The Green Exercise

The palette in the first blog has no green on it, and yet this palette produces beautiful greens.  Some times the palette is extended or changed with various colors to produce different greens.  This exercise will heighten your ability to see and mix green and a greater understanding of the individual characteristics of each pigments your are mixing.

Mark out a toned panel with  1.5" squares with .5" mall squares on the bottom right. Seven 1.5" x .5" horizontal rectangles across  the top with a small .5"square in the right corner. Mark six 1.5" x .5" vertical rectangles along the left side,  with a small square on their bottom. All little .5"squares house a mixture of white with the color of the block.

Label your panel with your color choices. Across the top Kings Blue Light, Cerulean, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Raw Umber, and Black.  Down the left side Naples Yellow, Brilliant Yellow Light, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Yellow Ochre.

Mix a side color with each  top color. In this case it may be wise to start with the lighter of the two colors. The mixed color should take on its own color and not lean towards either one of the original colors. Place this mix in the appropriate box with a little white mixture in the bottom right square of the box. All paint mixtures are  placed on the chart with a palette knife.  The paint is to be placed neatly up against the neighboring mixtures. Be careful...a palette knife can be sharp, and get sharper as you use it.

Continue mixing a top and side color until the chart is filled..

Color mixing is a sensitivity that is heightened with observation and application. Ponder your mixes. Some of your mixes may not look green at all...they may look brown, grey, beige etc. For instance Dioxazine Purle.  Most of the mixes are in the brown family.  Yet one of my all time favorite earth greens is a mixture of Lemon Yellow and Dioxazine Purple.

Upon completion your skill set has broadened. Place your finished panel where you can observer it daily.

This small 6" x 6" painting was painted with custom green mixes.

ENJOY

Palette Du Jour

My palette is currently a small wooden rectangle from my half french easel.  The palette measures about 7" x 18".  A new wooden palette out of the box needs to be well oiled.  The palette is placed with the thumb hole at the top right. To the left of the thumb hole a double palette cup is placed.

This is my palette du jour. All of my oil paints are Gamblin or Old Holland*.

across the top:

 Brilliant Yellow Light*, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Siena, Raw Umber

left side:

 Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson

right side:

 Dioxazine Purple, Ultramarine Blue, Cobolt Blue, Kings Blue Light & Titanium White

For me it is important to put out a limited palette including all of the colors that I am going to use in the painting.  The colors du jour are arranged in a pattern that I usually adhere to. The above palette has the earth tones across the top, warms on the left and cools on the right.

The left palette cup holds turpenoid and the right holds linseed oil.

A little palette savvy goes a long way.

more soon...