On my watercolor discord, I joked that an “evil primary triad” would be Hansa Yellow Light, Pyrrol Red, and Ultramarine Blue. In most triads, you optimize for vibrance in one area while sacrificing it in another; in this triad, although the primary colors themselves are bright, all the secondaries – oranges, greens, and violets – would be muted and dull.
Of course everyone then got invested in proving me wrong and painting gorgeously with this (actually fairly traditional) triad.
My friend Sandra set a limited triad challenge in an art Discord we are both in. The prompts were: choose a triad something like Ultramarine Blue, Nickel Azo Yellow, and Quin Rose; explore the triad; then paint something with it. That’s what I love to do with a triad, so I joined!
My random algorithm turned out these three colors, which are surprisingly sympatico as granulating, earthy shades: Color Wheel This palette cannot make any violets, and the only way to make dark colors is to add Indian Red. A dark blue would be a good addition, especially if attempting to do a coastal scene. Looking at … Read more
I did my first randomized palette! Here was my method: This generated: Let’s take a look at a color wheel! Individual Pairs Triad Thoughts This is nearly a CMY modern primary trio, except that the place of a cool yellow is taken by warm, earthy, buttery Naples Yellow Deep. As a result, the oranges and … Read more
I used this trio during my advent calendar, when I drew Maimeri Blu’s Mars Brown (PR101) for the day’s pick. To show it off, I painted a song sparrow, with the Mars Brown used in the red slot of a triad – pairing it with suitably earthy Monte Amiata Natural Sienna and Cobalt Blue. Color … Read more
Reading Hazel Soan’s The Art of the Limited Palette and trying some triad paintings has given me a different perspective the colors that I reach for and the way that I think about my color library. The colors you choose for a walking-around sketching palette are somewhat different than the colors you choose for a triad.
I chose this palette for a night sky painting – and to play with two new Schmincke colors, Indian Yellow and Perylene Violet! Phthalo Blue Green Shade is a classic cyan: bright, but transparent enough to achieve dark masstone. Indian Yellow is a combination of two warm yellows (PY154 and PY110), similar to DS New Gamboge. Perylene Violet is an oddball choice for me, because I usually find it too dark and dreary, but it’s perfect for the deep, dark violets of a night sky.
I’m on my limited palette kick after reading Hazel Soan‘s The Art of the Limited Palette, and I have more thoughts!
How do you go about building or choosing a limited palette for a particular painting? It’s easy to default to a primary triad (blue/yellow/red), the most common type of limited palette, but what are the other options? From my observations of Soan’s examples in her book and other sources, I’ve categorized common patterns.
After my first limited palette study was on an unusual, almost secondary triad, I went more traditionally primary for one of my favorite subjects: sunset.
Here’s a question that was raised for me when reading Hazel Soan‘s The Art of the Limited Palette. The concept of a “limited palette” revolves around counting the colors you use in any given painting. So what counts as a color?