After reading Matt V’s thread on Zorn’s limited palette https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72284 I was wondering what the range on color would be so I decided to make a color chart and find out. I don’t have vermillion, so I used carmium red light instead and I don’t have lead white, so I used titanium white. I also used yellow ochre, ivory black, and burnt umber.

Here is what I came up with:

This color scheme is simpler than it sounds described by words, but I will do my best to describe it.

The first four columns are based on yellow ochre, the second set of four columns are based on cadmium red light, the third set of four columns are based on burnt umber, and the last set of four columns are based on ivory black.
The columns in each set contain the color the set is based on plus, from left to right of page, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, burnt umber, ivory black. So of course, if a set is based on a color and you add the same color, you have just the base color still.

So the first column has pure yellow ochre at the top and it is lightened progressively by adding white to it as you go down the column. The second column has yellow ochre + cadmium red light (favoring yellow ochre) at the top, and the mix is progressively lightened by adding white as you go down the column, and so on.

The colors used at the top of each column are as follows

col# main color minor mixed in color
1 yellow ochre (yellow ochre)
2 yellow ochre cadmium red light
3 yellow ochre burnt umber
4 yellow ochre ivory black
5 cadmium red light yellow ochre
6 cadmium red light (cadmium red light)
7 cadmium red light burnt umber
8 cadmium red light ivory black
9 burnt umber yellow ochre
10 burnt umber cadmium red light
11 burnt umber (burnt umber)
12 burnt umber ivory black
13 ivory black yellow ochre
14 ivory black cadmium red light
15 ivory black burnt umber
16 ivory black (ivory black)

I hope that isn’t confusing.

And here is how I did it, for those of you that are interested in an easy way to make color charts:

(BTY – this is a modification of the way I learned to make color charts in the book “Oil Painting for the Serious Beginner” by Steve Allrich)

First, to make this chart you will need a piece of canvas board 12″ x 24″, 1/2″ wide masking tape, a ruler or better yet a grid, a palette knife, and 5 colors of paint including white.

Here’s my stuff I used:

The grid is great because you can position your canvas board on it and use the grid marks as guides to locate the tape and you don’t have to do any measuring or drawing.

Anyway, one way or another you need to get tape on the canvas. Along the narrow edge of the canvas start by covering 1/4″ of the edge of the canvas, then go all across the canvas making each space 1″ wide. You will end up covering another 1/4″ at the opposite edge. Now, along the long edge, leave 1/2″ uncovered and put the tape across right next to that uncovered 1/2″. Go across and make 1″ squares now and you should end up with the same size border on the other side.

Start with yellow ochre. Use your palette knife to smear it on the first square, then mix it with various quantities of white and fill in the other squares below it so each one gets lighter. I actually do my lightest square right after the pure square and mix the two to get all the others. The first column looks something like this:

Now, for the second column, start by mixing yellow ochre with cadmium red light, and make a mixture that looks more like yellow ochre than cadmium red light. You will make a mixture of yellow ochre and cadmium red light that looks more like the red later. Now spread your mix in the top square and mix white in to make the paint for the other squares like you did for the pure yellow ochre.

The third column will be a mixture of yellow ochre and burnt umber and the fourth column will be a mixture of yellow ochre and ivory black. But since I already have yellow ochre and cadmium red light on my palette, I am going to skip ahead and do the fifth column now, which is a mixture of cadmium red light and yellow ochre, with the mixture looking more like cadmium red light than yellow ochre this time.

After the fifth column is done I go back and do the third column, yellow ochre and burnt umber. When this column is done, you guessed it, I do the 9th column, which uses burnt umber and yellow ochre.

At this point here is what I have:

I continue in this manner until the whole chart is filled in, then carefully remove the tape and let it dry.

It took me about 3 hours to make this chart, including time to take pictures and give minimal attention to my two-year old, who I am grateful to for happily playing in his room by himself while I did this. I am also a pretty slow painter though and had to do a lot of adjusting.

Hope this helps anyone,
Tam