Jolie Guillebeau

Remember a few weeks ago, when we talked about what to pack? And I mentioned paint?  Today I’ll show you how to get away with packing only four tubes of paint– which saves lots of space and hassle.

A quick disclaimer: These are the four tubes I’d pack when I’m painting here in the Pacific Northwest, which lends itself to softer grays and lots of green. If you’re in a desert, or the tropics, you might choose different colors, but I still think you can get away with only four tubes. Try it and let me know your results.

Titatinium White, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, and Lemon Yellow.

These are the four I’d use. I know what you’re thinking–you’re worried that I’m missing a dark color . How am I going to get nice deep shadows? Or what about tree trunks? There’s no brown. Or gray for clouds or a road? And am I really going to get enough variety in my greens with only those four colors?

You’re skeptical, I know it. I was when I first learned this, too. What if I show you this?

This is my palette after about 20 minutes of work. I got all of this with just those four colors. Here’s a better photo– and I’ve left it large enough that you can click through to refer to it as needed.

Chart of Limited Palette-- four colors.

On the far left are my original four colors– straight up. Then the second row are various mixtures of two of each of those colors. For example, I started with Lemon Yellow, and I mixed it with Ultramarine Blue to get a dark green. Then I took a little of that mixture and added more yellow to get a lighter green. Then I repeated that process to get an ever lighter green.

Next, I mixed Burnt Sienna and Lemon Yellow for a nice rust color, then I added a little more yellow, and then a little more until I had a pale orangey color. I repeated this process, mixing each color with one of the other three. So it goes like this:

Lemon Yellow + Burnt Sienna

Lemon Yellow + Ultramarine Blue

Lemon Yellow + Titanium White

Burnt Sienna + Titanium White

Ultramarine Blue + Titanium White

Burnt Sienna + Ultramarine Blue

Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Sienna

Wait, what? I just mixed those last two twice. Yes, exactly. The first mixture has a smidge (a very scientific measurement) more Burnt Sienna, where the second mixture has a smidge more Ultramarine Blue. One turns in to this lovely brown, where one is a nice dark neutral for shadows– or when I add white, it’s a perfect gray sky. See?

So from these four tubes of paint, I’ve got 37 different lovely shades for my next painting. Still skeptical? I’ve tucked this palette in to the freezer, and I’ll paint my next four paintings using only these colors. That way you can see the results as well.

My work is on display at Mash Tun, 2204 NE Alberta Street, here in Portland until March 30th. Go see it!

Chris and I have been working today to set up the office/studio. Last week when we moved in, we automatically took our bed to the larger room and all our other stuff to the smaller room, but after a couple of days we thought since our bed and nightstands are the only furniture in our bedroom and we’re trying to cram my easel, my desk, his filing cabinet, his desk, the printer and bookshelves in to the smaller room, then why not switch rooms? So we did. It meant we had to move the bed last night and I never want to move the filing cabinet again, but now we have twice the space for an office/studio and our bed still fits nicely in the smaller room.

In that process I had to move a big stack of paintings and I realized that I had a few that weren’t posted here. So, a painting update.

I painted this in early December. It was in the Fat Tiger Show, but somehow it didn’t make it here.

This was January’s big painting. I think it made it on to the blog, but not in a completed form.

And this was my painting this month. I played with the Fisher-Price Little People for hours at a time when I was a kid, so these were an obvious choice for my next painting. They are the people from the Little People Airplane Set, a pilot, a “stewardess” (because that’s what they were called in 1981) and the luggage cart. I found them on eBay. I’m still looking for the airplane– I want to paint the complete set. Meanwhile, I’m going to go finish setting up the studio, so I’ll have more to show you soon.

(By the way, this is my 102nd post– I let that milestone slip by in the midst of all the moving…)

Last Thursday, I participated in a Holiday Show with other local artists for the First Thursday Artwalk in Pioneer Square. It was great. Several people came out just to see me, which amazed me, and I got some really positive feedback about my work (always a good thing).

A view of the crowds…

Me setting up… (notice the walking cast there– it’s off now!)

Showing is still a new process for me, so it’s honestly a bit scary, but I’m starting to like it…sometimes.

(Photos credit: Ryan Molenkamp. Thanks, Ryan.)

Ok, still short on words, but here are the long promised pictures of the show at Kuma Coffee. My work is up there until the 15th. Stay tuned for more showings…

My work is on display for the Grand Opening of Kuma Coffee this month. Their grand opening is tomorrow, October 13. My work will be on display through mid-November. They’re located at 4110 Stone Way in Wallingford, here in Seattle. If you’re in the area, stop by, pick up a good cup of coffee and look at my work.

I’ll post pictures here later in the week.