No matter what subject she’s tackling, Kempe— who calls herself “an enthusiastic colorist”—fills the 30 wells in her porcelain palette with a kaleidoscope of colors. Her basics are lemon yellow, new gamboge, raw sienna, burnt sienna, cadmium orange, vermilion, quinacridone red, permanent alizarin crimson, rose madder, permanent rose, permanent magenta, mauve, indigo, French ultramarine, cobalt blue, cerulean blue, manganese blue, Winsor blue, Winsor green, viridian, sap green and olive green.
When she needs a dark color that comes close to black, she mixes permanent alizarin crimson with Prussian blue or Winsor green, or she combines burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. She uses a variety of brands, but particularly likes Winsor & Newton for its consistency and Holbein for its vibrancy.
As for brushes, Kempe prefers quill-mop synthetic brushes that have…