Every so often I like to experiment with a limited palette, and the Zorn palette (or Apelles palette if you insist), is probably the best known, and one that’s always fun to come back to. I feel like I have a better grasp of it with every painting I use it for.
If you’re not familiar, the Zorn palette consists of just red, yellow, black, and white, which can be used to create a surprisingly wide range of colour mixtures, with a built-in harmony.
Here are a few Zorn palette studies I’ve completed recently:
You can see the painting process for some of these on my Instagram page.
And if you’re interested in learning more about how to paint with the Zorn palette, I put together a short ebook for my mailing list subscribers, explaining how to use it, and describing the process of painting the Zorn master copy in the gallery above.
If you’re already on my mailing list, you should have received a copy by email. If you’re not, you can sign up here to get your free copy. Let me know if you find it useful/interesting/a good remedy for insomnia.
In other news, I finally got some of my original paintings up for sale directly from my website. This little Skull Study is the latest one I’ve added:
Until next time, I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe!
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