COLOUR CHARTS

I have many of these ‘colour explorations’ in the studio. Do give this a try.

Use three favourites of each primary colour – mine would be lemon yellow, yellow ochre and cadmium yellow; French ultramarine, cobalt blue deep, cerulean blue; cadmium red, alizarin crimson and quinacridone magenta.

Use these colours to mix a range of secondary and tertiary colours, making a note of the ingredients and varying the proportions. You can also try adding white to some of the mixes. Watercolour or pastel charts also work well, although the latter needs a plastic coating.

The green chart shown here is the most useful for landscapes, as greens are so subtly different in different lights and settings. This chart shows a mix of, for example, French ultramarine with increasing amounts of yellow ochre, then lemon yellow, and so on, then the effect of adding white. It took a while to make but is invaluable!