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Hi Everyone! I'm working on a project I'm super excited to share with you soon, but I have a quick question I would love if you could answer in the comments.

If you had to choose 1, maybe 2, paint colors that you could not live without on your palette, what would it be? I would love to hear any answer, even brown 😁

Thanks so much!

Comments

Jerri

Probably green(s) for me.

Judy Doyle

Daniel Smith Indigo and Winsor Newton Green Gold.

Debbie

Magenta and yellow.

Elizabeth Dietzmann

Well, green freen green - it’s so blue and yellow! You make all the shades of green kind of a challenge to mix

Our Gray House

for no reason other than i love them, DS phthalo turquoise and DS minnesota pipeline genuine

Beth Farish

Obviously need the core 3 for color mixing but other than those I need buff titanium and yellow ochre. My daughter (31 yo) says ultramarine turquoise

Cherylyn

Daniel Smith Undersea Green… and Indigo.

Brian Rogers

Blue & yellow and if I could have three it would be green.😉😬

Selwyn

Blue and yellow

Ashley

French Ultramarine & Burnt Sienna

Gitta Beentjes

Next to all the colours you use on your split primary pallet, I would say permanent sap green. You often make green yourself, but my blue and yellow always seem to split, or the green doesn't come out as I'd want it to. I usually give up and just grab my permanent sap green lol. It's perfect, on it's own, but also to mix

Elizabeth R

🫣 payne's grey and yellow ochre

Gretchen

Vandyke brown or burnt umber and sap green and Paynes grey

Olivia Bornman

I'm going to be the odd one out! 😅 Paynes Grey for me, please!🤣 2nd Burnt Sienna cause it can mute any colour on my pallet! 😋

Karla

Indigo and yellow ochre are my must haves!

Kboe

payne's gray and cad yellow

Cynthia

Indigo. Love the deep shadows and perfect darks that it provides. Also mixes beautiful greens, purples and browns. And as a stand alone blue, creates many many beautiful values, depending on the amount of water one uses.

Nancy Draper

Very tough to narrow it down - - sap green, phthalo blue, indigo and quinacridone gold (which I think everybody is discontinuing, so I've been buying it up - - it can be golden but also all the way to deep orange/rust and I love it)

Cari Apostol

Lemon Yellow! It's just so happy!

Roxanne

Payne's Gray and Sap Green

Marie

For me it would be Payne's grey or indigo

Beverly

Quin gold adds depth and lightness simultaneously Buff Titanium

Anne

Viridian & burnt sienna

Cat

Ultramarine Blue and Cad Yellow

Sara Zakowski

Cad free yellow and payne’s grey

Barbi

Paynes Gray and Sap Green

marmotte.plans

Potters pink! I put it in everything, I love the look it gives to literally any other pigment!!

Leslie Young

Cad yellow and quin magenta. Aka my two that are almost used up.

Michele Yon

Well I would survive without these but I will 100% replace them when I run out. DS Undersea Green and Rosa Gallery Magenta Rose.

Sue Tate

Burnt umber and sienna

Andrea Grimm

Ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow

Christine

Blue and paynes grey

Mary Kay

Burnt sienna. Paynes Gray

Betty Ryan

Sap Green, undersea green, and burnt sienna

Lannette

Indigo. A second would be either something like cerulean or cad yellow

marielle

DS or WN green gold; quin rose or perm rose

Tasnim Ahmed

excluding the primaries, gold ochre and sap green

Lianne D.

Ultramarine blue and sap green.

Jean

Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Cad Yellow

Joanny

Payne’s Gray and Ultramarine Blue!

Terri Klausner

This is so hard, but I think I'd have to say magenta and indigo are tie for me and then cad yellow

Elysian

indigo and sap green

Anita Stolk

Ds Undersea green and Quin gold. I just love the earthy colours of these

Michelle

Paynes grey/indigo and yellow ochre

Poodle

paynes grey

Michaela D.

Hands down Indigo, great for monochrome painting, shadowing, and mixing greens and purples plus wet on wet it explodes beautifully.

Macee Jo

Indigo! And I just LOVE Purple Lake. It's my go-to straight from the pan color. It's so vibrant on it's own, and it adds so much when color mixing!

Dalene Rowley

Indigo Undersea Green (Though it’s super hard to just choose two!)

