A few years ago, I did a course on using a limited palette.  I found it to be a stretch initially using just a few colours and black and white.  
So what is a limited palette? Imagine you're baking biscuits, but you only have a few ingredients in your pantry. A limited palette in art is like that, it's when you choose to work with only a small set of colours instead of having every colour available, just like having only a few ingredients for your biscuits.
So, instead of using every colour in your art supplies kit, you might pick just three or four main colours, like red, blue, yellow, and maybe white.  I also like to have black or Payne's Grey.  With these colours, you can mix and blend them together to create all sorts of new and exciting colours.
Working with a limited palette is a fun challenge. It helps you focus on learning how colours work together and how to mix them just right to get the shades you want. Plus, it can make your artwork look really harmonious and cohesive because all the colours are related to each other, just like all the ingredients in your biscuits work together to make them taste great!
One of the main reasons I love to work with a limited palette, it makes me stretch myself with blending colours to get just what I need and want for a particular piece.
The photo of a work in progress in this post is using a limited palette of cobalt blue, Payne's grey, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna with white for adjusting tones.  Mixing colour with a limited palette is one of my favourite ways to paint.  

If you are just starting out, you can start with a few colours and mix your colours without buying every tube on the shelf!

So, think of a limited palette as your artistic recipe. You might not have every colour in the world, but with a little mixing and experimenting, you can create something really special!

​You can find some of my favourite tools here 
If you have favourite colours you use in a limited palette, why not share them in the comments below.

I love painting, I love sketching and I love spending time in my art shed.  As soon as hubby heads off for golf with his buddy's, I have whipped open the door of the studio before he has even reached the end of the driveway.  There is something about having no one around, no distractions, no noise, nothing for me to even think about. 

I open my sketchbook and lose myself in the pages.  sometimes I decide to use watercolour, other times acrylics or there are times I delve into the art supplies and enjoy the freedom of mixed media. There is no rhyme or reason to what medium I choose.  Sometimes, I flit between sketchbooks,  Just the other day, I went from sketchbook watercolour (the photo is the end result of my sketch book watercolour) to a canvas using bold vibrant colours with impasto medium.  As one part dried I worked on the other.
  
Can you believe three hours had passed by without me even knowing it. There is something said about immersing yourself in art.  For me I go to a place where worries, sadness, hurt, frustration and negative thoughts don't live.  This is a place that is void of negativity and a place where time stands still. This is a place that time forgot and peace exudes. 
Does art give you a happy place?  Does art give you a sense of peace that can reinvigorate you and send you back into the world refreshed and positive?

​Leave your comments below and let me know what art does for you and if you can relate,  

I often wonder is it important to have your art fit into a style or a label. My work flits between expressionism and impressionism and sometimes slides into abstract. 
Expressionism art uses vivid colour to convey the emotional response to the subject where impressionism art captures the essence of the scene relying on the use of light.  Abstract however, is non-representational and left to the interpretation of the artist and the viewer.  I do enjoy abstract; however, I keep finding my way back to vibrant florals.
For this reason, I call myself a mixed media artist, as I use multiple media in my work and I can't really put a style or label to it. 
Should we label our style or should we be able to create to our passion as opposed to a label.  There are differing opinions in the art world as to the benefits or attributes of labelling an artist to a genre or movement. 
For me, I don't want to limit myself as I continue to experiment, play and develop my artistic skills.

What is your favourite stye, genre or art movement?