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PAINTING WITH A LIMITED PALETTE –
Wendy Barratt
@wendybarrattart
Sara Reeve demonstrates the steps to produce a wet-on-wet painting using a technique known as alla prima which involves layering oils onto canvas.
Reference Image
Materials
Canvas or Paper (Primed a mid-tone grey)
Oil Paints – Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White
Set of brushes
Palette
Solvent
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Understanding a limited palette
Squeeze some Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White onto your palette.
Ultramarine Blue: A reddish-blue.
Burnt Sienna: A warm, orange-brown with earthy undertones. It’s a neutralizer that balances cool colors like blue.
Titanium white: A strong, opaque white used for lightening and softening colors.
Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue are opposites on a colour wheel and can neutralise each other very effectively. You can create a range of muted colours from cool greys to greenish-browns depending on the ratio. Add Titanium White to create variety of tones and saturation when mixing.
Top tip – It can be helpful to make up a colour chart using this palette of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White so you can visualize all the colours available to you.
A sketching colour
Start with a pre-primed mid-tone grey canvas or paper.
On your palette, mix Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna together to create a neutral dark grey. Using a thin brush, begin to sketch with the paint directly onto the canvas.
This drawing does not need to be detailed but should encompass the main features of the model.
For the first layer of the painting, we are going to simplify the colour mixes down to a maximum of 5. This enables us to block in the big shapes with ‘more or less’ the right area of colour so we can check the relationships between the big main areas of colour, tone, saturation and temperature before we get into any detailed work.
Mixing your first colour
When you are happy with your initial sketch in paint, keep mixing Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna together to create a black for the model’s hair – you can make the black warmer by mixing in more Burnt Sienna, or cooler by mixing in more Ultramarine blue. There is quite a large area of hair so ensure you mix a large quantity. Using a big brush, paint the hair, filling the canvas quickly. You do not need to add any detail to this layer.
When you have painted the hair, use your black to paint any other dark areas you can see- Eyes, eyebrows, under the chin.
Mixing your second colour
The second colour you need to mix will be used for the skin colour on the model’s forehead and cheek. For this, mix the Titanium White and Burnt Sienna.You are aiming to mix a warm colour which resembles the warm skin tone. Don’t mix the colour as bright as the highlights – they will be painted on in the later stages. You are aiming to mix a warm colour. Keep looking at your reference image at this point to ensure you are mixing the right tones. You can hold the paint up to the reference image to colour match. If you feel the colour is too bright, add a touch of the blue to desaturate the orange slightly.
Once you are happy with the mix, block this colour into the light areas on the forehead, nose and cheekbones.
Top tip- Use a paintbrush that makes marks that compliment the shape of the model’s face.
Mixing your third colour
The third colour you need to mix will be used for the shadows of the face. It is not as dark as the hair and it outlines the cheek and comes round under the jaw.
Take the Burnt Sienna and slowly add one touch of Titanium white at a time to be in control of the tone. If the mix feels too saturated you can add a tiny bit of Ultramarine Blue.
Once again, hold the mix next to the reference image to colour match.
When you are happy with your mix, take a clean brush and add it to the cheek, chin, nose and eyelid.
Step back and look at your work
Working with a limited palette means you are not overwhelmed by a full palette of colours. This leaves you with plenty of time to focus on 3 really important things: The saturation of your colour, the temperature of your colour and the tone of your colour.
Keep looking at your reference image and try to fully understand the saturation, temperature and tone that you are presented with.
Go back to your palette and play with the saturation, temperature and tone of your paint mixes. Apply the paint to the portrait accordingly.
Blend with the other colours on the canvas as you go.
Top tip- The pre-washed background may be the colour you need. Don’t be afraid to leave sections of the portrait unpainted with the pre-washed background coming through.
Mixing your fourth colour
The next step is to mix the colour for the background.
To do this, make a black using The Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. This will be similar to the first black mix you made, but this time, add a tiny bit of Titanium White to make it a softer blue colour.
When you are happy with your mix, block in the background.
Blocking in the background will impact what the colours you already have on your canvas look like. Do not worry about this, and do not adjust the colours. You will do this at a later stage.
Mixing your final colour
The last colour to mix will be the olive green of the model’s clothes.
Remember, you are working with a limited palette and olive green will be hard to achieve. Try and get as close to the tone as possible rather than the actual colour by mixing together Burnt Sienna and Titanium white, with a dash of Ultramarine Blue.
When you are ready, apply the mix to the clothes on your portrait. This is the final stage to the first layer of your portrait.
Adding the second layer of paint
Now you have completed the base layer of your portrait, you can move on to look at the nuances of colours, tones and temperatures.
You now have 5 mixes of colour on your palette. You can drag a small amount of a mix away and mix it with another of your mixes or add more of your original tube colours. You will now start to create more colours on your palette which will harmonise beautifully.
The reference image has some quite dark shadows. To create the transition between the harsh edge of the shadow and light, mix your shadow colour and skin colour to create a mid-tone suitable for the cheekbone, eyelid and upper lip. You also will find that this tone that sits between the shadow and the light is where the saturated colour sits – so you may also want to add a touch more Burnt Sienna. This will help to soften the shadows and blend the paint blocks you already have on the canvas.
Continue to play with the mixes on your palette and apply them to your portrait to better describe the form of the face and the detail of your portrait.
Once you have learned the lessons of mixing your colours from this limited palette ie. being able to identify the colour bias, the tone, the temperature and the saturation of the colour, you can start to add other colours to your palette if you think they will benefit your portrait.
Don’t be afraid to play around with the paints and make mistakes, this is how you will progress. You could also try switching the Ultramarine Blue for a Viridian green – or picking two other colours which sit on opposite sides of the colour wheel – see how much you can push colour and still make your painting look convincing!
TOP TIP – When choosing paints to work with keep an eye out for the different brands. You usually have a student brand and an artist’s brand. The artist’s brand often costs a lot more because they are more pigmented and they have much higher tinting properties. Get to know the paints and work with the one that is best for you.
TOP TIP – The lessons taught in this masterclass can also be applied to other media such as acrylic paint or gouache.
