Getting the Most From a Limited, Transparent Watercolor Palette

Looking at Arizona artist Debbie Friis-Pettitt’s color-filled watercolors of blossoms, birds, and bountiful fruits, you’d never guess that she began her artistic journey with graphite drawings. The artist credits a seventh-grade art teacher with lighting the flame that has burned throughout her transition from black and white to vibrant hues. 

Initially, Friis-Pettitt’s transition from graphic design to fine art was rooted in her familiarity of media and subject: pencil drawings of her native Southwest. Her renderings of cowboys, horses, and rocky landscapes found eager buyers at art fairs and other events. For about five years, while raising her young family and working as a graphic designer, she was satisfied. Eventually, though, she grew tired of working tonally and longed for a way to express her love of the natural world through color. 

An Ephiphany

A motivated learner, Friis-Pettitt sought to teach herself through books about watercolor but, over time, she found herself more and more confused. “Every new book I read suggested new colors I ‘needed’ to have, so I dutifully purchased whatever they listed,” she says. “This worked fine while I was working my way through each specific book, completing the exercises. But, in the end, I had dozens of different tubes of watercolor paint and no idea how to use them effectively.”

The artist stumbled across the work of award-winning designer Bruce MacEvoy and began to think more deeply about color theory. These reflections led to an epiphany. She knew, from her own graphic design experience, that full-color printing was achieved by layering only three colors—cyan, magenta, and yellow. Surely, she thought, she could generate every color she needed for her paintings by using just three transparent watercolors.

Extensive experimentation led to Friis-Pettitt’s current formula of painting with one yellow, a warm or a cool red, and a warm or cool blue, with the occasional use of black to generate various tones. Now, she declares, she can mix any color she wants from just the three hues. “Even if I choose the ‘wrong’ red or blue to begin with, I know how to use complementary colors, or value or chroma [saturation] shifts, to achieve my desired results,” she says. 

“Working in pencil for so long gave me a really strong base for understanding the importance of value, structure, and composition in a painting,” the artist says. “There’s a saying that value is the workhorse, but color gets all the glory, and I agree. Value is what pulls a viewer across the room; the specific colors matter less than you might think.”

Demonstration: Bluebird

Step 1: I masked out the background, so I wouldn’t have to worry about splashing color onto the foreground elements. I then thoroughly wet the background, allowing the water to soak into the paper. This gave me enough working time to introduce yellow and let it flow across the surface.

Step 2: Once the paper was fully saturated, I started applying more yellow. I like to begin with yellow because it provides a solid base for the subsequent colors. Using transparent, staining pigments allows me to layer color gradually.

Step 3: I used three transparent, staining colors—nickel azo yellow, quinacridone magenta, and phthalo blue—and mixed them to create deep, rich colors without any lifting.

Step 4: After each application of color, I wet the paper again and then added the deepest, darkest values.

Step 5: I mixed rich burnt siennas and vibrant oranges to capture the effect of sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Step 6: I turned my attention to the bluebird, still using my three transparent, staining colors. I started with the eye first, since it serves as the focal point.

Step 7: For the tree stump, I combined the three colors to achieve rich grays and dark tones. I built the weathered texture with drybrush strokes, then used masking fluid and an engraving pen to bring out the highlights and fine details.

Final: I added the final details to Bluebird (watercolor on Arches 300-lb. cold-pressed paper). —Debbie Friis-Pettitt

To learn more about Debbie Friis-Pettitt’s creative journey and to see more of her work, check out the Fall 2026 issue of Watercolor Artist, available in the Artists Network online shop July 14 in digital format and July 28 in print format. Also available on newsstands July 28

About the Author

Ruth Rodgers paints in oil and pastel and enjoys writing about art and artists from her home in British Columbia, Canada.

About the Artist

Debbie Friis-Pettitt, of Prescott, Ariz., is a successful watercolor artist and online instructor who focuses on nature subjects rendered with a limited three-color palette. Her work has earned awards at various art exhibitions and competitions throughout the country.