28 Pan Watercolor Palette

A 28-pan palette is a genuine luxury — enough to cover the full spectrum with warm/cool splits, granulating alternatives, essential earth tones, and a few specialist pigments, all without redundancy. Here is a carefully rationalized selection.

The Design Principles

Every primary has a warm and cool version (split primary throughout)
Every pigment is single-pigment, transparent or semi-transparent where possible
Full granulating alternatives for atmospheric landscape work
Earth tone range covers light to dark, warm to cool, transparent to opaque
No convenience mixes — every slot earns its place
All ASTM I or II lightfast, all available from WN, DS, or MG

The 28-Pan Palette

YELLOWS (4 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
1	Hansa Yellow Light	PY175	DS / MG	Transparent	Cool lemon yellow — clean greens, split primary cool
2	Hansa Yellow Medium	PY97	DS / MG	Transparent	Warm yellow — bridges toward orange
3	New Gamboge	PY153	DS / WN	Transparent	Warm orange-yellow — foliage, glazing
4	Yellow Ochre	PY43	WN / DS	Semi-opaque	Muted earth yellow — naturalistic foliage, distance

ORANGES (2 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
5	Transparent Pyrrol Orange	PO71	DS / MG	Transparent	Brilliant warm orange — split primary warm red; mixes rich darks with Ultramarine
6	Quinacridone Gold	PO49	DS / MG	Transparent	Deep golden orange — autumn foliage, glazing over greens, warm shadows

REDS (4 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
7	Quinacridone Rose	PV19	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Cool split primary red — clean violets, skin tones, florals
8	Quinacridone Magenta	PR122	DS / WN	Transparent	Deeper cool red — vivid purples with Phthalo Blue
9	Pyrrol Scarlet	PR255	DS	Transparent	Warm pure red — brilliant, high chroma; bridges orange and red
10	Permanent Alizarin Crimson	PR206 (DS) / mix (WN)	DS / WN	Transparent	Deep cool red — shadow tones, figure work, dark glazes

VIOLETS (2 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
11	Ultramarine Violet	PV15	DS / WN	Transparent	Granulating — atmospheric distance, hill haze, shadow glazes
12	Dioxazine Violet	PV23	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Deep blue-violet — use sparingly; powerful shadow darkener

BLUES (5 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
13	Phthalo Blue GS	PB15:3	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Cool split primary blue — foliage mixer, vivid purples with Quin Rose
14	Cobalt Blue	PB28	DS / WN / MG	Semi-transparent	Granulating — sky, atmospheric distance; the classic landscape blue
15	French Ultramarine	PB29	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Warm blue — deep sky, shadow darks with earth tones; the universal mixer
16	Prussian Blue	PB27	DS / WN / MG	Semi-transparent	Greenish cool blue — Homer foliage greens, deep water, naturalistic darks
17	Cerulean Blue	PB35	WN / DS	Semi-opaque	Strongly granulating — hazy distance, summer sky texture

GREENS (3 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
18	Viridian	PG18	WN / DS / MG	Transparent	The classical foliage green — controllable, mixes beautifully with earth tones
19	Phthalo Green BS	PG7	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Intense — use for deep shadow greens and tropical foliage; high tinting strength
20	Cobalt Teal	PG50	DS	Semi-transparent	Strongly granulating — atmospheric water, coastal light, unique mixing character

EARTH TONES (6 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
21	Raw Sienna	PBr7	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	Light warm earth — sunlit stone, foliage modifier, warm distance washes
22	Burnt Sienna	PBr7	DS / WN / MG	Transparent	The universal earth — shadow grays with Ultramarine, skin tones, bark
23	Raw Umber	PBr7	DS / WN	Semi-transparent	Cool olive earth — damp shadows, naturalistic foliage darks
24	Burnt Umber	PBr7	DS / WN / MG	Semi-transparent	Deep cool dark earth — near-blacks with Ultramarine, deep tree masses
25	Yellow Ochre	PY43	—	—	(already listed as #4)
25	Indian Red	PR101	DS / WN / MG	Opaque	Cool red earth — brick, ruddy shadows, Homer-palette skin tones
26	Vandyke Brown	NBr8	WN / DS	Semi-transparent	Deep rich brown — Sargent/Homer palette; distinctive character; check lightfastness by brand

NEUTRALS AND DARKS (2 pans)

#	Pigment	Code	Brand	Transparency	Notes
27	Ivory Black	PBk9	DS / WN / MG	Semi-transparent	Warm black — mixed with yellows for rich olive darks; used by Homer and Sargent
28	Naples Yellow	PY41 or mixed	WN	Opaque	Soft warm opaque — hazy sunlit distance, flesh lights, architectural stonework

The Full 28 at a Glance

#	Name	Code	Primary Role
1	Hansa Yellow Light	PY175	Cool yellow / spring greens
2	Hansa Yellow Medium	PY97	Warm yellow / orange bridge
3	New Gamboge	PY153	Deep warm yellow / foliage
4	Yellow Ochre	PY43	Muted earth yellow
5	Transparent Pyrrol Orange	PO71	Warm split-primary red-orange
6	Quinacridone Gold	PO49	Deep golden orange / autumn
7	Quinacridone Rose	PV19	Cool split-primary red
8	Quinacridone Magenta	PR122	Deep cool red / vivid purples
9	Pyrrol Scarlet	PR255	Pure warm red
10	Permanent Alizarin Crimson	PR206	Deep cool red / dark glazes
11	Ultramarine Violet	PV15	Atmospheric distance / granulating
12	Dioxazine Violet	PV23	Deep shadow violet
13	Phthalo Blue GS	PB15:3	Cool split-primary blue
14	Cobalt Blue	PB28	Sky / atmospheric distance
15	French Ultramarine	PB29	Warm blue / universal mixer
16	Prussian Blue	PB27	Foliage greens / deep water
17	Cerulean Blue	PB35	Hazy distance / granulating sky
18	Viridian	PG18	Classical foliage green
19	Phthalo Green BS	PG7	Deep shadow greens
20	Cobalt Teal	PG50	Granulating water / coastal
21	Raw Sienna	PBr7	Light warm earth
22	Burnt Sienna	PBr7	Universal earth mixer
23	Raw Umber	PBr7	Cool olive shadow earth
24	Burnt Umber	PBr7	Deep dark earth
25	Indian Red	PR101	Cool opaque red earth
26	Vandyke Brown	NBr8	Deep rich dark brown
27	Ivory Black	PBk9	Warm black / olive darks
28	Naples Yellow	PY41	Soft opaque warm light

How the Palette Covers the Spectrum

Split primaries — warm and cool version of each primary, enabling clean mixing across the full hue circle without mud.

Granulating track — Cobalt Blue, Cerulean, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt Teal, and Raw Umber form a granulating sub-palette for atmospheric landscape and textural work.

Transparent glazing track — Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, all the quinacridones, Hansa Yellows, and Viridian form a fully transparent glazing palette for luminous layered work.

Earth tone range — six earth pigments running from warm-light (Raw Sienna) through to deep-cool-dark (Burnt Umber), with Indian Red providing the opaque cool red earth anchor and Vandyke Brown the deep historical dark.

Classical masters coverage — this palette contains the documented pigment equivalents for Sargent (Ultramarine, Viridian, Burnt Sienna, Vandyke Brown, Alizarin), Homer (Prussian Blue, Indian Red, Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black), and the full English landscape tradition.

One deliberate redundancy — Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Rose occupy adjacent territory, but their difference in depth and mixing character is large enough to justify both. Every other pigment occupies genuinely distinct territory.