Limited Palette Abstratcs: Lemon Yellow, Phthalo Blue RS, and Quinacridone Rose

Red Dot.  Watercolor.  4.5 inches square.

Last week, I painted anenomes with a new(ish) palette. You can see that here. The paint colors I used, included permanent lemon yellow from mameri blu; and, from Daniel Smith, phthalo blue red scale, and quinacridone rose. Embarassing confession--I didn't have the names of the paints quite right last week. Oy.

This trio made beautiful greeny blues and some nice purples, and I wanted to see how I could stretch the palette.  Another confession--I don't like permanent lemon yellow.  That may be because, for whatever reason, my paints tend to collect in the palette well for that yellow, and it's frequently contaminated with greens.....   Regardless, every time I put down the pure hue, I loop back around and dull it or lift, or pretty much get rid of it....

River to Range.  Watercolor.  5.5x 4.25 inches.

Everything else about the way they combine, I like.  One watercolor artist that I'm following, Jane Blundell, gracefully shares her studies of various palettes.  If you're looking for some guidance on combining watercolor colors, I'd recommend her.  For example, her post on a single pigment color where here.

Here are two of the three small abstracts that I did using that palette.  Red Dot and River to Range.