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The Ultimate "Desert Island" Watercolor Palette: 10 Colors for Infinite Mixing

I recently challenged my students to think about a classic art school question: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring 10 watercolor tubes, what would they be?

It is a tough mental exercise. It forces you to choose between your favorite convenience colors and the raw mixing power of pure pigments.

Initially, my list looked a bit different. But after sitting down to look at color science, I redesigned my ultimate 10-color palette. The goal? The largest possible color gamut. I wanted to make sure that with just 10 tubes, I could mix almost any color under the sun without creating mud.

Here are my official 10 "desert island" picks and exactly why they made the cut.

The High-Gamut Primaries (The Powerhouse 6)

To get bright, clean secondary colors (like fiery oranges and electric purples), you need a split-primary system based on cool and warm versions of your yellow, red, and blue.

•  Lemon Yellow (PY154): My clean, cool yellow. It is highly vibrant and essential for mixing bright, glowing greens.
•  New Gamboge (PY65): This deep, warm yellow replaced my beloved Yellow Ochre. Why? Because it has a much higher chroma (color intensity). It widens my mixing range for oranges, but I can still dull it down when I need earthy tones.
•  Quinacridone Magenta (PR122): The absolute star of the palette. Unlike Alizarin Crimson—which has yellow undertones that can make purples muddy—this is a true "printer's magenta." It mixes with blue to create the most vibrant, clean purples you have ever seen.
•  Pyrrol Scarlet (PR108): My high-chroma warm red. It is perfect for brilliant autumn leaves, sunset highlights, and rich, glowing earth mixtures.
•  Phthalo Blue - Green Shade (PB15:3): The ultimate cyan. This is a pure mixing beast with an incredible value range. It can go from a pale sky blue to a deep, near-black shadow tone.
•  Cobalt Blue (PB28): A beautiful, reliable mid-tone blue. I kept this for its gorgeous granulation and its perfect behavior in classic sky washes.

The High-Utility Landscape Trio

Once the primaries were set, I needed colors that solve specific landscape problems quickly without wasting my bright primaries.

•  Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50): A stunning, high-chroma color. It gives a unique lift to tropical waters, bright skies, and glowing botanical mixes that you just can't replicate with standard blues.
•  Sap Green (PO62/PG7 mix): A reliable convenience green. It saves massive amounts of time when painting foliage, allowing me to lay down a realistic base instantly and adjust it with my yellows or reds.
•  Transparent Pyrrol Orange (PO71): A glowing, transparent orange. It brings incredible warmth to landscapes, lit windows, and sunset horizons.

The Return of a Favorite

•  Burnt Sienna (PBr7): I originally left this off my list, but I simply couldn't live without it. When you pair Burnt Sienna with Cobalt Blue or Phthalo Blue, magic happens. You get instant, rich chromatic darks, deep shadow grays, and perfect natural earth tones without exhausting your primary colors.

What Didn't Make the Cut?

To squeeze out the absolute maximum mixing range, I had to drop convenience secondary colors like Dioxazine Purple. Why? Because with Quinacridone Magenta and Phthalo Blue on the palette, I can already mix an identical, incredibly rich purple myself.

What Are Those Codes Next to the Names? (And Why They Matter)

You might have noticed those strange letters and numbers next to the paint names, like PY154 or PR122. Those are Pigment Codes from the Colour Index International system. 

The letter tells you the color family, and the number tells you the exact chemical pigment inside the tube: 

•  P = Pigment
• Y = Yellow
• R = Red
• B = Blue
• Br = Brown
• G = Green
• O = Orange 

Why Pigment Codes are a Watercolorist's Best Friend

Paint manufacturers love to use poetic, marketing-driven names. One brand's "Sap Green" might look totally different from another brand's "Sap Green." Even worse, two brands might sell the exact same pigment under completely different names! 

Here is how checking the codes saves you money and frustration when you buy different brands:

• Avoid Duplicate Buying: Brand A might call a tube "Thalo Blue," while Brand B calls it "Winsor Blue." If you check the back of the tube and they both say PB15:3, you know they are the exact same pigment. You don't need to buy both.
• Predictable Mixing: Single-pigment paints (tubes with only one code listed) mix cleanly. Multi-pigment paints (tubes with two or three codes listed) are more likely to create mud when mixed together. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• True Color Matching: If you love Daniel Smith's "Lemon Yellow" but your student has Da Vinci's "Benzimidazolone Yellow," just look for PY154. The behavior and purity of the color will match beautifully, regardless of the logo on the tube.

Teaching your students to read pigment codes instead of paint names is the single fastest way to master color mixing across any paint brand!

Final Thoughts

Limiting your palette isn't about restriction—it is about freedom. When you deeply understand how a high-gamut palette behaves, you stop guessing and start creating with confidence.

What about you? What are your 10 "desert island" colors? Let me know in the comments below!

(And hey, if a stray tube of Lavender somehow "accidentally" slips into my luggage anyway... that's just between us.)

Keep Makin’ Art!

Carl