Palette Talk - Overview

Palette Talk – an Overview

I have been working outside lately and have noticed that my choice of colors to work with is shifting, partly because of space limitations and partly out of curiosity. I have heard of many color mixing systems and naturally, I want to try them all. Below are just a few. I think to get the full educational benefit, for me and my readers, I need to sit down, use each one fully, explore and then post my experiences. I have some quickly made examples below. I purposely did not get all anal over the execution, using scraps of canvas, cardboard backing, and used the blobs of paint right on the canvas as my palette. Maybe when I get tired of re-working all those UFOs (unfinished objects) in my studio I'll swap in some more detailed color work.

The Zorn Palette, based roughly upon Rembrandt's Palette – Ivory Black, Cadmium Red Deep, and Yellow Ochre. This one is probably one of the most famous palettes to work with and well worth a try. It is better suited for work inside the studio unless you are willing to add some additional colors, which I understand that he did, depending on circumstances, especially for work outside.

Having made my sample, I can see why this palette is popular with portrait painters. There's a lot of nice skin tone possibilities and simplified blending. I was only able to get a shade of a pretend green and don't know what you do if you want a blue, so landscape painting is definitely out of the question if you're using a strict interpretation of his palette.

Warm/Cool Primary Based Palette

Cadmium Yellow Lemon and Cadmium Yellow Pale; Cadmium Red Light or Pyrrole Red and Alizarin Crimson; Cerulean or Cobalt Blue Blue and Ultramarine. You can choose to add Viridian or Thalo Green; or a brown such as a Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber added for convenience. Some of my training was with impressionist studies of the warmth or coolness of light, time of day, indoor v outdoor lighting, so I can't imagine working without a warm and a cool of most hues, the yellows in particular.

I really liked doing this palette. The greens are spectacular. The browns take some effort but are serviceable. I added in cerulean and a teal to the right. Loved those green mixtures also. This palette choice may have a convert! It is especially good for outdoor travel work where you want to limit the amount of stuff you are toting. I did not try to get flesh tones, but judging from the orange-tones it shouldn't be a huge problem, though there will be more steps involved. (The usual go to combination for flesh tones is cadmium red light and yellow ochre, which isn't available.) You have to pick a yellow and a blue to mix with a red to get that skin color. I think that for portraits adding in some brown/reds is something of a must if only for the convenience. Like all palettes, we get proficient at what we use most often and change takes some time and adjustments. The concept of sticking to just a set list of colors is somewhat of a purists dream. The addition of even a single brown is not a crime.

The Basic Three Plus White.

Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue seem to be a popular pick if you want to challenge yourself even further. Possible Additions or substitutions: Cadmium Red Light or Scarlet, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Viridian, Phthalo Green.

This one creates some controversy with impassioned adherents to particular blues or reds with much discussion of properties of light versus the chemistry of pigments.

I was not a fan of this one. I felt like I wanted there to be a brighter red, which I added (for the sake of comparison) off to the right. The blue mixed an adequate though uninspired range of greens. With the Alizarin in there you could get to some reasonable flesh tones.

Another Random Palette From A Random Artist School.

Naples Yellow Light, Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red or Terra Rosa, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cadmium Yellow Light, Pthalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Ivory Black, Alizarin Crimson, Transparent Oxide Red, Flake White. Additions and substitutions: Titanium White, Permanent Red Medium, Permanent Red violet, Viridian, Cobalt Blue. I have not worked with this one yet and do not have a sample for you. This is something of a complete palette, rather than a limited one.

