Saturday, February 16, 2008

Yellow/Purple Palette

I was recently asked about the fact that in each of the palettes that I use there is either a primary or secondary color missing. (My palettes are in my book, Big Art,Small Canvas.) When I paint I use one of three palettes: either red/green, orange/blue or yellow/purple. I learned this from a teacher at The Woodstock School of Art named Hong Zhang. It is based on yin/yang, complements. In this blog I'll talk about the y/p palette.
The following are the colors I use in my yellow/purple palette. Unless otherwise noted they are Winsor Newton professional oils. The yellows are: Light Yellow (Old Holland), Naples Yellow, Yellow-Green (Rowney Georgian), Chrome Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Deep (Grumbacher), , Raw Umber.
The purples are: Violet Grey (Old Holland), Magenta, Bright Violet (Old Holland), Ultramarine Violet, Purple Madder, Mars Violet Deep, Blue Black.
I place the yellows on one side and the purples on the other. In each of the groups there is a true color, a warm, a cool, a light neutral, a dark neutral and maybe a few favorite colors.
In the yellow group the Chrome Yellow is the true color, the Cad Yellow Deep is the warm yellow, the Yellow-Green is the cool yellow, the Naples Yellow is the light neutral, the Raw Umber is the dark neutral and Light Yellow is a favorite. (I use it instead of white sometimes.)
In the purple group Bright Violet is the true color, Magenta is the warm purple, Ultramarine is the cool violet, Violet Grey is the light neutral, Mars Violet Deep is the dark neutral, and Purple Madder is a favorite.
So the missing color is red. You can mix a red (not a true red but a really nice one that works harmoniously with this palette. Use Magenta and Cad Yellow Deep.
"Floral Composition #0707, 3.75 x 3 inches, oil on board, POR

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