{"id":1425369,"date":"2021-05-13T12:05:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T11:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/?p=1425369"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:50:43","slug":"colour-mixing-cool-palettes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/13\/colour-mixing-cool-palettes\/","title":{"rendered":"Colour Mixing: The Atmospheric Quality of Cool Palettes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colour mixing and limited palette selection without reference to subject matter can be an exploration of possible colour harmonies and what mood, atmosphere and evocations these mixes spark up. With certain colours omitted from your palette, they are more likely to better describe mood rather than literal colour, and allow you to discover the interpretive potential that limited palettes hold. Picasso’s Blue Period paintings are a prime example of a range of cool palettes used to describe mood when rendering representational subject matter. Here are an array of palettes consisting only of cool colours, and how to get the very best from them.<\/p>\n

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\"Cool<\/p>\n

The Atmospheric Quality of Cool Palettes<\/h2>\n

Why Paint With a Cool Palette?<\/h2>\n

When selecting a palette of colours to work with, there is often a tendency to select from across the whole spectrum, a balance of cool and warm colours, perhaps some with a dark mass tone and some with a lighter mass tone. Such a palette offers the potential for a range of colour mixes varying in tone and temperature.\u00a0 However it’s possible to limit your colour selection further, working with only shades of a single colour or limiting your palette to only cool or warm colours. The consequences of limiting your palette to such a degree is a necessity to use a light touch when mixing, so that you can create as many shades that vary in hue, temperature and tone as is possible. The reward of working with a cool palette, or any very limited palette, is the array of subtle colour transitions you will achieve as well as the opportunity to further understand how the pigments you are working with behave.<\/p>\n

In previous colour mixing posts, I have likened a structured premeditated palette of colours to a key in music – a structure within which harmony among mixes is impossible to avoid. These cool palettes are no different, and with each of the five palettes I explore here, I will explain the reasoning behind my colour choices, as well as the discoveries made as a result of colour mixing for the sake of colour mixing. This includes how utilising both transparent dilute mixes and opaque mixes with white can help to add a sense of depth to the surface of your painting.<\/p>\n

What is a Cool Palette?<\/h2>\n

For this article, I wanted to explore what happens if you only mix a selection of colours that would appear on the cool side of a colour wheel: greens, blues and violets. The two exceptions are the use of Naphthol Red, a cool, bluish red, and Raw Umber, a transparent brown that has a relatively neutral colour temperature.<\/p>\n

For each palette here, I made a chart, mixing combinations of two colours, which I also thinned out to see how the mixes appeared when diluted with water. Following this I explored what other mixes I could create, grouping them into light, mid tone and dark colour mixes.<\/p>\n

Palette No. 1: Ultramarine Violet \/ Cobalt Blue Genuine \/ Hooker’s Green \/ White<\/h3>\n

This is the palette that first sprang to mind as an archetypal ‘cool palette’ – three very distinct colours that offer a wide scope for colour mixing. The dark mass tone of the violet and green offer the opportunity for dark, rich colours.<\/p>\n

\"Cool
The top row (the x axis) and the far left column (the y axis) show the colours of my limited palette in their unmixed state – where the colour appears darkest is how the colour appears squeezed from the tube. I then thinned each colour out with a little water in the rest of the square. Each colour on the x axis is mixed with the corresponding y axis colour as you move down each column of squares. The vertical strip in each square is an indication of what happens when white is added.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a really vibrant yet icy cool palette of colours, which could easily be used for nocturnes.<\/p>\n

Observations<\/strong><\/p>\n