Your initial 10 pastels will provide you with a set of mid tones (warm red, cold red, orange, cold yellow, warm green, cold green, cold blue, warm blue, cold violet, and warm violet). Remember, you want a selection which is relatively harmonious and representative of the subjects you will paint.
It is best if you make the choice yourself, but if you're unsure, here are my suggestions:
- Warm red: scarlet lake, permanent red, or poppy red
- Cold red: carmine, alizarin crimson, or madder lake
- Orange: mid orange or permanent orange
- Cold yellow: lemon yellow
- Warm green: permanent green or phthalo green
- Cold green: blue green or turquoise (especially if intending to do seascapes)
- Cold blue: cerulean blue
- Warm blue: French ultramarine or ultramarine deep
- Cold violet: ultramarine violet or blue violet
- Warm violet: red violet or quinacrindone violet
Once you have these 10 basic pastels, you'll have your mid-tone collection. Now you need to expand the set to include dark and light tones.
