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| new color chart in sketchbook based on David Barker's limited travel palette |
Several years ago, there was an article in
Artist's Sketchbook
magazine on artist David Barker's limited palette and how he used it in
his travel sketchbooks. What really caught my attention was that he
first used only ultramarine blue and burnt umber to establish values and
temperatures in his sketches, then added color only as needed. Sounds like an interesting challenge to me!
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| the original color chart and my Bijou box |
At the time, I worked out his
colors in a color chart which I recently found while cleaning out
old art supplies. I decided to try a similar palette in my Bijou
box, substituting a quinacridone version of alizarin crimson, goethite
brown ochre for raw umber, and quinacridone burnt orange for burnt
sienna. I don't use yellow ochre or aureolin anymore -- these
are leftover pans. When they are empty, I will probably replace them
with quinacridone gold and Hansa yellow medium.
Very interesting. I studied these charts for a while. Interesting about using the Ultra. B. & the Burnt Umb first. I've done the same for years only with Ultra. B. & Burnt Sienna and generally don't use color. I will give this a try. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSo many artists prefer ultramarine blue & burnt sienna, so I gave them a try . . . . but still seem to prefer ultramarine blue & burnt umber. I love the results others get with the first combo though!
DeleteThat is AMAZINGLY versatile, thank you so much for sharing, Vicky!
ReplyDeleteSeems a lot more versatile than I expected! I'm not crazy about that yellow ochre, but it can be replaced with quinacridone gold.
DeleteI'm serious about trying to capture values with the ultramarine and burnt umber mixes first. Maybe capturing lights and darks before worrying about colors would make plein air sketching faster? As well as drawing directly in ink instead of messing with a pencil.
It would take a lot of creativity to come up with pieces which started with only ultramarine blue and burnt amber. It is very interesting to learn about all of your color choices. It would be great to see a comparison on a canvas but the color chart did a good job of showing off the range.
ReplyDeleteMy homepage | What is a Professional Doctorate?
My first watercolor teacher used ultramarine blue and burnt umber -- often without anything else -- and got amazing results. Sort of like old sepia photos but with more range. All my recent sketches have used these 2 colors for the initial sketch; so far it is working well. Helps me focus more on tones and values rather than trying to get a "perfect" drawing.
DeleteWe worked with the ultramarine and burnt umber or burnt sienna when I was in art school. We painted it in oils, then when dry we glazed on the colour. I did a whole body of work like that.Often the colour is minimal, because the warm and the cool are used to tint your whites as you do the underpainting.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome it must have been to attend art school! I've only played with art for about 8 years now, and only with watercolor, ink, and pencils.
DeleteI still can't believe you've only been at it that long...what a lot of talent you have.
DeleteI knew I had a bit of talent even as a kid. But talent has nowhere to go if we don't apply it. I still feel unsure how to actually use mine.
DeleteOn the positive side, I am finally learning to use what works for me instead of copying from you, Liz, and many other artists I've met on-line.