Twelve hue families

The wheel is the index.

Every wash on this site belongs to a hue family. Turn the wheel to a family and the two columns below narrow to it — the technique sheet on the left, the three most recent colour cards on the right.

showing all 12 hue families

Click a sector, or use the hue menu in the header.

Technique sheet

26 published

Wash type, ground, working time
Wash	Hue	Paper	Water	Min
Cobalt violet and the shadow problem Palette · shadow	Violet	300 gsm	Not applicable	60
Neutral greys mixed from complements, not from black Palette · complement	Neutral	300 gsm	Not applicable	60
A four-tube earth palette for watercolour portraits Palette · earth-triad	Ochre	300 gsm	Not applicable	65
Four sky mixes, judged dry Palette · graded	Cobalt	300 gsm	Not applicable	45
Greens that stay clean: a twenty-one square mixing study Palette · mixing-study	Sap green	300 gsm	Not applicable	70
Warm split-primary for interiors and still life Palette · split-primary	Vermilion	300 gsm	Not applicable	55
Cool split-primary: a landscape palette built on three cool pigments Palette · split-primary	Cerulean	300 gsm	Not applicable	55
Splatter: three tools, three dot sizes, one rule Wash · splatter	Rose	300 gsm	Damp	20
Masking fluid: preserving paper value without cutting the shape out Wash · resist	Sap green	300 gsm	Soaked	50
Salt: a technique that depends on paper sizing Wash · granulation	Cobalt	300 gsm	Soaked	35
Lifting: using removal as a mark-making tool Wash · lifting	Neutral	300 gsm	Damp	30
Backruns: turning the cauliflower into a tool Wash · backrun	Burnt sienna	300 gsm	Soaked	40
Study: one hundred wash squares, and what they teach you Study · chart	Neutral	200 gsm	Not applicable	120
Study: Turner's sky and the price of one reserved white Study · wet-in-wet	Cerulean	300 gsm	Soaked	90
Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, Venetian red: three tubes that cover half of painting Palette · earth-trio	Burnt sienna	300 gsm	Not applicable	50
A three-pigment triad that actually mixes cleanly Palette · triad	Ultramarine	300 gsm	Not applicable	60
Wax and cling film: two resists that behave nothing alike Wash · resist	Teal	300 gsm	Soaked	45
Dry brush on rough stock: letting the paper do the drawing Wash · dry-brush	Ochre	300 gsm	Dry	30
Damp paper: the eight-to-twenty second window Wash · wet-on-damp	Violet	300 gsm	Damp	35
Wet-on-dry: making an edge you can cut yourself on Wash · wet-on-dry	Vermilion	300 gsm	Dry	25
Wet-in-wet: stretching the open time to six minutes Wash · wet-in-wet	Rose	300 gsm	Soaked	30
Charging a wash: why the tilt window is fifteen seconds long Wash · flat	Sap green	185 gsm	Soaked	20
Flat wash on hot press: controlling a surface with no tooth Wash · flat	Cobalt	300 gsm	Damp	40
Variegated wash: three colours that keep their own edges Wash · variegated	Viridian	300 gsm	Soaked	35
Graded wash: dissolving ultramarine into cerulean Wash · graded	Ultramarine	300 gsm	Soaked	30
A flat wash that actually dries flat Wash · flat	Cerulean	200 gsm	Soaked	25