People have asked what my color palette was when painting acrylics. I never really thought about it before and really had to pause to think of what the person was asking. I think when people see all of the colors in my paintings they might assume that I use some really exotic brand of acrylic that comes in hundreds of shades. And while I do use Daniel Smith (and they do seem to come in oodles of colors), I tend to stick to a very basic palette.
First I draw my image in charcoal on canvas. That is pretty much all of the black that will be used. On my palette I will have Titanium White, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Rose, Hansa Yellow Deep, Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, and Pthalo Green. The rest is all experimental mixing. The blue and rose make a beautiful purple, add white for great lavender shades. Pthalo Green acts as my “black” if you will but you have to be careful with amounts. I add it to the aforesaid purple to make a deeper plum version. Blue and Pthalo (just a tad) with white makes a lovely turquoise. I could go on and on. But the starting palette choices are rather minimal but playing with them is all the fun.
For a closer look at Mayan Dream, stop by our big 14th Annual Fountain Street Open Studio Event (April 9-11). Details on http://www.art-jam.net/Shows.aspx
