.

The palette I recommend in my landscape workshops is the “split primaries” palette. It’s called that because it includes both a cool and a warm variety of each of the primary colors.

Nearly every palette, and certainly any landscape painting palette, will include at least one of each of the three primary colors: red, a blue, and a yellow. The split primaries palette has few enough colors to be manageable, but is expanded enough to allow me to mix nearly any color I want. I don’t necessarily use all of the pigments in every painting. Rather, I target my pigment choices according to the color strategy of that particular painting.

For example, if my color strategy is going to be very neutral, then I would not choose Cadmium or Hansa as my yellow; they are too intense. I would select Naples Yellow or Yellow Ochre, which, as earth colors, will support the creation of neutral mixes. I have two wonderful blues (and more!), Ultramarine and Phthalo, but do I need both of them in any given painting? Ultramarine is very cool, with a slight shift toward the violet side of the spectrum. Does that suit the color strategy of my painting better than Phthalo, which is so warm that it shifts toward the green side of the spectrum? Perhaps I do need both. The point is, I choose pigment colors that target the color strategy as specifically as possible.

Each of the primary pigments shown below is described as leaning toward the cool side of the spectrum (blues and violets) or the warm side of the spectrum (reds and yellows). This helps you see the relative temperatures of colors and how they relate on the color wheel. (See Mapping pigments to the spectrum, below.) A few optional colors are listed after the expanded primaries.

White

I recommend titanium white. It is a versatile all-purpose white that is opaque with the ability to strongly influence mixtures. Tip: Oil painters can replace the oil-based white with an alkyd-based white to speed up drying time, especially in plein air painting. (See Advantages of the Alkyd Medium.)

Blues

“Warm” Blue (above) – When mapped to the spectrum, a “warm” blue shifts slightly toward the green side of the spectrum. (See Mapping pigments to the spectrum, below.) Phthalo Blue is the most common variety of warm blue, but is so intense that it easily overpowers a mixture unless used very sparingly. For that reason, I no longer recommend using regular phthalo; instead I suggest these alternatives: Manganese Blue Hue, which is very similar to phthalo, but not nearly as strong, or either of these two colors: Sennelier’s Azure Blue or Daniel Smith’s Mediterranean Blue. See the complete post on alternatives to Phthalo: Why I Dumped Phthalo Blue and Started Dating Her Less Intense Cousin.

Note: There are occasionally protests against classifying Phthalo as a warm blue. Certain painters perceive Ultramarine as the warm blue and Phthalo as the cool blue. My reasoning: Phthalo has a subtle yellow component, which is what gives this class of blues its hints of green. One reason painters may think of Ultramarine as the warmer blue is because they know it leans toward the violet/red side of the spectrum; and since red is warm, Ultramarine must therefore be a warm blue. But when that same person is asked which blue feels “chillier” or “icier,” they often say Ultramarine. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether you see Ultramarine as warmer than Phthalo, or Phthalo as cooler than Ultramarine. What matters is that you can see the temperature difference between them, and — most importantly — choose the appropriate one for your mixture in the painting. Of course, any discussion that attempts to permanently label a color as always cool or always warm is flawed. Because a color is only cool or only warm in the context of other colors. Nonetheless, painters do find it helpful to classify colors as cool or warm. 

Ultramarine Blue (cooler blue) above, is an essential color and is present in nearly every landscape painter’s palette. It is a strong, transparent blue with a subtle shift toward the violet side of the spectrum. Straight from the tube, ultramarine is fairly dark. It is one of those colors whose brilliance is heightened by the addition of white.

Reds

Alizarin Permanent (cooler red) is a magenta-like color, leaning closer to the violet side of the spectrum. As a transparent color, it needs to be mixed with other colors in order to achieve adequate covering power. Traditional alizarin crimson is not lightfast and has a tendency to fade. Instead, use Gamblin Artist’s Colors Alizarin Permanent, a lightfast alternative to traditional alizarin crimson.

