Creating a Harmonious Color Palette with Just Two or Three Colors
Struggling to create a harmonious color palette? In my latest YouTube video, I explore how to make a beautiful color palette using just three colors: Sap Green, Turquoise, and Raw Sienna. I added Raw Sienna as a warm contrast to the cool green and blue, but you can easily use just two colors, for example, Sap Green and a warm red!
What I often see students do is paint straight out of the tube without mixing colors, or they use way too many colors. This can make a painting feel chaotic. My mixing method shows how mixing just a few colors can create beautiful harmony!
I mix these colors with Titanium White, Titanium Buff, and a grey (made from Ivory Black and Titanium White). Good to know is that on their own, the colors are wonderfully transparent, but when mixed with white or buff, they become opaque.
I start by mixing the greens: first straight from the tube, then with white, buff, grey, and even a touch of black. I do the same for the other colors. By playing with transparency and opacity, you can create beautiful layers in your cold wax painting. Mixing this way will give you a harmonious palette every time, so you no longer have to worry about why your painting doesn’t feel cohesive.
A little tip: you can keep your mixed colors wet for up to three days by covering them with clingfilm. This makes it easy to return to your palette without wasting paint.
Whether you’re painting abstracts, landscapes, or portraits, limiting yourself to just a few colors and exploring their mixes can lead to surprisingly beautiful results!
Check out the video to see all my mixes and get inspired to try your own two- or three-color palette!
