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Tomorrow I leave for Italy.   I have finished my packing and am ready for the grand adventure.  There is a wonderful group of artists that will be joining me for the workshop which is hosted by my friends Debra and Ivano Zamperla who run Artensity.  This year I have students who are oil painters, watercolorists, and pastel painters so, as the instructor, I am bringing all three mediums.

This is where my love of limited palettes comes in handy.  If I can limit the palette then I can limit the space and weight each medium will take up.  In oils the colors are limited to titanium white, napthol red, cadmium yellow light, ultramarine blue, and viridian.  I have enough experience with them that I know I can get strong saturated primary and secondary colors which can all be mixed into lush “ishy” colors that will capture the light of Italy. 

I used the same limited oil palette when visiting Utah last year.  Campground View  6x8 oil

My pastel box I tweaked this year by adding some darker warmer colors and some richer greens.  I also rearranged my watercolor palette by replacing some of the earth colors with brighter primary reds and blues.  To check if my pastel and watercolor palettes will work successfully I did a few test paintings to make sure I had the value range and color saturation that will work for me.

I posted one of these tests last week when I took my set up to the local state park and painted along the lake shore.  Before I went out plein air painting I did a little test in the studio to see if I could get a sunny painting with a good value range. These sessions helped me to decide how effective my selection was and if I needed to add or subtract any pastels.

6x6 studio pastel sketch

The watercolor palette consists of half pans using two versions of each primary color, one cool and one warm, plus burnt sienna, yellow ocher, neutral and white.  I also added gold green because it is so darn pretty and helpful for painting sunlight.  I tested this palette by copying a John Singer Sargent watercolor and another watercolor painting of Italy that I found online.  I don’t consider these finished works - especially the watercolors which are just copies of other artists’ works.  Their sole purpose is to see if I can get the values and colors that I want.  Making these little paintings was a really helpful way to create limited palettes that will work successfully. 

I will share the results when I return. Ciao!

The blog and newsletter will be on hiatus while I am in Italy.  I do not want to miss a minute of the scenery, company, and food while I am there.  I am so grateful to all of you for the support and conversation and I promise to post lots of photos upon my return.  Until then, happy painting!