Some time ago, I read about an alternate palette that painter Daniel Corey recommends for students. It's a simple, three-color palette based on the primaries, but one of the colors is unexpected. It consists of cadmium yellow, quinacridone red and - here's the unexpected one - Prussian blue. I never think of Prussian as being a workhorse color when it comes to oils. I sometimes use phthalo blue; Prussian is similar, but more muted and, because it doesn't have the high tinting strength, it is less dangerous. In Daniel's blog post, he shows the wide range of color than can be mixed with this palette.
During this week's workshop, I decided to give it a try. I was pleased with the color range. Overall, the painting has a cool feeling to it, but then, it was painted at noontime when the sunlight tends to be cooler. Here it is:
"Cathedral Rock from Schnebly Hill" 6x12, oil - $100 - contact
Below are a few more paintings from the week, all done with my typical six-color palette (cadmium yellow light, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red light, permanent alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, phthalo emerald). And one quick note - if you haven't seen my March newsletter, it is here.
"Hononki Tower" 6x12, oil - $100 - contact
"Hononki Cliff" 9x12, oil - $150 - contact
"Arroyo Cedar" 12x9, oil - $150 - contact
