Painting with just three primaries

When painting with just the three primary colours in watercolour—red, blue, and yellow—you’re relying on mixing to create a full palette. The key is choosing the right shades of each primary to maximize versatility, especially for a landscape where you need natural greens, earthy browns, and vibrant skies. Here’s a breakdown of which colors to pick and why, tailored to your interest in landscapes:

Recommended Primaries

1. Red: Quinacridone Rose or Permanent Rose (Cool Red)

   • Why: A cool, slightly bluish red mixes clean purples with blue and soft oranges with yellow. It’s great for subtle flower hues or sunset glows in a landscape.

   • Avoid: Warm reds like Cadmium Red lean too orange and muddy up purples.

2. Blue: Ultramarine Blue (Warm Blue)

   • Why: This warm, slightly reddish blue gives rich purples with your cool red and lush greens with yellow. It’s a classic for skies and distant hills, with a granulating texture that adds depth.

   • Avoid: Cool blues like Phthalo Blue can overpower mixes and make greens too turquoise for natural landscapes.

3. Yellow: Hansa Yellow Medium or New Gamboge (Warm Yellow)

   • Why: A warm, slightly golden yellow mixes bright greens with blue and earthy oranges with red. It’s perfect for sunlit fields or autumnal tones.

   • Avoid: Cool yellows like Lemon Yellow make greens too limey and oranges too pale for a grounded landscape feel.

What You Can Mix

With these three—Quinacridone Rose, Ultramarine Blue, and Hansa Yellow Medium—you can create a surprisingly wide range:

• Green: Yellow + Blue (vary ratios for olive, forest, or lime tones). Add a touch of red to mute it for realism.

• Orange: Yellow + Red (great for warm earth or sunset clouds).

• Purple: Red + Blue (ideal for shadows or distant mountains).

• Brown: Red + Yellow + a little Blue (adjust for soil, tree trunks, or rocks).

• Gray: All three in small amounts (soften with water for misty skies or stone).

• Black: Heavy mix of all three (use sparingly for deep shadows).

Tips for Landscape Success

• Sky: Thin Ultramarine Blue wash, maybe a hint of Quinacridone Rose near the horizon.

• Foliage: Hansa Yellow with Ultramarine Blue, dialed back with a touch of Rose for natural green.

• Earth: Yellow and Red with a dash of Blue for warm browns.

• Shadows: Blue and Red with a smidge of Yellow for cool, muted purples.

Why These Work

These primaries are balanced—cool red, warm blue, warm yellow—so they don’t skew too far in one direction, letting you hit the natural tones landscapes demand. If you’re stuck with different primaries (say, a cool blue or warm red), mixes might lean unnatural (e.g., neon greens or dull browns), but you can still adjust by experimenting with ratios.