Katherine

Ultramarine blue and M. Graham Naphthol red, but I can't give up indigo...yikes

Ute B

Besides your five standard colors (no SAP green) I have added both cobalt turquise light and dark to my palette. I know how to mix lavender with white but the color is so nice for flowers.

Sharon

Indigo and Magenta- love both !!

Susan

Ultramarine blue and cad yellow

Andrea C.

Indigo and Phthalo blue

Terri Benyon

Thank you for all the work and creativity you put into keeping your tutorials fresh for us. Burnt Umber - As I can mix other colors to it to get a wide variety of browns Since you have Sap Green in your pallet, I am assuming it is already included in your list. So I am going to say a Gold Green - as again we can mix other colors to it to get several greens. I am still working on my mixing techniques, but found that I add too large or either color or water ending up with a large puddle and behind in following along. A work in progress. After going through a nice size tube of lemon yellow and cad yellow each long before my other colors, I relented to a few convience colors. 😃

Tanja

Sap green; I’m a sucker for greens 😄

Mimsey

If I go by the diviit in my paint pan then the Rose pink (koi) would be one color I can't live w/o then next would be Sap Green (Wn'N)... and finally Payne's Gray

brandon bensley

I use lemon yellow like it’s the answer to everything. I also love ultramarine blue and indigo.

Joanne Blanton

Magenta (pink) and Paynes grey. 🥰

Patti

Schmincke granulating Horadam aquarell glacier brown great for rocks and earthy stuff

Kristin Van Leuven

Ok here’s a side question. If sap green and indigo are already on the palette (yellows, pinks, blues and browns too) and there was only one spot left would you want another green or Payne’s gray? Is Payne’s gray similar enough to indigo that you don’t need it, or would you rather have one green and mix the yellows/blues to get other greens to have Payne’s gray on the palette?

Patti

Also love DS moonglow and undersea green

Manuela

Indigo! I'm doing all your 100 tiny paintings in monochrome Indigo too - unbeatable! As a second one, I'd choose ultramarine blue.

Dana

DS Moonglow, quick effortless shadows, and sap green. Both on my palette. Side question - I’m starting to love neutral tint

Jennifer

Perylene green and opera rose

Ann Mokler

Green Apetite Genuine from Daniel Smith is my go to green, even more than sap green. It's dynamic, I love how it seperates out into a bright acid green and a dark brown graphite; there's so much going on in my leaves and distant greens

Lori

Came to say the same thing

Ann Mokler

I'd rather have another green

Lori

Paynes grey for me

Joanny

Payne’s Gray! IMO Greens are easier to mix 😄

Theresa Sutter

Azo Yellow and Ultramarine blue - I use M. Graham paints

Anwar Molani

blue and red. My preference would be Ultramarine and Magenta.

Darlene McGrady

So many choices, so little time! DS Aussie Red Gold for sunsets and Paynes Grey for shadows, mountains, skies.

Darlene McGrady

I'd rather have another green - DS Phthalo Yellow Green

Jenn

I’m trying to follow your mixing for browns, but failing miserably, so I’d have to say Burnt Sienna and I always love Paynes Gray

Gabbi Prado

This is so hard! Could be payne’s grey and a bright yellow I have in an old palette that lost its name and code… I think it’s a cad yellow

Janet Potts

I love Paynes Gray from shadows.

Toni Ojennus

Turquoise. I have a tough time mixing it from my palette.

Gabbi Prado

I mean indigo, not payne’s grey actually… 🤪 Still trying to really get a grip of the colors…

Joei Bassett

Ultramarine blue and quinacridone magenta. Can’t be without. Prefer Daniel Smith

Jeany Pfaff

Only 2?! Paynes Gray and ultramarine blue

Cecilia

Payne’s Gray

Becky Wilding

Indigo, but I also love quin gold

Joolz

1. Two colors: French ultramarine and Indigo. 2. Another green or Paynes Gray-Another green. I added a half pan of Paynes Gray to my palette, thinking it was Indigo. So much better when I realized the error and replaced with Indigo! I love the DS Primatek greens but I think my choice would be Perylene Green. So nice in mass tones and lovely to mix with.

Tammy

Sepia!

Susan Guenther

Daniel Smith Quinacridone Magenta and Mei Liang Rose Red .

