This entry was originally posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012

Lavender Dreams

A question came recently into my inbox about using a limited palette.

The question was:

How do you make pink and lavender with a limited palette?

First of all, in other types of painting (such as acrylic and oil), white paint is added to a color to lighten it.

For instance, white is added to red to make pink.

Not so in watercolor.

In watercolor, water is added to a color to lighten it.

So you would just put down a pale watery wash of say, Permanent Alizarin Crimson to make it look pinker.

To make lavender, you would mix a nice red and blue then add more water to lighten the color and make it more lavender.

However, this is one of those instances where I would deviate from my limited palette.

I would use Permanent Rose for my pink and my lavender.

In my painting of Lavender Dreams, I used the Permanent Rose for the pink.

For the lavender, I used the Permanent Rose mixed with Winsor Blue, which is also called Thalo Blue by some brands.

There are other pinks out there that you might prefer but I find the Permanent (or Quinacridone) Rose is the most versatile.

Leslie Lambert

Author Leslie Lambert

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