Limited palette

Aaron Coberly · 03-11-2007, 08:51 PM

Hi all I did this painting recently at a Saturday morning 3 hour life drawing session. The reason I am posting is that I did an experiment with this one and only used Ultramarine Blue deep, Burn Sienna and White. I was very surprised with the outcome. My goal was to focus primarily on values, warms and cools and edges. It really opened my eyes as to what is possible with a very limited pallet. Anyway I hope you enjoy

Grethe Angen · 03-12-2007, 07:16 PM

Hello Aron,
I am impressed by the variety of skintones you achieved with your limited pallet ,thanks for posting

Claudemir Bonfim · 03-12-2007, 07:19 PM

That's amazing, only three colors!!!

Julie Deane · 03-12-2007, 07:40 PM

Aaron, I'd read about this combo of colors, but never have seen it put into use. It's an eyeopener!

This is gorgeous, by the way. Excellent draftmanship, beautiful brushwork and skintones. All this in such a short time? Wow!

What size is it? And what size brushes did you use?

Alexandra Tyng · 03-12-2007, 11:29 PM

Aaron,

I love the way your painting has just enough color, in the right places, to focus the viewer's attention. You did that so well. Other things I like about it are the skintones (funny how I always forget that burnt sienna makes such great flesh), the way the part of her legs covered by the white tights contrasts with her bare skin, and the very rich darks that are made by various combinations of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. Thank you for sharing this lovely piece.

Aaron Coberly · 03-13-2007, 03:46 AM

Thank you. To answer your question Julie The painting is 20X24 and I used a mixture of 4 to 8 bristle filberts and a couple of #4 Langnickel sables for the detail

Chris Saper · 03-19-2007, 08:53 PM

Great job, Aaron.

The quiet color harmony sets off the pose and your brushwork.so strongly. Well -designed composition, too.

I couldn't imagine taking a canvas this size to an Open Session!

Tom Edgerton · 03-20-2007, 09:30 AM

Aaron--

Nice job!

What I also like about this composition is how the abstract brushwork in the background lends air, depth, and space. You've included variations in the background that anchor the figure and tie it to the edge of the "window" around the perimeter, rather than just vignetting the figure in the middle of the canvas. As a result, this has a finished feel that belies the limited time in which it was painted.

--TE

Marina Dieul · 03-23-2007, 09:20 PM

Very nice, Aaron!
I love the unity given by your limited palette ( I have to try this one day...)
And your brushwork is fantastic!

Sharon Knettell · 03-23-2007, 09:50 PM

Aaron,

Just beautiful work.

Fluid brush stokes, accuracy.....

I love how you were able to differientiate between the skin-tones and the stockings. Subtle.