What color do you wish wasn't there?
I put together a new palette for each painting so I rarely wish a color wasn’t there. That said, I paint with liquid acrylic and there are lots of times that I accidentally squeeze too much out, resulting in WAY too much of one color. 

What is your favorite brush?
My absolute favorite is Robert Simmons' short handle Sapphire series 1/4” Angle Shader. When these brushes are brand new, I’m able to get really precise crisp lines and smooth edges with them. They are also beautifully responsive and lovely to work with when building up thin layers of paint to create gradations of color. Finally they are relatively inexpensive brushes, which is important because I go through A LOT of them. Since I really need the bristles to be in near perfect condition for the kind of detailed painting I do, I usually can only get 3-4 solid days of painting per brush. I periodically donate 50-100 gently used brushes to my kids’ schools and after school programs so they can continue to be used by others.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
I begin each piece with a photographic image that I print onto one or more pieces of archival paper. After cutting away parts of the print and reassembling it, I mount the paper to a panel and then paint over every part of the printed image as well as all exposed parts of the panel, including the sides.

What is your favorite color to work with? 
That’s a hard one for me to answer because it’s mostly the relationships between colors that really excite me - especially where cool and warm colors meet. One of my favorite pairings: Prussian Blue shadows on a surface warmed by a (very wee bit of) Pyrrole Orange. 

Peter Cromer creates nuanced, whimsical & stoic forms with painted collage elements. Drawing from contemporary popular forms with direct corollaries to Henry Moore & Robert Delaunay, Peter's work is an excellent example of contemporary art with substance & trajectory. If you want to find more of Peter on the internet check out his website, Instagram & Facebook. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
Probably the small amount of copper. I tend to avoid red based tones. There is something with me and red that is like a cat and a dog. We just don’t get along that well.  I find it an alarming colour. 

What is your favorite brush?
I use a sponge when creating. I find that it creates unexpected textures which I love.   Sometimes not being able to control the outcome can be very exciting.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
Paper!!! That archers paper is the best. Paper is great for cutting up and changing things up more. Collage is a very meditative exercise.

What is your favorite color to work with? 
Grey and neutral colours are my favourite. They are the foundation to bring in fun bright colours and really help balance my art. They help the bright colours pop. Charcoal and Navy are my faves right now.

The exuberant colors & patterns of Bianca Bello's work invariably cause one to smile. Her marks create patterns that playfully vibrate. I strongly recommend reading her #PaletteProject responses below & then heading straight to her Etsy shop without even a detour to her website, because you are going to want her work on your walls. And of course following Bianca on the social media platforms is a good idea too: Twitter, Instagram, & Pinterest. 

What color do you wish wasn't there? 
I'm actually not a fan of red- I use it very rarely - and in this case, I was trying to push myself out of this rut of soft colors. I still can't decide if I like the finished piece, but it's getting there! 

What is your favorite brush?
I don't use fancy brushes because I lose everything. My favorite brush right now is my Loew-Cornell fat 11 brush from their 12 brush set...you can find this set for less than $10 and it's fantastic! I love using fat brushes to lay down big swaths of color. If I use little brushes I get too worried about each little line, so big brushes help me to just make a commitment and paint a little more freely. 

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
I paint pretty small paintings right now on watercolor paper or stretched canvas due to limited space, but I absolutely love to paint murals. Years ago when I first started painting, I would paint these huge wooden signs to advertise for my high school's musical productions. I loved it! I would spend weeks outside with buckets of paint, climbing up and down ladders, working on little details that came together to make this big image - it was wonderful! So, give me an empty wall in Boston and I'll be a very happy camper. 

What is your favorite color to work with? 

This is a pretty difficult question! I really love to work with soft pastel colors, and I'm sort of in a pink rut right now. Pink is my comfort zone (which is really weird because I never liked pink until my 20s). 

Lisa Congdon's diversity of approaches, from hand-lettering & sketching to painting & illustration, is impressive. Lisa's generosity is evident in the Creative Live & Creative Bug classes she teaches. Going well beyond the task at hand she gives great insight into being a working artist on a variety of platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & in her book, Art, Inc. Her blog is refreshingly honest, a striking combination of personal & professional happenings & thoughts. Lisa's work is a distinct combination of folk imagery, contemporary color, & tempered optimism with a strong backing of historical resonance & future trends (she really is the trend-setter). Essentially Lisa is spot on! Read her #PaletteProject responses below & then go pick up this lovely gem in her Etsy shop. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I create my own palette with liquid watercolors and gouache! So If I didn't want a color in my palette, it wouldn't be there. I used to hate purple, but it has grown on my lately.

