COHESIVE PALETTES
Artists & Illustrators|May 2020
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours member CHRIS FORSEY reveals his palette choices and how he combines them to create dynamic paintings
CHRIS FORSEY
COHESIVE PALETTES

The choice of colours will have a real impact on the mood of a painting and also the dynamic, exciting the eye with the visual impact. A basic knowledge of colour is essential to achieve successful mixes and combinations – a lot of time and paint may be wasted otherwise. Artists usually develop their own selection of colours that they prefer and then choose from them for specific paintings. My own basic palette is based around the three primaries: Cobalt Blue and Prussian Blue for blues; Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Lemon Yellow and Quinacridone Gold for yellows; and Cadmium Red, Quinacridone Magenta and Cadmium Scarlet for reds. In addition to this, I also use the following colours: Titanium White, Payne’s Grey, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Dioxazine Violet, Cadmium Orange, Turquoise and Pale Olive.

This story is from the May 2020 edition of Artists & Illustrators.

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