The Sunday Arizona Republic had quite a lengthly article on color which I found quite interesting in a mostly academic way. Two pages were needed to explore all the scientific and artistic aspects of color. Although I use a lot of it in my paintings, color is overrated in my view. If it reasonably resembles the color you're looking for it's ok as long as the VALUE is correct. Of course, making a color reasonably convincing can be a chore. A good knowledge of the working relationship between the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and the complementary (secondary) colors is critical in getting a reasonable color. Such knowledge comes from experience. One can read color theory and even get an A in color theory class and still not be able to mix colors worth a hoot. Only by doing seemingly endless paintings does the artist begin to mix colors effortlessly and with confidence.

In my case, I have found that my working palette has dwindled in the number of colors that I really use. To be sure, some colors are difficult to mix (ex. Cobalt Violet) and I keep a tubes of such colors in the drawer ready for use if need be. However, I keep experimenting with charts consisting of the three primaries in many different combinations. When I say different I mean that one chart may be Cadmium Yellow, Indigo and Transparent Oxide Red and another may be Thalo Red Rose, Yellow Ochre and Ultramarine Blue. White is used for tinting and Black is used for shading in making value scales of each color mixture. The results of such charts when viewed independently suggest subject matter like portraits, landscapes, seascapes, floral, etc. I have found that powerful paintings can be achieved when using only three colors.