Limited Palettes – Billy Idyll

Limited Palette Study: MANS, Cobalt Blue, Mars Brown

December 26, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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

Sketching Palettes vs Triad Palettes

October 11, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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.

Limited Palette Study: Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Indian Yellow, Perylene Violet

September 28, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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.

Limited Palette Templates

September 25, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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.

Limited Palette Study: Phthalo Blue RS, Quin Coral, Gold Ochre

September 24, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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.

What counts as a color for a limited palette?

September 18, 2024 by Billy Idyll

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?

Limited Palette Study: Indanthrone Blue, Rich Green Gold, Transparent Red Oxide

September 14, 2024 by Billy Idyll

Welcome to a new series where I take a look at a specific limited palette, usually consisting of 3 colors. This is inspired by my newfound interest in limited palettes (after reading Hazel Soan’s book), and also by my need to find a new post series now that I’m no longer doing Color Spotlights because I have tried (almost) every color available to me.

We’re starting with kind of a weird one! Instead of a traditional blue, yellow, and red, this is a blue, green-yellow, and earth orange. I used 3 Daniel Smith colors: Indanthrone Blue (PB60), Rich Green Gold (PY129), and Transparent Red Oxide (PR101).

Artist Palette Profiles: Hazel Soan

September 12, 2024September 7, 2024 by Billy Idyll

As a big-palette enthusiast, I really need practice with limited palettes, which is where Hazel Soan’s 2022 book Art of the Limited Palette comes in. In the book, Soan extols the joys of using a limited palette – how it can make your paintings look more color-rich, less muddy, and more harmonious, while also making your life easier as a painter.

What makes this book convincing is how much I love use of color in Soan’s paintings in the book. Is this because she uses limited palettes, or because she’s generally good at painting? Hard to say, but her limited-palette paintings certainly don’t appear to be limited in hue or value. On the contrary, they seem to glow and vibrate with color!