How to Make an Expressionist Palette

An Expressionist palette contains bright colors that are used with little or no mixing.

Expressionism was a movement that began in the early 20th century with a group of German artists, which then inspired artists all over the world. The goal of Expressionism was to express emotion through the use of wild, bright colors and exaggerated form. In this vein, the evocation of feeling was paramount to all other characteristics of representational art. Expressionist artists often didn't mix their paints at all, and instead chose to use their pigments unmixed, a style often referred to as "from the tube."

Things You'll Need

• 2-inch flat paint brush
• Large wooden palette
• Neutral gray acrylic pant
• Tubes of oil paint

Instructions

1. Paint the palette neutral gray.

2. Let the palette dry completely. The neutral gray background will make you paint pigments appear true to their hues on the palette.

3. Squeeze quarter-sized amounts of alizarin crimson, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, viridian green, sap green, cadmium orange, burnt umber, raw sienna, mars black and titanium white onto the palette. Keep them spaced well enough so that you can load a brush with paint and not cross-contaminate your colors.

4. Choose a subject and try out your Expressionist palette.

Tips & Warnings

• Expressionism is a wide-open style in terms of pigment choice. Find any color that evokes an emotion for you, and use it as you see fit.

References

• Alpha System at Fairleigh Dickinson University: Lecture Notes: Color in Art -- Impressionism and Expressionism
• Art is Creation: Color Charts and Pigment Information; David Meyers; 2011
• Art Encyclopedia: Nineteenth Century Colour Palette