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Full-intensity colors are those that are listed according their placement on the color wheel. Colors that are classified as cool are those closest to blue on the color wheel and those listed as warm are colors closest to red on the color wheel. Marc Sabatella writes on his website, The Outside Shore:

“The decision regarding how many colors to use on your palette is really a choice that is up to you. If you want to be able to mix any color you might possibly need you’ll probably want to use at the ‘very least the three primaries, and many artists prefer having two of each primary - a warmer and cooler variant. Second, you want to make it easy to mix the colors you need most often. For example, a palette consisting of just the primaries may make it possible to mix a believable skin tone, but one that also includes some more subdued “earth tones” might make it easier’” .

Less intense colors - earth tones

It’s best to lay your colors out in a particular order depending on what subject you are painting. If you are a beginner, limiting your palette to the primary colors allows you to learn quickly how color harmonies are achieved because it limits the amount of color harmonies you can produce. However, once you become more advanced, you can add more colors to your palette and experiment with producing better color harmonies.

Price is also a consideration in limiting the number of colors on your palette. Oil paint is costly and certain pigments are more expensive than others are and there are other attributes such as transparency, permanence and quality.

According to Barry John Raybould this is a list of a good basic palette to start you out:

• Titanium white (lots of it - get the big tubes)
• Cerulean Blue (cool blue)
• Ultramarine Blue (warm blue)
• Alizarin Crimson (cool red)
• Cadmium Red Light (warm red)
• Cadmium Yellow Medium (warm yellow)
• Cadmium Yellow Light (cool yellow)
• Yellow Ochre (light earth tone)
• Raw Umber or Raw Sienna (dark earth tone)
• Mars Black

Robert Gamblin writes in his newsletter, Gamblin Artist Colors defines a limited palette as:

“one that reaches as much of color space as possible with as few colors as possible” which usually can be done with five or six colors. One painter might lay down an imprimatura of transparent earth color then build paintings using direct painting technique” which gives a 19th centuary Romanticism look. Another painter might build paintings with pure colors and tints to make a jarring, noisy surface” then use a glaze mixed to evoke an emotional sensation, the painter can unify and soften the surface.”

The choice is really up to each individual artist. Each will “see” their combinations differently than another artist.

As with any other career or hobby, the better you want to become at that chosen career or hobby the more you need to explore everything there is to know about it. The psychology of color is a study about how a color affects the mind or how you reflect what’s in your mind or soul based on the colors you choose.

Color consultants claim that “warm” colors are classified as those hues in the red area of color while “cool” colors are those in the blue and green range. Perhaps this classification was a result of looking at the flame of a match where it is cooler at the bottom of the match (the blue area) and hotter at the end of the match (the red/orange area). Red is usually used to express an excited feeling, while the blues and greens are usually representative of a soothing or peaceful feeling. Psychological tests have revealed that red hues increase bodily tension and stimulate the autonomic nervous system, while “cool” hues release tension.

The following is a table from Wikipedia, an on-line encyclopedia, that shows the various responses and emotions for certain colors:

Retrieved from: Wikipedia, The On-line Encyclopedia

Although painting is an art, it’s important to understand that choosing your colors is really a science if you want to achieve the best color harmony. There are rules to consider in color harmony and it’s important for a novice painter to make sure they understand the basics.