The Educated Palette

What Every Painter Should Know about Palette Layout and Basic Color Mixing

This article is in response to the many questions that our students and other beginning painters have asked about colors, color mixing and palette layout. The basic rules of color underlie every color mixing decision an artist makes. Therefore, an understanding of color theory is mandatory in order to grasp more sophisticated color interactions which are often the most critical aspects in a successful painting. We recommend that students investigate the many thoroughly written books on color theory, such as, Colour Harmony & Contrast for the Artist by Michael Wilcox. For more resources, see below.

Without light there would be no color. The colors that we detect are visible because light is illuminating them. If the object we are looking at reflects white light, we see it as white. If it absorbs white light, we see it as black. The absorption and reflection of different colors within light are what create the resulting viewed color. This is the basis of the subtractive color system. Pa…