This pretty porch painting is about half finished and I am using a limited palette.
Using a limited palette can be a good way to achieve a more harmonious oil painting. Instead of using all the paints in your paint box try picking out four or five colors. This is the technique I am using in the 16″ x 20″ oil on canvas painting above. I have finished laying the base values or blocking in of this pretty porch overlooking the ocean.
Limited Palette
The limited palette colors that I used were:
- Ultramarine Blue
- Yellow Ochre
- Venetian Red
- Titanium White
With these four colors I was able to lay-in a rather muted but pleasing arrangement of colors. As I progress in this oil painting I may add a few different colors for the flowers that I will be adding in this porch painting. But besides that I am going to try to stick to the four colors listed above for my limited palette. At this stage I can view the painting as a whole now that I have the initial lay-in finished and make adjustments or decide if I need to add or remove anything to improve the composition. Already I want to add a row of bushes and flowers along the border of the lawn behind the porch. This will help the make the wicker furniture stand out more. I may add a hanging flower or plant pots of flowers on this pretty porch similar to my previous painting that can be viewed at this link http://pjcookartist.com/paintings-pjcook/flowers/floral-essence . Check back to see how this pretty porch painting progresses.
