<p>A split primary palette is one that consists of two shades of each primary color: a "warm" one and a "cool" one. The idea is to produce mixtures that are less muddy by reducing contamination from the third primary color. For example, if you want to mix a green that doesn't tend towards brown, you choose a slightly-greenish blue and a slightly-greenish yellow, so that the mixture has very little red.</p>

<p>In practice, at least in my experience, no matter how carefully you choose your primary colors, a mixed green is never going to be as vibrant as an actual green pigment. Purple is marginally easier to mix, but you're still better off with a purple pigment. Orange is really the only color that can be mixed reliably. (Well, that and brown, but even with brown it can be hard to achieve just the right shade.) That said, for most people a split-primary palette is probably more cost-effective than a single-primaries-plus-single-secondaries one, because few people paint in only primaries and secondaries<sup>1</sup> -- you always want slightly-this or slightly-that shades. Yes, you also have black and white at your disposal, but that gets you pastels and mud, not the gradients you want.</p>

<p><sub>1 I just came to the realization that I do indeed often paint in only primaries and secondaries. Heh. No wonder I've never bothered with a split-primary palette. :)</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-30T07:03:07.513Z
2016-11-30T07:03:07.513Z
Martha
<p>I'm looking at building out a gouache palette and I came across the term "split primary" palette. What is that and why would I want to have that?</p>

<color><color-theory>
What is a split primary palette?
Joanne C
# What is a split primary palette?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-11-30)

I'm looking at building out a gouache palette and I came across the term "split primary" palette. What is that and why would I want to have that?

**Tags:** color, color-theory


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-11-30. Score: 6

A split primary palette is one that consists of two shades of each primary color: a "warm" one and a "cool" one. The idea is to produce mixtures that are less muddy by reducing contamination from the third primary color. For example, if you want to mix a green that doesn't tend towards brown, you choose a slightly-greenish blue and a slightly-greenish yellow, so that the mixture has very little red.

In practice, at least in my experience, no matter how carefully you choose your primary colors, a mixed green is never going to be as vibrant as an actual green pigment. Purple is marginally easier to mix, but you're still better off with a purple pigment. Orange is really the only color that can be mixed reliably. (Well, that and brown, but even with brown it can be hard to achieve just the right shade.) That said, for most people a split-primary palette is probably more cost-effective than a single-primaries-plus-single-secondaries one, because few people paint in only primaries and secondaries1 -- you always want slightly-this or slightly-that shades. Yes, you also have black and white at your disposal, but that gets you pastels and mud, not the gradients you want.

1 I just came to the realization that I do indeed often paint in only primaries and secondaries. Heh. No wonder I've never bothered with a split-primary palette. :)


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