Sometimes, the best inspiration for your artwork is found by going back to basics. Whether you’re curious about new brush techniques or you’ve reached a dead-end in your creativity, a stripped-back approach could kickstart new possibilities.
Below, we’ve covered some of the profound and perhaps surprising benefits to limiting your colour palette.
What is a limited palette?
Working with a limited palette means removing your wider selection of paint colours and only choosing a select few. These could be primary or secondary colours, and you’ll need to stick to them for the entire project or piece.
Whether you’re getting to grips with oil on canvas or using watercolour paints to fine-tune your skills, a limited palette gives you unrivalled clarity and focus.
Why try a limited palette for a week?
- Enhanced creativity and problem-solving
Working with fewer colours forces you to think outside of your comfort zone. You’ll need to push the boundaries of your previous works and find out what you can achieve with more limited resources.
At first, you might feel a little bit stuck. But you’ll quickly start leaning towards more innovative solutions, learning how to mix, blend, and layer the colours you have now. This will challenge your dependence on a wider spectrum of shades and hues.
Through this challenge, you can make your work and thought processes more inventive and original. Removing the often lengthy thought process of choosing a colour leaves you with more time and energy to devote to other aspects of your work.
- Mastery of colour skills
Reducing your palette is almost guaranteed to improve your understanding of colours and blending. By working with only a few hues, you can start to observe how the colours interact in terms of harmony, contrast, and balance.
Along with reinforcing your knowledge of colour theory, you’ll reshape and refresh your own approaches to complementary colours, warm vs. cool tones, and value contrast.
For example, you can still explore a striking array of secondary and tertiary tones if you’re only using three primary colours. With limited choice, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for subtle nuances in colour. This understanding will become second-nature in future projects.
- Building discipline and consistency
Limiting your colour palette will cultivate discipline, even if you only try it for a week or so. When your selection is narrowed down to just a few tones, you’re forced to work within pre-determined boundaries.
In the process, you could therefore choose colours that will help you to create cohesive, characterful pieces. Rather than relying on lots of colour to express diversity and texture, you’ll hone your ability to make deliberate, thoughtful choices.
With this consistency and stripped-back approach, you’ll build muscle memory. Your ability to predict how certain colours interact will become intuitive, and in turn, your painting process will come naturally.
Challenge yourself
Ready to get started with a limited palette? Here are seven simple steps to help you get stuck into our week-long challenge:
- Choose your palette.
- Create a landscape using only those colours.
- Paint still life.
- Paint an emotional portrait.
- Create an abstract piece, focusing on shape and form.
- Mix colours to create new shades.
- Reflect on your work, take notes, and apply your new knowledge!