What is your favorite brush?
I work in both acrylic, gouache and watercolor, all on a variety of surfaces. For everything, I love flat edged medium-sized brushes the best.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
It's a toss up between watercolor paper and wood. I love how porous they both are, how they both soak up and disperse the pigment in interesting ways that are never the same twice.

What is your favorite color to work with? 
Opera (aka neon pink). I am also into neon red/orange right now.

The nostalgia of Jessica Brilli's work is infused with new life by her thoroughly contemporary color choices. I can not help but draw comparisons to Edward Hopper's contemplative work. I highly recommend keeping up to date with Jessica's openings & such on Facebook, purusing her insightful Pinterest boards, checking out her Instagram for paintings & because cats, and last, but not least check her Twitter for more, honest insights. Her #PaletteProject responses are included below. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I used to hate working with greens, but I've gotten more comfortable with them. Now I'm at peace with all of the colors.

What is your favorite brush?
I get a lot of use out of the medium sized filbert brushes. 

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
Canvas, sometimes wood panel

What is your favorite color to work with? 
The blue family is a lot of fun to work with.

Sally Tharp paints still lifes with vibrancy & meaning. They echo with light & precision. The painting included below is part of a new series about the tangible things that humans keep. Often titles are a throwaway, an afterthought, but this title ties in seamlessly (pun intended). Sally's inclusion of paint color names alongside her palette shows the attention to detail needed to produce work of this caliber. Needless to say you should check out more of her work online & in person after enjoying her palette project responses below. 

Emily Garfield paints wonderful imaginary maps. They are mashups of memory, cell structure & personal experience. These paintings are an excellent counterpoint to the precision of GPS laden imagery we are presented with daily. The subversive whimsy of this work is delightful. Emily's website is a treasure trove of images & concepts, her etsy stocked with lovely prints & drawings (lots of good Valentine's over there y'all), while her instagram & twitter will keep you up to date on her latest happenings. Peruse her #PaletteProject responses below & then go get lost in the cartographic world of Emily. I highly recommend it. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I ended up using all the colors but I did have trouble with the small bit of turquoise that's on there. I don't tend to go for bright colors, but it did add interest in some of the drawings I did.

What is your favorite brush?
I generally get relatively inexpensive brushes from Blick. I try to take care of them, but it helps me not be so precious if I know I can easily replace them.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
I work almost exclusively on watercolor paper. 

What is your favorite color to work with? 
I end up with a lot of blues and greens because my drawings are generally maplike, but I actually don't like blue. Lately I've been into brown and navy/indigo. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I'd like to say the purple. I tried to use this color on my illustrations but it was not very successful…
What is your favorite brush?
I like to use differents shapes of brushes. Small and big sizes. But I like to draw with brush, so I prefer smallest brush.
What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
On paper for the moment! I make illustrations for books or prints, so I prefer to work on similar surface like the final result.
What is your favorite color to work with?
I love the red. It's the color of blood, love, emotion… And I can paint many different elements with the red : human skin, flower, tree, clothes…

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I'd have to say the Brown, I have yet to find it useful on canvas. Though I do seem to find it in my house décor. 

What is your favorite brush/ tool to work with?
I love experimenting with new ones, I have way too many! But I’ve been really loving my water brush lately, they give you so much control and their fluid motion is fun to play with.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
Since I mainly paint to create paper products, invitations, cards and patterns. I work a lot with no-bleed paper, It scans beautifully and ensures crisp lines that are easy to transfer to digital. You do have to be careful with how much water is on your brush though, the paper is thin and can ripple in an instant!

What is your favorite color to work with? 
I've been drawn to marigold hues lately, rich yellow and oranges.

Megan Weaver of 200Lemons has serious skill with watercolor. The quality of her washes to create all manner of creatures is enviable. I highly recommend her Instagram for more painting gems. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
If I am being completely honest and exposing my artistic secrets and quirks... When it comes to my palette, I am quite organized and need to have it clean and in order. The majority of the time I'm happy with each color that is there, but I don't like when I've left too much white on the palette. I only use it for final highlights and sometimes it can run into my other colors and make them cloudy and unusable. 

What is your favorite brush?
The smaller the better. I tend to work pretty small and currently paint with a 000 Winsor & Newton Cotman Round brush.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I buy the large sheets and rip them down to smaller 4x6 -5x7 pieces with deckled edges. 

What is your favorite color to work with?
Black and Indigo. They are two colors that can take an underpainting and really make it pop.