Setting the Palette

You’d think after all this time I’d have a set palette arrangement.  But it seems like every workshop presents a new (and often good) idea – one of the hazards of too many workshops (cooks).  So this morning I went into the studio and pulled out all the paper palettes I’ve saved in the freezer.  And arranging them has taken the better part of the morning!  I love the idea of a simple and consistent set of colors – and tend to gravitate to the color theory set in Michael Wilcox’s “Blue and Yellow don’t make Green:” one cool, one warm of each of the primaries and white.  But then I love the play between the transparent and opaque; which means I also need transparent red and yellow oxide, violet and sap green.  I found these colors in the Nancy Medina, Charlie Hunter and Qiang Huang workshops.  And then once I have the colors chosen, do I set them out along the spectrum, break them out by warm and cool, or a value arrangement?  This is what I finally settled on for today - it has the spectrum of colors and some "puddles" of left over mixed colors.  I'll see how the piles shift as I use them...