From the Artist: I found using a limited palette a little out of my comfort zone, but as I continued to paint was amazed to see how many contrasting colors I could come up with. I have been painting for the past two years; my favorite is palette painting which uses lots of colors. I intend now to do a palette painting using fewer colors to see what I can come up with.
From the Painting Guide: As you discovered, limiting yourself to only four colors doesn't mean you end up with a painting with only four colors, but rather those four are a starting to point to a whole range. By working with only a handful of colors you get to really know their characteristics, what they'll produce when mixed and what they'll do when glazed on top of another color. After a while this knowledge becomes totally instinctive, enabling you to focus totally on what you're painting rather interrupting yourself to think about color mixing.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Squint at this painting to identify the main shapes in the composition. See how the shape of the house is echoed by those of the hills? It creates a rhythm to the painting which pulls your eye in.
I can't decide whether I like the little triangle of dark fence in the foreground, whether it creates visual interest or is a distraction. Part of me likes it as it feels as I'm looking over the fence into the scene.
From the Painting Guide: As you discovered, limiting yourself to only four colors doesn't mean you end up with a painting with only four colors, but rather those four are a starting to point to a whole range. By working with only a handful of colors you get to really know their characteristics, what they'll produce when mixed and what they'll do when glazed on top of another color. After a while this knowledge becomes totally instinctive, enabling you to focus totally on what you're painting rather interrupting yourself to think about color mixing.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Squint at this painting to identify the main shapes in the composition. See how the shape of the house is echoed by those of the hills? It creates a rhythm to the painting which pulls your eye in.
I can't decide whether I like the little triangle of dark fence in the foreground, whether it creates visual interest or is a distraction. Part of me likes it as it feels as I'm looking over the fence into the scene.