Cadmium Orange (above) serves as my warm red. It’s not a true red, but it is advantageous for two reasons. Any needs I have for red are easily covered by the cadmium orange and alizarin. Also, the richness of cadmium orange cannot be matched by admixtures of other pigments. If you prefer a non-cadmium alternative, try (in oil) Gamblin Artist’s Colors Permanent Orange or other cadmium orange substitutes (sometimes called hues).

Yellows

Cadmium or Hansa Yellow Medium, warmer yellow (above) – When mapped to the spectrum, cadmium or hansa leans toward the orange side of the spectrum, while the “cooler” lemon or nickel titanate yellow leans slightly toward the green side. Hansa yellow is a good alternative to cadmium if you want to avoid cadmium. Both are opaque and hold up well in mixture.

Lemon Yellow or Nickel Titanite Yellow, cooler yellow (above) – Compared to warm yellows, cool yellows have less of a red component, with an ever-so-subtle shift toward the green end of the spectrum. Lemon yellow is the traditional cool yellow; however, the cool attributes of nickel titanate (a pigment that many artists are unfamiliar with) are more apparent than those of lemon yellow. It is also opaque and holds up well in mixtures. For more information on nickel titanate yellow, see Nickel Titanate: The Coolest Yellow.

Technically, Dioxazine Purple (above) is not essential to expanded primaries palette. You can mix something very similar with alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. I list it here as an option. It’s a favorite “go-to” color of mine,  a time saver,  and very useful in landscape.

Neutrals

By mixing the primaries together in various proportions, you can create a wide variety of neutral colors. However, many painters like to include at least one neutral color on their palette — a single “go-to” pigment that can quickly be added to other mixtures to make them more neutral. The pigment I recommend most for this purpose is Burnt Umber.

Burnt umber has a slightly reddish tint (raw umber has a green tint), which is revealed when lightened with white. Some would argue that a palette would be better off without burnt umber because you will learn more by mixing your own neutrals from the primaries. But I disagree. Trying to mix neutrals from the three primaries is very difficult. Burnt umber is simply a quick and easy way to achieve neutrals. It’s worth noting that when burnt umber is added in equal parts with ultramarine, it makes a rich chromatic black. Play with the proportion of ultramarine to burnt umber, and you can make a wide range of cool or warm neutrals. For a full rundown of neutral pigments, see Neutrals: Selecting the Right Neutral Pigment for Your Palette.

Yellow Ochre (left) or Raw Sienna (right) are not essential to the expanded primaries palette. Similar colors can be mixed with the primaries. But many landscape painters like them because they are effective colors for underpainting. I often refer to them as neutral yellows: if you mix violet with its complement, yellow, you can get a color similar to yellow ochre or raw sienna. Compared to yellow ochre, raw sienna is darker and redder.

What about greens?

Although there are many green pigments available, I usually mix my greens from the two blues and two yellows in my expanded primaries palette. That said, if you want to include a green pigment on your palette, here are some recommendations.

Viridian Green is a relatively cool green with less of a yellow component. It is particularly good for starting mixtures for the cool dark green shadows sometimes seen in nature. It can also be warmed with yellow pigments. As a transparent pigment, it needs to be mixed with more opaque pigments in order to achieve covering power. When lightened with white, it reveals a mint-like hue. Sap Green is a relatively warm green, with a shift toward the yellow end of the spectrum. As a transparent pigment, it may need to be mixed with other, more opaque pigments in order to achieve covering power. When lightened with white, it reveals a yellow-olive hue. Chrome Oxide Green is a good choice for a an all-purpose green. It can easily be modified with the yellows and blues in your palette, and it holds up so well in a mixture that it can handle being manipulated in a variety of ways. Out of the tube, it is a medium-value, slightly neutral olive color. When lightened with white, it reveals a pale yellow-olive hue.

Mapping pigments to the spectrum

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Additional Resources

Neutrals: Selecting the Right Neutral Pigment for Your Palette

Nickel Titanate: The Coolest Yellow

Why I Dumped Phthalo Blue and Started Dating Her Less Intense Cousin