I want to explore a theme that has been rattling around in the back of my mind for some time.  Years ago I listened to a public radio station in New York that had a program called Desert Island Disks. The premise was simple. A guest musician for the weekly program would be asked to select only eight pieces of music to take to a desert island. Which albums would he choose as the only things the guest artist would ever be able to listen to for as long as he lived? Yes, it is a bit overdramatic, but you get the point. Certainly, this exercise is about the choice made, but I find it intriguing to consider the scope of the music that had to be left behind. 

What if we were to play this game with paints? Which ones would you take to a desolate location to be the only things you could paint with forever? Let’s limit the palette to 8 colors. That should be generous enough. As a bonus, black and white will not be counted as part of the eight pigments. To put it into modern day practical thinking, the airline taking you to this land without art materials stores is limiting your checked bag volume to 12.5 ounces of paint in tubes that do not exceed 1.25 ounces; hence, 10 tubes of paint. No substituting two other colors for the black and white. In fact, white will be mandatory.

Limited palettes create discipline, and who could not use a bit more discipline in their lives? This exercise makes us think of what is really important about selecting a color. It makes us think about what colors we use as convenience mixtures, and which ones we cannot make by any other means.

Thinking through this strategy from various perspectives, you could select a suitable yellow, red and blue pigment so that you will not have to bring the secondary colors of orange, violet and green.  That leaves you with 5 more color choices.

For split primary devotees, the 3 most obvious choices would be the other yellow, red and blue colors to create the warm verses cool separation.  For those who do not paint with a split primary palette, the field is wide open. 

An artist might start with yellow, red and blue hues that are transparent, followed by 3 opaque primary colors. Since a few of the blue hues we may choose tend to make weak greens, an obvious choice would be to select one secondary green to fortify this side of the palette. The 1 or 2 (if a secondary green is not chosen) remaining open choices, once the first round of decisions is made, require careful consideration.

The color to select beyond the mandatory ones should be unique in their ability to extend the range of the hues that have already been selected. What colors cannot be made from the hues selected thus far? How difficult is it to mix some of the desired hues and select one or two convenience colors to make painting easier? If a maximum range is sought, an artist must become comfortable knowing exactly what colors are attainable with the 6 he first selected. Some artists find that mixing earth tones is a bore so they will supplement their palette with an ochre, umber or sienna. Others find some unique working property of a pigment that allows them to have a tremendous range of hues, using one or two well-planned selections.

In summary, here is the challenge that I would like you to ponder. Select a palette of 8 colors,  with black and white having permanent status, that you would take on a trip that required you to limit your equipment. The environment will vary, so just imagine that all landscape possibilities will be presented for you to paint. Post your replies for all to see: which palette will supply the widest possible range of color mixing solutions, and justify your choices. Let’s see who comes up with the most unique solution. Similarities will abound, but as each artist approaches color mixing in a somewhat unique way, I believe that we can all learn from each other. I will post my choices in a later entry on this blog.

Returning to the musical theme that I started with, selecting 8 colors for your palette is similar to finding a set of audio speakers with the greatest dynamic range. We don’t think of colors in that respect, but this is exactly the goal of this exercise. Find 8 paints that will create the greatest number of colors to suit the demands of any landscape painting.

I feel we are far better at predicting the limits of a color than knowing just how far a pigment will expand to produce a wide array of color combinations. It takes a bit of exploring to see just how much we can “squeeze” out of a color. In landscape painting we rarely exploit the highest chroma achievable with any color, since the natural world is somewhat muted and we mix paint to deliberately dull down colors.

I look forward to seeing your posts. And because you're no doubt in the midst of the holiday rush, I'm going to offer an incentive. The first three artists who post replies will receive a free one year's subscription to The Artist's Magazine. Once at least ten replies have been posted, I'll award another free one year's subscription to the most interesting argument for Eight Colors To Take To A Desert Island. So, what are you waiting for?