EVERY GREEN IN MAY: CHARTS

I made a chart of all my yellows and some of my blues (yes, I have others - are you surprised?). Should have done this with a large flat brush but didn't so it's a bit blotchy in places but you get the idea:

First Set =
The blues run across the top (there are 6 of them).

Cerulean (PB 36).........Phthalo (Red Shade) (PB 15:6).........Cobalt (PB 28).........
French Ultramarine (PB 29).........Prussian (PB 27).........Indanthrone (PB 60)

The yellows run down the left edge (there are 3 of them in this first set).

Bismuth Vanadate Yellow (PY 184)
Hansa Yellow Light (PY 3)
Naples Yellow (PW 4 + PY 35 + PR 101)

All are Daniel Smith colors.

Second Set =

The blues are the same, of course.

The next set of yellows running down the left side are

New Gamboge (PY 153)
Hansa Yellow Deep (PY 65)
Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7 - Natural Sienna) - this was a freebie when I placed an order some time ago.

You can see the difference in the lighter, more lemony colors and the darker, more orangey colors of the yellows as they mix with the same blues.

Bismuth Vandate and Naples Yellow are both more opaque colors - I like the crisp greens mixed with BVanadate and all the blues but the Naples didn't seem to mix with the blues much and so that strip looks more blue than green, as if the Naples, put down first, just sat there and the blue covered it so well it wasn't affected much - so not very green.

Third Set =

Blues the same across the top.

Yellows are:

Yellow Ochre (PY 43)
Raw Sienna (PBr 7)
Quinacridone Gold (PO 49)

I see no difference between the Yellow Ochre and the Monte Amiata Natural Sienna. (Daniel Smith says his Yellow Ochre is not opaque but transparent - although I believe other manufacturer's and artists' books say this is an opaque color). So no need to keep the Monte Amiata Natural Sienna - plus, I don't like the fact that it's not a real yellow pigment, hence the PBr designation - a brown pigment. That PBr pigment is the same number (7) as the Raw Sienna and look at the difference in color mixing!!! The Raw Sienna and all the blues look muddy, dirty and very reddish - yuck!

I think a chart of your greens is important if you are going to be doing any landscapes or foliage. I don't do that often but when I do, I think I'll pull this out and keep it on my bulletin board over my art table so I have a good choice of colors - otherwise, I tend to pick up the same colors all over and often mix 4-5 colors to get my greens and that can't be good (and you don't get clear, clean greens with that method).

How about you? Are you afraid of greens? Do you love them? If you check my sidebar blogroll you will find several artists who are masters at painting greens - check them out!