2017 Watercolour Palette Tour – Introducing the giant 52-pan monster

It’s been a while since I shared what’s in my watercolour palette

52 Colour Studio Palette  Colour Swatch Sheet

Meeden Palette – Empty

A few months ago, I purchased a Meeden 48 Half Pan Watercolour Palette and Pans to house my evergrowing collection of watercolour paints.  I recommend buying one of these tins if you want an empty standard tin like the ones sold by WN, Schmincke, etc at a lower cost.  They are available in a variety of sizes, with or without pans included.

Like in most similar boxes, it is usually possible to fit one extra pan per row (for a total of 52).  Actually, the Meeden half-pans are a little thicker than other ones so you won’t be able to fit the extra pan if you only use Meeden pans, but as I have some pans from other brands, I was able to squeeze them in.

Meeden Palette – In Use

Like most of the lightweight tins, the large Meeden palette has two fold out mixing areas (the inside of the lid, and one on the opposite side.  As well, there is a centre tray that holds the pans which can be lifted out as well, and the inside of the tin underneath can also be used for mixing.  I generally prefer to use a ceramic plate for mixing, and I am actually considering removing the second flap so the box will take up less space when open.

Here is a painted out colour swatch sheet of the colours I keep in this box with labels.  This swatch sheet is kept in a sketchbook for reference.

52 Paint Colours in my Studio Half-Pan Palette – 2017 – Swatches with Labels

Here’s the full list of the colours in the box.  They are listed as they are placed in the box, in the format Pigment – Name – Brand – Transparency/Properties – Notes.  

Wherever possible, I have included purchasing links.   I’ve tried to be intelligent/helpful about these links, as I want to link good prices to my worldwide readers.

Independent paint manufacturers (Pruche, Eventually Everything Mixes, and Rublev) are listed individually.  For European and Asian brands (Schmincke, Daler Rowney, Sennelier, Winsor Newton, Holbein) I’ve made Jackson’s Art affiliate links.  Jackson’s is where I buy many of my own paints – they have competitive pricing on these brands and affordable shipping.  They also deduct 20% VAT (European tax) from their list prices for non-European customers.  However, Jackson’s prices are very high on North American brands.  For North American brands, I’ve created Amazon deep links that will redirect to your local amazon listing, where available (depending on your location, this may be an affiliate link).  Please view these links as a starting point only, you may find better prices at local art shops 🙂

First Row:

52 Colour Studio Palette -2017 – Yellows, Oranges, Reds, Magentaa

1. PY153 – Sennelier Yellow Light – Sennelier – Semi-Transparent/Staining
2. PY150 – Nickel Azo Yellow – M. Graham – Transparent/Staining
3. PY153 – Indian Yellow – Winsor Newton (discontinued) – Semi-Transparent/Staining
4. PY110 – Indian Yellow – M. Graham – Semi-Transparent/Staining
5. P071 – Transparent Pyrrol Orange – QOR – Transparent/Staining – Previously occupied by Schmincke’s Translucent Orange (same pigment PO71) which I still have in other palettes.  The QOR version is more yellow and much brighter but harder to rewet.
6. PR242 – Geranium Red – Schmincke Semi-Transparent/Staining
7. PR209 – Quinacridone Red – Daler Rowney – Transparent/Staining
8. PR112 – Naphthol Red- M. Graham– M. Graham – Semi-Opaque/Staining – Non-granulating pigment, but like many of my M. Graham paints, it clumps together and forms granulation textures
9. PR179 – Perylene Maroon – M. Graham- Transparent/Staining
10. PV19 – Permanent Rose – Winsor Newton – Transparent/Staining
11. PR122 – Purple Magenta – Schmincke – Semi- Transparent/Staining
12. PR88 – Thioindigo Violet – Winsor Newton (discontinued) – Transparent/Staining
13. PV19 Quinacridone Magenta – Daler- Rowney – Transparent/Staining

Second Row:

