So many varied and beautiful paint colours are available for contemporary artists that it seems counter-intuitive to limit them. But painting with a limited palette can make a work of art more powerful and effective. For example, a picture with a palette of varied blues will also contain hints of other colours – a green-blue perhaps. And purple-blues will be seen as red within the limited blue palette.
One effect of using a limited palette is to unite all the colours together in a balanced image. The picture will convey the overall expression of its main colour. A palette of yellows, for instance, has a sunny and buoyant effect. If red is the main colour used, the image will impart energy and warmth.
A Walk in the Snow
At Christmas, greeting card designers often use a seasonal limited palette of red and green, or blue and silver. ‘A Walk in the Snow‘ is a vintage charity Christmas card from the Goldcrest Gallery collection. It has a watercolour palette of green, red and ochre. The composition of the painting is strengthened by this restricted use of colours. Green leaves at one side link visually with the larger character’s green coat at the centre. Red berries overhead also connect with the smaller character’s red jacket. Golden ochre shades have been used for bracken and grass, foliage and the characters’ other clothes. This makes the background unified and in harmony with the central subject. By using these warm colours, the artist has offset any chilly feeling from the snow!
Fresh Flowers
In ‘Fresh Flowers‘, one of our handmade greeting cards, the designer has used a limited plaette of red, green and blue. The foliage is coloured with varied greens, from very dark to bright and pale shades. Amongst these, floral blooms in red, reddish-pink and blue are well co-ordinated, so the design has a clear structure.
The Limited Palette in Interior Design
Many of our fine art prints and canvas designs use only two or three colours. This makes them an ideal choice for an accent note in an interior decor. The golden rule for using a limited palette in interior design is to have a main shade for 60% of the decor. Then there should be a secondary, complementary colour for 30% of the scheme. Finally 10% of an accent colour (which may be an opposite shade) should be included.
Have fun browsing our colourful range of vintage 1950s and 1970s fine art prints, and selecting the perfect accent note to fit in with your own interior design palette!