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Tim,
You are on the mark. I studied under Daniel Greene who taught us to use a system of mixed colors on the palette. In fact I encourage everyone to at least study Greene's palette. It will be instructive. While I don't use the same exact colors as Greene, I do follow the system closely. I find that I can complete about 95% of all my portraits with just the colors already mixed on my palette. The remaining 5% are colors that may require a special mix.
To mix the colors on the palette requires 15 or 20 minutes at the start of each day, but the time is more than made up with the ease in which the right color can be selected and applied. I remember the time,which was the last afternoon of my sessions with Daniel, that I only had 3 hours to apply color to the portrait I was working on. The drafting was fully completed, but no color had been applied. Working like a mad man I completed the portait in the three hours. I think my brush was on fire at the end of the session because of the speed I was applying paint. It was a great lesson in the power of an organized palette system. By the way, I considered the portrait finished after that session and sold it three months later.
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