52 Colour Studio Palette – 2017 – Violets and Blues

1. PV16 – Mineral Violet – M. Graham – Semi-Opaque/Granulating
2. PV55 – Quinacridone Purple – Schmincke – Transparent/Staining
3. PV23 – Winsor Violet – Winsor Newton – Transparent/Staining – Questionable lightfastness
4. PV19+ PG7 – Neutral Tint – M. Graham – Transparent/Granulating – Clever and useful mix, maddening clumping.  Will be replacing with a homemade dupe mixed from other brands soon.
5. n/a – Amethyst Genuine – Daniel Smith (Primatek) – Transparent/Lightly Granulating – Sparkly!
6. PB60 – Indanthrone Blue – Daniel Smith – Transparent/Staining
7. PB28 – Ultramarine Finest – Schmincke – Transparent/Lightly Granulating – the least visibly granulating version of this common pigment.
8. PB74- Cobalt Blue Deep – Schmincke – Semi-Opaque/Granulating – my tube (bought recently) is labelled single pigment PB74, as is the paint formula in Schmincke’s very detailed catalog, but Jackson’s lists it as PB74/PB28.  I am not sure what is the cause of the discrepancy
9. PB15:6- Phthalo Sapphire – Schmincke – Transparent/Staining
10. PB27 – Prussian Blue – M. Graham – Transparent/Staining
11. PB82 – Maya Blue – Rublev – Transparent/Granulating –  I originally purchased this paint as a dry dollop inside a small shell – cute but impractical.  I pried it out and pushed it into a pan.
12. PB15:3 – Winsor Blue (Green Shade) – Winsor Newton – Transparent/Staining
13. PB16 – Phthalo Turquoise – Winsor Newton – Transparent/Staining

Third Row:

52 Colour Studio Palette – 2017 – Teals and Greens

1. PG50 – Cobalt Teal – QOR – Opaque/Granulating
2. n/a – Amazonite Genuine – Daniel Smith (Primatek) – Transparent/Lightly Granulating
3. PG18 – Viridian – M. Graham – Transparent/Granulating
4. PBk31 – Shadow Green – Holbein – Transparent/Staining
5. PG7 – Winsor Green Blue Shade – Winsor Newton– Transparent/Staining
6. PG36 – Phthalo Green Yellow Shade – M. Graham – Transparent/Staining
7. n/a – Green Apatite Genuine – Daniel Smith Primatek – Semi-Transparent/Granulating
8. n/a – Serpentine Genuine – Daniel Smith Primatek – Semi-Opaque/Granulating
9. PG23 – Celadonite – Eventually, Everything Mixes -Semi-Transparent/Granulating
10. PG7 + PY151 – May Green – Schmincke – Semi-Opaque/Staining
11. PB71 + PY150 – Flüsch Green – Eventually, Everything Mixes – Semi-Transparent/Granulating
12. PY117 – Greenish Yellow – Holbein – Semi-Transparent, Staining
13. PY129 – Azo Green – M. Graham – Semi-Transparent, Staining

Last Row

52 Colour Studio Palette – 2017 – Earth Tones

1. PW6:1 – Buff Titanium – Daniel Smith – Opaque/Granulating
2. PY43 – Monte Amiata Raw Sienna – Eventually, Everything Mixes – Transparent, Granulating
3. PY43 – Yellow Ochre – Winsor Newton Semi-Opaque, Granulating
4. PY42 – Spanish Gold Ochre – Pruche – Opaque, Granulating
5. PO49 – Quinacridone Gold – Daniel Smith – Transparent, Staining
6.  PY43 – Goethite Brown Ochre – Daniel Smith – Semi-Opaque, Granulating
7. PO48 – Quinacridone Burnt Orange – Da Vinci – Transparent, Staining
8. PR101 – Burnt Sienna – Winsor Newton – Semi-Transparent, Granulating
9. PR206 – Madder Brown – Schmincke – Transparent, Staining
10. PR101 – Salmon – Pruche – Opaque, Granulating
11. PBr7 – Burnt Sienna – M. Graham – Semi-Opaque, Granulating
12. PBr41 – Translucent Brown – Schmincke – Semi-Transparent, Staining
13. PBr7 – Raw Umber – Daniel Smith – Semi-Transparent, Granulating

My paints are mostly single pigment, but I am not brand loyal.  There are 12 different brands in this box.  I usually select my paints by pigment, and which brands are available/on sale. In most cases I buy my paint in tubes, and refill my pans as needed. When I do run out of a paint I like, in many cases I don’t expect I will feel compelled to replace it with the same brand I bought before.  Sometime soon, I hope to compile a spreadsheet of these pigments and others with corresponding colour names from each brand.

I love most of the colours here and will be holding my paint purchasing to a one-in-one-out policy from now on (only adding colours if I have run out of another paint, or if there’s a paint I don’t use and wish to replace altogether)

Did you like this post and would like to see more?  Comment below!  Although this palette is amazing contains all of the paints I like to use on a regular basis, it is not my only palette.  I also have a “greatest hits” full-pan palette, with larger full-size pans of the colours I like using most frequently (easier on brushes for loading large quantities of paint),  an “extras” palette with paints I don’t enjoy as much and some smaller travel palettes for sketching (which usually contain a rotating mix of my favourites, and some of the “extras” I would like to use up).    If people are interested, I can post palette tour posts of my other palettes as well.

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