I’ve recently started taking photographs of my palate paper when I finish a painting, as well as the final product. I like looking at them side-by-side: the journey and the destination; it tells the story of the process in a much looser, unrefined context. I also think they can be beautiful in their own right, and I always feel a small hesitation when throwing them away, so I decided to start documenting.
The beginning.
I rarely know the exact color combinations I’ll need when starting a fresh picture, so I typically prep my palate with a small dot of any color I might possibly use, and then top up the ones that become instrumental. Above is a selection of the colors I thought I might use in a painting of Lake Virginia. And below is what the palate looked like at the end:
Below is the palate of greens, blues, yellows, and browns I used for the first layer of a forest hiking trail scene:
And the finished picture with lupines below:
