After some experience we become much more adept at predicting the amount of paint needed on one’s palette for a particular project. Yet, somehow as the mood carries us along, we seem to often either run out of certain colors or have too much left of others. After all we don’t want to limit ourselves in any way.
You might find the following steps to be a worthwhile experiment. After I have decided on which colors to press out of the tube onto my palette, I put all paint tubes away and out of sight. I will use up whatever paint I end up with without adding a color or replacing one should I run out of it. For as long as I can, I won’t put any restrictions to which colors I use. I simply keep on painting until I have used up every bit of paint on my palette. This may require that I start another painting. If I run out of time, I’ll seal the palette with a plastic wrap and return to it later. By following these steps you will discover that less can become more.
This procedure may feel constraining at first, but it really does not need to be. Rather, it forces me out of my habitual inclinations and shortcuts; it forces me to improvise and invent new strategies. As I progress along I look to new combinations. My palette will indeed become more and more monochromatic, and since I consider myself primarily a colorist, this becomes a real challenge rather than a confinement.
Confinement may very well reside in our own habitual responses and in the comfort zones we have forged.