alizarin crimson

ultramarine blue

prussian blue

viridian

Cadmium Red Light

 ink + prisma pencil

cadmium yellow pale

ink + prisma pencil

cadmium red medium

wow. I just did 5 sketches this morning.

naples yellow

cadmium orange

I squeeze out every last bit that I can.

cerulean blue

sap green

time to get back to the paint tubes!

20 colors

I made a list and sampled what I thought were my essential oil colors:
Cadmium Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Pale
Cadmium Yellow Medium
(Cadmium Yellow Deep)
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Light
Cadmium Red Medium
Cadmium Red Deep
Alizarin Crimson
Lamp Black
Titanium White
Cerulean Blue
Manganese Blue Hue
Cobalt Blue
Ultramarine Blue
Prussian Blue
Viridian
Sap Green
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ochre

I made some discoveries:
I didn't have Cadmium Yellow Deep and think maybe I can get along without it
Cadmium Red Med and Deep look the same -- all these years I've bought both! I think of the money I could have saved if I'd done this color array 35 years ago...
(yes, I can't believe I've never done this before - silly me)
So my 20 essential colors are now 18 essential colors.

cadmium yellow medium

cadmium yellow medium, originally uploaded by ambray66.

manganese blue

manganese blue, originally uploaded by ambray66.

cobalt blue

I've decided I like the caps off

Cadmium Yellow Lemon

inspired by dictionary.com's
Word of the Day for Friday, January 23, 2009

sallow \SAL-oh\, adjective: having a sickly, yellowish color

cerulean blue

here are two versions...
I'm getting too self-conscious,
now that I've decided this is a "real" art series

I actually drew these on 1-13
why I put today's date is a mystery

naples yellow

an old tube... not much left...

raw umber

I'm afraid this tube is getting hard...

that's plastic wrapped around the base
I don't use this color that often...
usually I make it by mixing blue and orange

cadmium red light

it's a good thing I decided to start drawing my paints....
I found this tube with a missing cap