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.
