When my kids were young, this wasn't an infrequent question. Which I was frustratingly unable to answer. I'd usually end up with something like, Burnt orange. Hey, it's an answer.
The above color sample was my palette one moment, one day last week. My friend Dylan Strzynski and I were talking color last week, and found that both of us have kind of settled on a pallette of colors we're hapy with, and mix from there. I use Zinc/Titanium White, Alizaron Crimson Permanent, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Raw Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Manganese Blue, occasionally Viridian Green, when I can't mix quite the right green. Green. The most challenging color. And Cadmium Orange. My favorite color? I don't have a favorite, but Cadmium Orange, man..........lush, rich. Wow.
I do love color.