Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours

The Australian professional range of Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours were created in 1966. The range now includes 67 colours and the colour chart can be found here. The colours can also be found on the website here but some of the information is slightly different and I don't know which is the more recent. Neither show pigment information though it is clearly written on the labels. They have a high pigment content with no fillers and are made with only lightfast pigments rating ASTM I or II.
I have only tried half of this range, which is ironic as I am an Australian living in Australia, but they tend to paint out nicely fresh from the tube, which I believe is how they are intended to be used. If setting up a palette, which is how I prefer to paint, add a drop or two of glycerine to each colour to keep them from cracking up.

There is also a range of 30 10ml tubes of student watercolours called Art Prism available, but I am not intending covering student watercolours.


This is a bit of an unusual post since I normally don't show swatches of the whole range unless I have most of them painted out, but since I can't find a pigment list I thought it may be helpful to show the full range anyway. To fill the blanks I have used The Wilcox Guide to the Finest Watercolor Paints 2001-2 edition to obtain pigment information for the colours I haven't tried. This may well be out of date so please contact me if you have better information :-) I have also added pictures from old notebooks from the 1990s, long before I started painting this style of swatches.


The numbers are what appears on the Art Spectum website. The pigment numbers are what was on the tube or sample, or what was used back in the 2001.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Chinese White (not shown), Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Yellow, Spectrum Yellow (Cadmium Yellow Hue).

This sample of Permanent Gamboge contains PY153, which is no longer available so may have been reformulated. the same is true of Permanent Indian Red.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Aureolin, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Permanent Gamboge, Permanent Indian Yellow, Cadmium Orange.

 There are a few ranges with a PO36 orange, in this case called Vermilion, and they are always lovely!

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Permanent Orange, Coral, Vermilion Permanent, Spectrum Red, Cadmium Red.

Spectrum Crimson is made from PV19 Quinacridone Red and PV19 Quinacridone Violet.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Brilliant Red, Cadmium Red Deep, Pilbara Red (see below), Spectrum Crimson (Alizarin Hue), Permanent Crimson (see below).

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Pilbara Red.

I had Pilbara Red many years ago and painted a sample in a book. It's rather like a glowing burnt sienna. The Permanent Crimson sample is also from this notebook.

Art Spectrum Watercolours - Permanent Crimson (Alizarin Hue)

 Permanent Rose Madder is a very nice rose madder hue - it has the gentle quality of the original fugitive pigment but is made with PV19.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Rose Madder (Permanent Hue), Permanent Rose, Permanent Magenta, Flinders Red Violet (previously known as Thio Violet), Cobalt Violet.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Mauve, Flinders Blue Violet (also known as Mineral Violet), French Ultramarine, Ultramarine.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Cobalt Blue, Spectrum Blue, Prussian Blue, Indigo Blue, Phthalo Blue.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Antwerp Blue, Cerulean Blue, Tasman Blue, Australian Turquoise, Viridian.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Phthalo Green, Australian Leaf Green Dark, Olive Green Permanent, Hookers Green Permanent, Oxide or Chromium.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Australian Green Gold (see below), Sap Green Permanent, Australian Grey, Naples Yellow, Naples Yellow Reddish.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Australian Green Gold

 My old sample of Australian Green Gold painted in a notebook.

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna Hue (Light), Raw Sienna Natural (Deep), Burnt Sienna Hue, Burnt Sienna Natural (see below).

Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolours - Yellow Ochre