Exploring Color Palettes
Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday!
Color palettes can completely change the mood and style of your art.
In today's video, I’ll show you how I choose and mix colors by creating palettes inspired by iconic cities like Miami, New York, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. Using reference photos, I explore pastel greens, peachy pinks, rich blues, and earthy brick tones. I mix watercolors to capture the essence of each place.
How to select key colors? For example, I've never visited Miami, but its pastel palette gives me that typical tropical vibe, while New York’s bold and contrasting tones capture its energy.
For today's experiment, I draw the same subject twice, then use different palettes. It'll show us how color can influence a drawing’s feel and mood.
Try This Assignment:
Find inspiration:
Look for interesting palettes in photos or your surroundings; buildings, nature, or even objects around your home.
Mix colors:
Experiment with your medium (watercolors, pencils, crayons, markers, gouache, or combine!) to recreate those colors.
Collect your palettes:
Dedicate a page in your sketchbook to documenting your favorite palettes for future use. Add notes about where you found them and how you mixed the colors.
Experiment and compare:
Redraw the same subject using different palettes to see how each color combination influences the vibe.
Experimenting with palettes is a fun way to bring personality and creativity to your sketchbook.
Materials used in this video:
Stillman&Birn Beta series Premium sketchbook 8.5x5.5 inch / 21.6x14.0 cm
Pink Pig A5 Posh Cartridge 150 gsm ringbound sketchbook
Staedtler pigment liner chisel tip 0.3-2.0 (for writing the city names on the palette collection page)
Sailor DeMannen fountain pen (fude/calligraphy nib with 55 degree angle)
Watercolors
Pentel Aquash waterbrush pen (broad)
My Watercolor Palette (Daniel Smith):
Permanent Red Deep
Quinacridone Rose
Transparent Pyrrol Orange
Hansa Yellow Medium
New Gamboge (warm yellow)
Monte Amiata Natural Sienna
Quinacridone Gold
Green Gold
Sap Green
Hooker’s Green
Cerulean Blue, Chromium
Ultramarine Blue
Indigo
Van Dyck Brown
Italian Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Photo References (Unsplash.com):
Miami: Jason Briscoe
NYC: James Genchi
Amsterdam: Robin Doode
Lisbon: Tom Byrom
Barcelona: Stefan Roks
Feet on dashboard: Victoria Berman
Resources:
BOOK
To get a copy of my book "Life is better when you draw it", go here.
WORKSHOPS
Let's Draw People! Find all info and tickets for Level 1 and 2 here.
If you like my Draw Tip Tuesday Videos, you'll probably also like my monthly online sessions. I'd love to see you there!
Info about the Italy (Orvieto) art retreat is here.
How to capture the Lisbon Wow? Find out here.
Want to join me in Spain? September seems a long time away still, but how great to book ahead and have this awesome trip to look forward to!
More will be added to my workshop schedule, like Germany, Paris and more.
Whew! That was a lot! Now go and draw!
