My recent oath: no more paints.

August has been a quiet month for my art – I went to India to visit family and then visited South Korea (for the first time!) for work. Both were great trips but I do wish I had sketched a little of each place. Anyway, this down-time allowed for a little art reset. Two significant things happened: I started my new Khadi sketchbook that I’ve been raving about since June, and I took an oath (AN OATH!) not to buy any new paints ever again.

Well, not ever again. But until I categorically run out of my current paints.

I love collecting watercolour pans – people know that new colours are the easiest things to gift me on a birthday. However, what this means is that many colours have entered and exited my palette without me understanding what they actually add to my art and what I actually need to get out of them.

So I set about doing an exercise all serious artists out there do, to see what the fuss was all about. I spent an entire afternoon mixing each colour with the other to see how they reacted with each other, and off the back of that – which colours could I realistically get rid of once they run out?

Some findings: My yellows are all quite similar to each other. My Payne's Grey is excellent on its own but doesn't add much to other paints. My Vermillion (Hue) is AWFUL on it's own but probably the best pan in my palette for mixing with others. 

Apart from being a very meditative experience, it was also an eye-opening one. A lot of the colours I’ve bought in the past (pinks, greys, greens) I can make with a little more effort using my existing palette. Sounds obvious, I know. But still, I suppose I had to see it to believe it. 

Before: My larger palette (top photo)
After: My smaller, reduced palette (bottom photo)

The end result was that I’ve cut my palette down significantly – and to cement this commitment to NO NEW PAINTS, I even transferred all my “core colours” to a new, smaller box. No more temptation to add, only restock if the colours run out.

Here’s me wishing myself luck in sticking to my oath!

-SANJUKTA

A full list of my paints:
Winsor & Newton Alizarin Crimson
Winsor & Newton Vermillion (Hue)
Rembrandt Burnt Umber
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold
Winsor & Newton Naples Yellow Deep
Winsor & Newton Payne's Grey
Winsor & Newton Indigo
Winsor & Newton Cerulean Blue
Winsor & Newton Dioxazine Purple
Winsor & Newton Sap Green