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Color Wheel Palette

The Color Wheel Palette is a systematic and efficient palette that is based on color theory. Let’s take a look at what, why, and what colors is best for making a Color Wheel Palette.

What is a Color Wheel Palette?

A Color Wheel Palette is a palette consisting of 12 colors (usually). The 12 colors hit the 12 spots around the color wheel. Most crucially, the 12 colors can be made into 6 pairs of colors that perfectly neutralise each other (= turn grey/black when mixed together). Having all 12 spots on the color wheel represented in your palette and ensuring that they all have colors that can neutralise them will make color mixing super easy for you. It also helps you avoid ‘mud’ colors when you don’t want them.

You can have the Color Wheel Palette as a stand alone palette, or use it as a framework for organising your other colors into the palette. Even when you add other colors, as long as they are placed into the palette in chromatic order, it’s very easy to figure out what color will neutralise the new colors.

Why use a Color Wheel Palette?

The Color Wheel Palette system was created principally with ease of color mixing in mind. If you have ever been frustrated by not being able to mix the color you want, or get surprising unwanted mixing result, then this palette and understanding how to use it will make your life so much simpler. It helps to understand easily what colors to avoid mixing together if you don’t want your colors to ‘turn into mud’, turn a color darker, or create the perfect shadow color.

What Colors are Best for the Color Wheel Palette?

Below are list of colors that I would personally select for a Color Wheel Palette. However, as always, these are only suggestions and you are welcome to (and should) adapt it to work for you. The only thing you need to remember is – whatever color you replace, ensure you pair it with a color that can neutralise the new color perfectly. If you stick with that for the 12 wells, then the Color Wheel Palette will continue to keep working for you.

As these colors need thorough testing, it takes time for me to come up with single-brand Color Wheel Palettes. I will update this page as I discover new ones. Also, some brands do not have the right color range to create a single brand Color Wheel Palette.

Mixed Brands – this is the set of colors I personally use in my own studio palette:

  • A. Permanent Yellow Deep (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • B. Permanent Yellow Orange (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • C. Vermilion Hue (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • D. Scarlet Lake (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • E. Quinacridone Rose (Daniel Smith) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • F. Quinacridone Violet (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (A) Ultramarine Violet (Schmincke) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (B) Ultramarine Finest (Schmincke) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (C) Phthalo Blue Yellow Shade (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (D) Phthalo Turquoise (Daniel Smith) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (E+F) Hooker’s Green (Holbein) Jackson’s Amazon USA

QoR Color Wheel Palette

  • A. QoR Hansa Yellow Light Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • + QoR Benzimidazolone Yellow (extra addition, see video) Amazon USA
  • B. QoR Diarylide Yellow Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • C. QoR Cadmium Orange Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • D. QoR Pyrrole Red Medium Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • E. QoR Quinacridone Magenta Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • F. QoR Quinacridone Violet Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (A) QoR Dioxazine Violet Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (B) QoR Ultramarine Blue Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (C) QoR Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (D) QoR Phthalo Turquoise Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (E+F) QoR Hookerโ€™s Green Jackson’s Amazon USA

M. Graham Color Wheel Palette

  • A- M. Graham Hansa Yellow Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • B- M. Graham Gamboge Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • C- M. Graham Scarlet Pyrrol Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • D- M. Graham Cadmium Red Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • E- M. Graham Quinacridone Rose Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • F- M. Graham Quinacridone Violet Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (A)- M. Graham Ultramarine Violet Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (A alternative) M. Graham Dioxazine Purple Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (B)- M. Graham Ultramarine Blue Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (C)- M. Graham Phthalocyanine Blue Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (D)- M. Graham Turquoise Jackson’s Amazon USA
  • (E+F)- M. Graham Permanent Green Light Jackson’s Amazon USA

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