Our Colours
Get your Derivan paints here, and find paintings which use those colours.
- Our full range of colours
- Hue families: Red | Orange | Ochre | Yellow | Green | Blue | Purple | White | Black | Grey
- More info:
- Sizes
- Why is good paint quality important?
- Colour naming conventions
- Comparison of Derivan Student and Artist
Colour Swatch | Derivan Acrylic Professional name | Inglis Academy Colour description |
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Red hues | ||
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Crimson | Cool Red Basic Palette Which paintings? Click here to buy (WIP) |
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Pyrrole Red | Which paintings? |
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Scarlet Red Light | Warm Red Which paintings use this? Click here to buy (WIP) |
Orange hues | ||
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Vermilion | Orange Which paintings? Click here to buy (WIP) |
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Red Oxide | Red Ochre Which paintings? |
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Burnt Sienna | Which paintings? |
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Burnt Umber | Which paintings? |
Ochre hues | ||
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Yellow Oxide | Yellow Ochre
Basic Palette Which paintings? |
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Raw Sienna | Which paintings? |
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Raw Umber | Which paintings? |
Yellow hues | ||
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Yellow Deep | Warm Yellow Which paintings? |
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Cadmium Yellow | Yellow
Basic Palette Which paintings? |
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Lemon Yellow | Cool Yellow
Which paintings? |
Green hues | ||
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Australian Leaf Green | Which paintings? |
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Australian Sap Green | Which paintings? |
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Phthalo Green | Turquoise
Transparent Blue/Green useful for seascapes and present in many impressionist paintings. Which paintings? |
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Australian native tree colours. We learn how to mix these colours from our Basic Palette. | |
Blue hues | ||
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Cerulean Blue |
Cerulean Blue
Warmer blue, semi-transparent. Which paintings? |
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Phthalo Blue | Cool Blue
Our primary blue. Transparent. Basic Palette Which paintings? |
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Ultra Blue | Ultramarine Blue
A purple tinged blue, transparent. Which paintings? |
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Cobalt Blue |
Cobalt Blue
More purplish. Opaque. Which paintings? |
Purple hues | ||
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Purple | We mix purple and it's related colours from our stable of reds and blues. Rarely used as a hue from the tube, unless it matches a particular fabric. Which paintings? |
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Magenta | Rarely used as a hue from the tube, unless it matches a particular fabric or flower.
Which paintings? |
White hues | ||
Whites | ||
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Titanium White | Warm White
Basic Palette Which paintings? Click here to buy (WIP) |
Derivan Matisse (coming soon) | Zinc White | Cool White |
Black hues | ||
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Carbon Black | We never use black. Black can be warm or cool. We make black from the colours on our palette, ensuring colour harmony in our painting.
When I say never... ... I often use a thin mixture of black to sign my paintings. Which paintings? |
Grey hues | ||
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Cool Grey |
Inglis Academy Custom Colour
Used for toning the canvas when the painting is predominantly warm. |
Yellow family
Yellow family | ||
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Yellow Deep | Cad Yellow Hue | Lemon Yellow |
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We use Cad Yellow as our primary. This gives us the option of going to a warmer yellow (Yellow Deep) or a cooler yellow (Lemon Yellow) when needed. |
Why is good paint quality important?
When you are learning to mix colour, it is incredibly important to use paint that:
- Is consistent from batch to batch.
- Retains maximum chroma (brightness, saturation) when mixing
- Behaves like the natural pigment
Colour naming conventions
We name our colours by Hue and Temperature, e.g. Warm Yellow, Cool Yellow. We use the Chevreul Colour System , as did the Impressionists . Study this system in this session: Colour Wheel Mastery.
Derivan's names are based on historical usage, you will find these names are used by most paint manufacturers and art systems, although Derivan's naming conventions are probably the most accurate. Other brands may vary. As you work through the Syllabus in our 'Monet & Friends' stream you will become familiar with both conventions.
Sizes
Size | Image | Features |
---|---|---|
75ml | Metal tube collapses as you empty it, thus stopping the paint from drying out. | |
250ml | Screw top | |
1 litre | Flip top with small nozzle. Prevents contamination of colour. |