The “if I could only have a handful of tubes” moment. Think of it like packing for a painting holiday: travel light, mix everything. A strong starter acrylic palette doesn’t need to be huge — it needs to be versatile. 10 colours are suggested here.

  1. Warm Red – Cadmium Red (or Cadmium Red Hue)
    Great for vibrant mixes, sunsets, poppies, warm skin tones.
  2. Warm Blue – Ultramarine Blue. Deep, slightly reddish blue. Gorgeous for skies, shadows, and mixing rich darks.
  3. Warm Yellow – Cadmium Yellow (or Cadmium Yellow Hue). Strong, sunny, mixes lively oranges and warm greens.

    Add in the cool colours:
  4. Cool Red – Alizarin Crimson (Permanent version)
    Cool, slightly bluish red. Makes violets sing.
  5. Cool Blue – Phthalo Blue (Green Shade). Powerful. A tiny amount goes a long way. Makes intense greens and deep darks.
  6. Cool Yellow – Lemon Yellow (or Hansa Yellow Light)
    Bright, clean, perfect for fresh spring greens (not the food kind!).

    Your must have neutral:
  7. Titanium White – Your light-maker. Opaque and strong.

    Optional ‘Earth’ colours:
  8. Burnt Sienna – Brilliant for underpainting, warming shadows, mixing natural greens and greys.
  9. Burnt Umber – Quick darks, tree trunks, toning canvases, mixing near-blacks with Ultramarine.

What This Palette Can Do – with just the suggested colours you can:


  • Mix vibrant oranges, violets, and greens
  • Create beautiful, muted greys using complements.
  • Mix convincing skin tones.
  • Produce rich darks without needing black.

Do You Need Black? You could include Ivory Black — but as exciting alternatives you can mix Alizarin + Phthalo Green (if you ever add it) or Ultramarine + Burnt Umber. You will get deeper, more interesting darks.

If You Paint Landscapes – you might also consider:

  • Yellow Ochre
  • Raw Umber
  • A ready-made Sap Green (for speed, not necessity)

Very important: When your new colours have arrived devote an afternoon or more doing colour experiments mixing them all together and you’ll be surprised what you can get. Keep careful records of your results.

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