
Thank you to XXMAUROXX on DeviantArt for the use of his stock photo in making this painting. It’s not that good of a likeness; I was going more for an attitude or “feel” here.
I’m going to start doing some studies and exercises in the limited palette. This painting is loosely based on the Goya Palette (similar to the Zorn palette). I used Titanium/Zinc White, Mars Red, Yellow Ochre, and Lamp Black to make this painting. It was a good way to study color mixing! I had to try to create the illusion of greenish-grey (his 5-O’clock shadow) through mixing black, white, and a little yellow. (The black I used had a coolish tint.) The red of the lips and the nose weren’t true cherry red, but earthy red. When seen in contrast with the other more subdued colors, it looks far “redder” than it otherwise might be. That’s the exciting thing about painting with a limited palette.