Colour play

I never tire of experimenting with colour, and keep sketchbooks solely for this purpose. I’m a big fan of working with a restricted colour palette, so I’m frequently trying out new combinations. I generally look for a range that hits some variation of red, yellow and blue, though my reds may push to towards pinks or oranges, my yellows sometimes stay in the realm of earthy oches or siennas, while my blues can be anything from a purply ultramarine to a deep turquoise. Beyond these three, I’ll often include red oxide as this is the most opaque of my paints and great for creating earthy solidity. I’ll usually then choose a couple of glaze colours. These are often quinacridones, which are very transparent and glassy, bringing depth and luminosity over other colours. I rarely include black, preferring to mix my dark shades from the colours I’ve picked. The colour study above is a new combination I’ve been enjoying - combining muted turquoise, medium magenta and raw sienna (all Liquitex paints) with quinacridone magenta and quinacridone nickel azo gold (Golden paints) as my glaze colours. Oh and there’s some red oxide in the mix too of course, just to tone everything back to more earthy hues.