Liz

Based on how quickly I use it - cad yellow, it's a workhorse for mixing. Next would be ultramarine blue.

Tabi

Daniel Smith Moonglow and Quin Gold/Aussie Red

Erin T

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue

Kay

Ultramarine blue and sap green

Marcy

Indigo

Anne

Paynes gray

Karen M

Indigo for me too !

Cristina Nava

For a green DS green apatite genuine. It can be mixed beautifully with many other colors. Q. Rust is a must! 😊

Jkidd

Paynes grey

Lauren

Ultramarine blue

Kimberley Breilein

Cad yellow! I know because I’ve run out multiple times🤣

Ruth

Magenta and cad yellow

Jody Farnham

I’m gonna say magenta love it! And ultramarine blue!

Cheryl Sweeney

Ultramarine blue and cad yellow deep

Kristin Rambo

ooh! tough one.. ...yellow (cad, lemon, ochre, gamboge ) and blue ( Prussian, ultramarine, cerulean, cobalt) yikes, I think this is a Sophie's choice for me

Beth Brown

Ultramarine blue, cad yellow. This is a tough question!

Ashley

Since mixing ultramarine with burnt Sienna yields Payne's grey, I'd opt for another green color to fill that last spot (assuming the palette already has the blue & brown colors there).

Noelle

Indigo

Wilma Voermans

I feel lost without the 3 primar colors. But if the rest of my life all I paint in one color I would take Prussian blue.

Johanna

Cad yellow and indigo.

Jeena Khan

Cad yellow. I had to order a second little palette just for that color!

Wiebi

Indigo

Dianne

Indigo; magenta.

Mysmichelle

Paynes gray if there was a 3rd

Tricia Best

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue

Susie

Ultramarine blue and cad red

KIMberly Houston

Sap green and cad yellow. I tend to run out of those first.

Jennifer

Indigo and cad yellow

Carmen

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue

Dave

Paynes grey

Karen

Indigo! I use a lot of cad yellow hue, ultramarine and cad red hue, but if you told me I could keep painting but only in monochrome - it would be indigo. Also used in pretty much every painting I do in one way or another.

Karen

Payne's gray. Not because I use it so often, but hard to mix a grey especially a very pale version of it. If used very concentrated also works as black (sometimes also hard for me to mix). That's in answer to your 2nd part of the question.

Denise Flinn

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue

Pam

Magenta and Indigo….but also love Sap Green

Paula

Indigo and cad yellow ☺️

Mimi

Indigo

Donna

lemon yellow & sap green

Melodee Skiles

I’d rather have another green, I think.

Naomi

Cad yellow and magenta

Tanja

Another green

Melodee Skiles

No…! I love Q. Gold and don’t want it discontinued!! I guess I need to start stockpiling too.

Debra Salerno

Daniel Smiths Green Apatite Genuine and Da Vinci Cerulean blue Genuine for skies

JL

“Even brown” LOL! Quin Gold and Ultramarine Blue

Shirley

Alizerin crimson. Ultra marine

Terri B.

Indigo and magenta

Bec Fowler

Indigo and burnt sienna

Terri B.

My answer to the side question is paynes grey

Echo

Hard to pick just two. I would need at least 3. If just 2: Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue and Quinacridone Gold Deep. And third would be Daniel Smith Transparent Red Oxide.

Echo

Side question: Sap green

Kathy

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue

Shelley W

quinn magenta and ultra marine blue

Shelly Keyes

I’m loving DS Undersea Green & Indigo

Nancy

Yellow Ochre and Payne's Grey. I also like cad and lemon yellow but yellow Ochre adds a moody vibe.

Susano

Cad yellow and ultramarine blue. So many options with these two.

Mindy Savage

Ultramarine blue , cad yellow

Marian

Indigo; cad yellow deep.

Teresa Lavenue

Ultramarine blue and hansa yellow deep

Jill Bankes

Cad yellow and ultramarine

Bear Raeb Barrett

I’ve been using the letter sparrow split; but, I find that I reach for burnt umber/raw sienna/paynes grey at times because I don’t think what I mix quite gives the same results

Teresa Collard

Super hard choice. Quin magenta and phtalo blue.

