If you're an artist who gets overwhelmed by colour, try this...

The Zorn palette, named after Swedish artist Anders Zorn, consists of only four colours: yellow ochre, ivory black, vermilion (or cadmium red), and titanium white.

If, like me, you get a bit overwhelmed by colour, try these three ways to use the Zorn palette:

Create a limited colour harmony:

The Zorn palette is perfect for creating a limited colour harmony that is warm and earthy. By mixing the colours together, you can achieve a range of muted hues that work well together.

Simplify your painting process:

The limited palette forces you to simplify your colour choices and focus on value and temperature. This can be helpful if you tend to get overwhelmed by too many colour choices.

Experiment with tonal painting:

The Zorn palette is great for tonal painting, where you focus on the light and dark values of the subject. By using a limited palette, you can concentrate on getting the values just right without worrying about colour.

What do I do?

I painted this one using just 4 colours from the Zorn palette. Mixing is the key in creating a broad palette. Remember, black de-saturates a colour, so add a little ivory black to reduce the chroma (intensity).

Click the image to see more...