My studio palette is somewhat broad so I have tried many of these colors, like Transparent Oxide Red which I use as a Burnt Sienna substitute. I also use Terra Rosa occassionally, mostly when doing portraits, winter shrubbery, or chimneys. Venetian Red is something of a luxury and one can get positively carried away splashing it on to give an added pop of color somewhere (mostly in watercolor) It is cool and purple-y. You might also want to play with adding English Red if you are exploring the plethora of red/brown hues available. Or a Mars Red. I also have a fondness for “mauve” (not one her list, but I was thinking of guilty pleasures and this qualifies) as it makes a dynamite ambiguous warm grey color when mixed with yellow ochre. It's a convenience and if working outside and carrying a lot of stuff you can skip it. I have never understood the attraction to Naples Yellows, mix it yourself. I always use Titanium white, though maybe I should try some other whites. Zinc white has some interesting properties. For many years I had banished Alizarin Crimson from my palette due to permanency issues, but they now manufacture a permanent version, quinacridone based, so I've been adding it back in. Some of these colors are particularly useful when doing portraits, like having a warm and cool red/brown hue on hand depending on your methodology.

Advantages of a Limited Palette - if you choose to go that route.

Simplifies decision making, useful especially for beginners who many be overwhelmed or confused by the choices.

They reduce weight and are ideal for travel.

They are cost effective. Fewer purchases of tubes of paint you rarely use.

The necessity of mixing all the colors together to get many hues creates greater unity within the painting. Its the old rube about putting a little of your main color into every mixture.

Forces you to expand your color mixing repertoire and break out of habits that might not be bad per se, just binding.

My Palettes

As you can see below I use everything but the kitchen sink in my studio, but really only use particular colors in any given painting, depending on the subject matter. For florals I use a wider range of greens and reds, adding in Permanent Rose and other hues. If I'm doing a painting of a seashell I use more of the earth tones and particular blues. If I'm doing a landscape from a digital file photo on my laptop, I will use other hues dependent on season whether it is woodsy or seashore. The travel palette is always landscape based, so I use fewer of the reds. I keep some travel gear prepacked in my studio and depending on which easel I take, I could end up with slightly different hues, probably because I was running out of something when I packed. I am eager to tryout the warm/cool palette above as a travel option, if only because of the green mixtures. I have stopped adding black to my palette, though there is a tube in the studio if I should feel a need for it. I don't remember what I was painting when I took this picture, but it is a typical arrangement for me. Note the inclusion of that bright, light blue that I seldom use. Ditto for the bright, light green-yellow. It also has raw sienna on it, which I have skipped adding of late.

Vicky's Palette for the Studio – Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Cadmium Lemon (its cool in tone, lemony)

Cadmium Yellow Pale (warm like butter)

Cadmium Yellow Medium, Deep, Deeper, Deepest

Cadmium Orange (convenient and useful for Autumn landscapes)

Cadmium Red Light

Cadmium Red Medium

Quinacridone Red, Rose, Coral

Permanent Rose (I usually skip as it is somewhat chemically/synthetic looking)

Alizarin Crimson (recently added back in)

Mauve (my guilty pleasure)

Yellow Ochre

Raw Sienna

Transparent Oxide Brown (Schminke) (Burnt Sienna substitute)

Burnt Umber

Raw Umber

Greenish Umber (love this shade)

Terra Rosa

Venetian Red, English Red, Mars Red (occassional)

Cadmium Yellow-Green Pale-ish (surprisingly useful)

Permanent Green (you will want to dull this down)

Chromium Oxide Green (olivey in color and very useful)

Viridian

Thalo Green

Cerulean Blue (a bright light tropical color usually found in student grade paints)

Sevres (occassional, by Rembrandt)

Cobalt Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Thalo Blue

Prussian Blue (occassional)

Indigo (a really nice dark cool rich blue)

Titanium White (Richeson)

Vicky's Travel Palette

Cadmium Lemon

Cadmium Yellow Pale

Cadmium Red Light

Cadmium Red (sometimes, but I never use it)

Permanent Rose (I should add this in, but don't)

Alizarin Crimson (sometimes)

Yellow Ochre

Transparent Oxide Brown (Burnt Sienna substitute)

Burnt Umber or Raw Umber

Chromium Oxide Green (olive-y in color)

Thalo Green or Viridian

Cobalt Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Titanium White