Triad Method Oil Palette Study

'Living Craft: A Painter's Process', by Tad Spurgeon, is for anyone seriously interested in studying the craft of oil painting, mediums, and historical styles, all packed into 300 jam-packed pages.

Tad Spurgeon also offered his website techniques and the detailed results of various mediums he has mixed from scratch, providing the reader with the formulas to create their own mediums.

Researching the various paint palettes of the masters, in Tad Spurgeon's book, chapter: METHODS; I  gleaned over all the different historical palettes such as the French 19th Century palette, the Impressionist palette, the Modern Day palette, and many more combinations of colors used by painters, and then went online to GOOGLE the various artists to see their palette choices in their form of expression.

I spent a whole day reading Tad's informative website and then ordered his book, which is a fantastic collection of articles to read online and in print., making you feel like it's a gem! I like Tad's humor and how he personalizes his writing, making you feel like you get to know him. I emailed him, and he was very personable, saying I could contact him anytime with questions. That's cool!

I took one of my fall photos as inspiration and experimented with one of the palettes from John Carlson's Triad Palette. John was an American Impressionist (1875-1947)...read more about John Carlson here.

Thumbnail sketches, notes, and value studies

As I plan my next painting, 'Deer Trail', I take the time to create small thumbnail drawings (2 inches x 2 inches). I try out various value placements using the NOTAN method, which helps to plan out harmonies, color balances, and movement, using only black and white shapes.  I also work out my value ranges and what kind of FEELING and DRAMA I want to evoke in the viewer.

I spent a day creating charts and decided to do this for every painting to provide hands-on references.

At a liquidation center, I found bargain-priced gloss photo paper that is cardstock. I tried painting with oils on it, and it works fantastically for my experimental paint palettes; the oils do not soak through to the other side of the paper. I have a page binder punch to create tidy booklets with clear covers and plastic binder coils for my references. I find more uses for that thing, such as recipes and knitting patterns, etc. I print off the web.

Part of me wants to rush ahead and skip these preparation steps to get to painting, but the teacher that lives inside me says, 'Take time and make it a learning process.' I learn more by setting myself up like an art school that might assign lessons to help me remember what I have done.

For my 'Deer Trail' painting, I decided to give John Carlson's Triad Palette a try by using three colors per palette, resulting in three palettes (nine colors altogether, excluding white & black). The first layer uses only earthy, dark tones to set the stage for the brighter, warm hues that bring in the sunshine. The last set of hues consists of cool, cheerful colors that bring the shadows to reflect the colors from areas with less sunlight.

Here are the examples of my paint palettes on PHOTO GLOSS card stock paper...

First Layer: 

Transparent Earth Color Triad:

Raw Sienna, Indian Red, Ivory Black, Titanium White

The first layer is transparent, using no medium, and consists of raw sienna, Indian red, titanium white, and ivory black. I block in the whole painting with these paint choices and notice that Rembrandt would have continued using these choices throughout his entire painting. However, since we now have so much more to choose from, this selection of hues is intended for the underpainting.

Earth Color Triad Palette Sample

Earth Color Triad Palette Sample

                        

The first block in oil with the Earth Triad hues

2nd Layer: 

Warm Bright Triad palette:

Indian Yellow, Cadmium Red, French Ultramarine, Ivory Black, and Titanium White

Warm Bright Triad Palette Sample

Warm Bright Triad Palette Sample

               

Warm Bright Triad moves the composition forward & brings a sense of sunlight to the scene.

3rd Layer: 

Cool Bright Triad Palette:

Transparent Yellow, Bright Red, Cerulean Blue, Ivory Black & Titanium white.

Cool Bright Triad Palette Sample

Marvelous Bright Triad Palette Sample

Cool Bright Triad: Close-up

'Deer Trail', oil on canvas, 11"x 14" 

I learned a lot from this method of painting 'Deer Trail' and it helped me to plan cools and warms in their separate stages &  individual palettes. It's so magical to see it develop into a jewel-like painting. Photography does not capture the subtle nuances and naturally appears darker along the edges. However, if I posted it that way, you would just see a blob of dark. To improve clarity, I lightened it up so you could see the piles of earth, the warm colors, and the color palettes more clearly.

My intention with the painting was to give the viewer the feeling they are walking from the dark, earthy woods, following the deer trail out into the grassy area and beyond. I take my little dog Ziggy out for walks every day, and his favorite explorations are following the deer trails.

Next painting, I will try another palette selection and look forward to the magic it creates!

See you on the other side of the trail!.... Minaz