Note: Some affiliate links may be used in this post. I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use my affiliate link. Full disclosure policy here.
What is your favourite colour?
Related Articles
An artist friend once answered that with “Whatever colour I’ve just run out of!”.
What’s your answer?
I was asked that during a painting demonstration recently. Generally, I don’t really have one, so I responded with “Whichever one I’m painting with in the moment.”.
It sounds a bit glib, but it is true. I respond to colours in the moment. I love that beautiful Turquoise sea colour when I see it around the Cornish coasts, but I also love the rich electric purple of a piece of Chalcedony I bought last week. And I adore the vibrant orange silk of one of my cushions. And I feel great every time I wear my chartreuse coat. I could go on. So many gorgeous colours; so little time.
But there isn’t one that trumps the others.
That said, I’ve just added a new colour to my paintbox that’s a definite candidate for “favourite” if I really had to choose a single one.
With that in mind. may I introduce to you:
Liquitex’s Turquoise Deep
What a glorious colour this is. (Much richer and luminous in reality, but I’m afraid my Photoshop skills aren’t up to showing it in all its glory.)
I first discovered it in Acrylic Ink as a tiny bottle that was part of a sample set. I liked it so much I bought the full size bottle, I’ve just added it in Acrylic Gouache and am considering the Heavy Body too.
I primarily wanted Soft Body, but alas it’s not made in that format. Acrylic Gouache is a similar consistency, so that was my substitute. (What is acrylic gouache?) Sadly, neither does it exist as a spray, nor a marker, or I’m sure I’d be tempted by those too.
Oh well, that’s good for my bank balance if not for my art!
The only issue I have is that it’s such a beautiful colour it’s tempting to overuse it! Even if you do, it isn’t such a strong colour that it would dominate in the same way as Phthalo Blue.
Characteristics of Turquoise Deep
- Coverage: Heavy Body is Semi-opaque, Acrylic Gouache is Opaque, Acrylic Ink is Transparent. Great that I can choose the level of transparency I need.
- Lightfastness: excellent in each format
- Price: £5.00 – £7.80, depending which type you choose
Another useful point is that it’s Series 2, whereas Cobalt Teal and Cobalt Turquoise are both Series 4. That makes them double the price of Turquoise Deep. (Anything Cobalt is always at the expensive end of the range.) Good to know if you’re on a budget.
(If you are on a budget, make sure you see my recent series on Money Saving for Artists.)
Turquoise Deep test sheet
Here’s my test sheet from my experiment sketchbook. It’s a really useful exercise to do whenever you add a new colour to your palette, giving a permanent reference of the new colours you can mix. (Note: the scan hasn’t shown the subtleties of each colour, but it gives you and idea of the results.)
The top line is neat Turquoise Deep.
I began my mixing exercise with Titanium White, adding a little more white each time to make tints. Then I repeated the process with Mars Black to make shades.
Then I went through two yellows, two reds and two blues and Yellow Ochre.
The final line was tints of Turquoise Deep and Primary Red.
Of course you can also make tints or shades of all of the above colours.
This was a very useful exercise, of which the most notable features were
- Titanium White: the tints gave beautiful clear turquoises. Can’t wait to use them in my next seascape
- Unbleached Titanium: wonderfully soft, muted versions of turquoise
- Yellow Light Hansa: creates bright, vibrant greens
- Primary Yellow: created a luminous green-gold, perfect for sunlit foliage
- Cadmium Red:excellent for creating rich reddish browns
- Primary Red: subtle darks through burgundy to a rich but muted red
- Ultramarine and Primary Blue: not surprisingly, the blues didn’t have a big effect, but they did create more complex blues, particularly in the mid-tones
- Yellow Ochre: produces rich, warm greens, akin to Sap Green
- Tints of the Turquoise Deep and Primary Red mix: soft, colourful greys, which would be wonderful for shadows. May be varied towards either warm mauves or cool blues.
- Rich, colourful darks were easy to mix by using Turquoise Deep with Mars Black, Cadmium or Primary Red, or Ultramarine.
It’s not surprising that the Turquoise Deep/ Primary Red mix makes good darks. Turquoise contains a lot of blue and yellow, and by adding red we’re effectively mixing the three primaries, which gives black.
Although I bought this so I’d have a ready-made turquoise, it does so much more when mixed with other colours.
I’m greatly looking forward to using this versatile colour in future paintings.
Note: I’ve just received my weekly Jackson’s Art Supplies email, and this week they have acrylic paint on sale at around 15% off. I don’t know how long the sale lasts, but it’s usually about a week. No, I didn’t time this post to coincide with their sale, but if any of your acrylic paint supplies are running low, now is a good opportunity to take advantage of a discount.
Related posts
- Colour-Mixing Made Easy
- Step Away From The Comfort Zone
- Money Saving for Artists
- What is Acrylic Gouache?
See a round up of 2022 posts here and pre-2022 here.
