versatility
The five square-format examples show some basic oil-stick techniques. The two sketchbook paintings used oil sticks and oil pastels, brushed out with turpentine. The framed picture was worked directly with oil sticks and then blended and brushed out with turpentine.
SEE ALSO
| BASIC PALETTES FOR OILS | The 12 colours featured here form the backbone of most professional painters’ palettes. This palette is versatile enough to cope with a wide range of subjects, and the colours are all lightfast. |
Titanium white
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A very bright opaque white, with high tinting strength and slow drying time. Mixes well, maintains its intensity.
French ultramarine
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with high tinting strength, medium-to-slow drying time, and a deep, warm blue hue. The most versatile of the blues; mix with burnt umber to make interesting dark shades.
Cobalt blue
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with weak tinting strength and a fast drying time. It is greener and paler than ultramarine. Useful for skies and for mixing greens; very expensive, but good for glazing.
Yellow ochre
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A fairly opaque colour, with weak tinting strength, medium-to-slow drying time, and a dark yellow hue verging on brown. Indispensable for landscape painting and for toning down mixtures.
Raw sienna
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with weak tinting strength and fast-to-medium drying time. A warmer hue than yellow ochre. Mixes well, and is excellent for glazing.
Burnt sienna
Permanence excellent (ASTM I) A transparent colour, with strong tinting strength, fast-to-medium drying time, and a rich, reddish-brown hue. It is useful for modifying sky colours, and is a good glazing colour.
Permanent rose
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A very transparent colour, with very high tinting strength, slow drying time, and a bright pink-red hue with a violet tinge. A light-fast alternative to alizarin crimson; though expensive, a little goes a long way.
Viridian
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with good tinting strength, slow drying time, and bright, deep green hue with a bluish tinge. Mix with white to make cool greens.
Cadmium red
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). An opaque colour, with good tinting strength, slow drying time, and a bright, warm red hue. A strong, pure pigment.
Cadmium yellow
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). An opaque colour, with good tinting strength, slow drying time, and a warm hue with a hint of orange. Mix with cadmium red to form cadmium orange.
Lemon yellow
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with good tinting strength, medium drying time, and a cool, pale yellow hue. Forms delicate, cool greens when mixed with blues.
Winsor violet
Starter palette
Permanence excellent (ASTM I). A transparent colour, with high tinting strength, medium drying time, and a strong, warm hue. Very useful for modifying blues in skies, and making greys with yellows, browns and greens.
The ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) codes for lightfastness:
ASTM l: excellent lightfastness
ASTM ll: very good lightfastness
ASTM Ill: not sufficiently lightfast
Variations
Roy Freer’s work uses rich, saturated hues. He sees his subjects in terms of colour, rather than tone. This painting employs his ‘spectrum palette’, which consists of lemon yellow, cadmium yellow yellow ochre, cadmium orange, vermilion, rose madder, cobalt blue, cobalt violet and viridian.
Roy Freer
Blue Pathways
Oil on canvas
100 × 120cm (40 × 48in)
Pigments may vary both in their hue and handling characteristics, according to the manufacturer. This applies particularly to the earth colours -ochres, umbers and siennas – which are natural pigments and vary in hue according to source. Some burnt siennas, for example, are yellowish, while others have a reddish tint.
Terre