Bear Raeb Barrett

I know I can mix over 15 greens with the colors in my large pallet But….. it would be really nice not to mix greens. This is a very loaded question Kristin 🤭

debbie

Burnt umber, burnt Sienna and moon glow

debbie

Olive yellow green, burnt umber and burnt sienna.

Jeannie N

Pthalo Blue, Green Shade and Indigo. They just make me happy.

Jennifer

I graduated in the Class of Magenta 2025, so I would need its magic powers. Then the only question is do I want to mix purples or oranges? You’re breaking my brain. Quin magenta and cad yellow.

Kathy

yellow and olive green

Sue Heiss

Ultra marine blue and cad yellow

Watercolor Therapy

Hookers green is my favorite, you can mix with yellow or blue for variety

Chris

Hmmm…I would say cad yellow and ultramarine blue.

Michelle W.

payne's grey, Quin Gold, Prussian Blue, Sap Green...I know it's more than two, sorry.

Kristin

Indigo and cad yellow

Lori Jones

Quinacridone magenta and sap green

Nadia

Assuming all of my primaries are taken care of and I have one or two spots left on the pallet. Indigo. Sap green if I'm painting lots of flowers/plants. Undersea green if I'm going for landscapes. In that order.

Emily Ann

An array of greens to chose from. Sure I can mix my own but I never remember what I mixed to make that gorgeous green.

Kristen

Another green, maybe undersea or perylene. It’s Indigo or Payne’s gray for me, and I prefer Indigo. Or a wild card: potters pink, such a fun softening and granulating color, makes gorgeous light grays with ultramarine

Elizabeth

Because I love painting florals, permanent Rose and Olive green

Toni VC

Turquoise and Cerulean

Michaela

Ultramarine blue. It’s transparent so it offers a great range of values. It’s my staple for color mixing.

Michaela

Since both can be mixed, I’d rather opt for W&N prof. Opera rose since it’s beautiful for florals and one cannot achieve this vivid of a color simply by mixing the primaries.

Spencer

Ultramarine Blue and Cad Yellow

Lisa B.

Payne's Grey

Tiffany

DS Serpentine and ultramarine blue

Lina

Magenta

Mari Johnson

Perylene Green. Blue Violet.

Sandy

Another green

Suzanne

Ultramarine blue and sage green

Janet H

Ultramarine blue and Magenta

Abbie Franks

Oh, and I would add indigo to that sap green.

Liz

Paynes Grey

Laurie

Ultramarine blue and sap green

TraceyP

Ultramarine blue and burnt sienna

Harry Brownsell

Since starting to paint recently I've noticed the colour I use the most is Cad Yellow. Because I use it to mix greens so much. Also I have found Windsor blue pigments better to give a much cleaner sky. But without the third primary you are missing out on too many colours and I wouldn't necessarily choose them on their own for a paintinf. If I had to pick two colours for a painting then I would probably go with magenta and ultra marine as you can paint a better contrasting picture with these two for night scapes. But then you want a yellow for a light source.

Annie

Gamboge and Ultramarine Blue

Len_ Morris

yellow ocher and Magenta

Karla

Ohhhh yes, gamboge is a good one too!

Joalie

Indigo and magenta

Cathy

Indigo, it’s just my favorite color

Aparajitaa

yellow ochre and indigo

Hanna K

Cad yellow and indigo

Lori Aragon

quin rose and phthalo blue green shade

Dawn 51

Cad yellow and indigo

DebH2Ogal

Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) and Hansa Yellow Light. I like the Hansa Yellows for their strength and mixing.

Mary

Paynes Gray, and Hansa Yellow Light.

Erica

Ultramarine blue and indigo. Im really picky about the various shades of indigo so it has to be Daniel Smith indigo!

Neila Massey

Sap green and ultramarine violet

Susan

It’s hard to pick 2… Moon glow and ultramarine blue

Cory Schuck

Paynes grey ultramarine blue

Rhonda DeHoff

Paynes gray (WN- which leans on the blue side)

Judy Carl

non Primary? Burnt Umber, Indigo

marie whytsell

I really like burnt siena but my favorites are paynes grey and sepia

Jeanette

I really like the colors Carmine (by Schmincke) and Sap Green because of their interaction with other colors when mixing. And together they make a beautiful brown!

Jane

Mine would be ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Amy Grzina

Cerulean Blue and sap green

Gay Bauwens

French Ultramarine and burnt sienna