Choices for My Palette

I have been painting about 4 to 5 years and one of my biggest struggles is:   what paint colors to use.  What is MY palette?  Every time I go to a workshop, a supply list is included and recommended by the teacher.  It seems their list always has paint colors that I have never used. So I order them and add them to my growing collection.  I have so many paints now that I will never use them all up!  I have 4-5 brands of ultramarine blue and lemon yellow and so many reds that it looks like I robbed a paint store! And the expense of having all these different brands is unbelievable!
But I feel like I should have what the teacher recommends.
Can I get an AMEN??

I love learning and going to workshops. What is the answer?

I have decided to do the Color Charts in Richard Schmid's Alla Prima book.  My teacher JoAnn Walker Williams recommended this to me and her other students about 4 years ago!  But I never got around to doing them.  It probably would have saved my lots of money!!
I looked at Richard Schmid's color choices and again he had some colors that I have never used.  I did not want to buy any new paints!  I need to learn to love and live with what I have. So I got out all my brands of the primaries and tinted them and decided which ones I liked the best.  I tested them for their ability to spread, their tinting strength, and their chroma.  I tried to select a warm and cool of each primary, three secondary colors, and a few convenience colors and one gray.  I tried my best to limit my palette to eleven colors like Richard Schmid did, but was unable to do so at this stage in my art growth. Maybe later. I am not going to stress over this now. I am just going to 'do the charts' with my selection, which just so happens to be 22 colors. I know, many of you will find this ridiculous, but to me it is better than the 40 or 50 colors that I have bought to accommodate the workshop requirements.  My goal is to see how these colors interact with each other and what I can create from these mixes and then later try to eliminate  a few at a time. Color mixing does not come easy to me, but I am willing to work at it and hopefully with time I will have selected my very own 'limited palette'! But for now I will have a full color spectrum palette like Ovanes Berberian and Serge Bongart.  I do not plan on using all these colors on every painting, but I do want to see how each of these colors mix with each other for a full array of color options for each painting.

I have included some photos to show you my progress so far.

I will have to do 46 charts, two for the tinting of the 22 colors and two charts for mixing each of the 22 colors.  This is a huge project!  It is going to take a lot of time, so I have decided to do this for my 30 paintings in 30 day challenge that starts in January. I have started some of the preliminary work so I will be ready.  Wish me luck. I should learn a lot!  Maybe you will learn from this exercise as well.

If any of you want to share 'YOUR'  palette, please do so, I would love to see them!!

I added the compliments to these colors on the third piles.

I added green to these grays on the fourth piles.

I'm Back!!

We have had more health difficulties since my last post. In September, my husband had several TIA's and was hospitalized twice, but no etiology was found causing them.  Thank God his speech returned to normal and they have not reoccurred since.  His cardiologist asked that he return in a month for a stress test to check out his heart.  He reluctantly went in for the stress test.  He failed the test and was admitted for a heart cath the next morning.  The heart cath showed three 90% blockages and one 70% blockage.  And he was having NO symptoms!! This is actually common in diabetics.  (And at that moment, he did not know he was a diabetic.  He had been told to watch his diet in the past.)
He then went for bypass surgery and had 4 bypasses.  He was not a candidate for stents as he had too many critical blockages.  Then the diabetes flared up and he was put on insulin.  Then he developed atrial fibrillation and was put on beta blockers which knocked his blood pressure to the floor.  Instead of getting up out of his hospital bed every day and walking down the hall in his gown holding on to his heart-shaped pillow, he was confined to his bed. He almost fainted everytime he stood up.  He became depressed. Finally it was decided that 'shocking his heart' would be in his best interest. So with a fresh chest incision he put back under anesthesia and a long tube was placed down his esophagus to visualize his heart to make sure there were not clots that would break off.  When they got the all clear,  the paddles were placed and he was shocked. He bounced off the bed just like you see in the TV shows.
It was an awful sight, but at least he was back in a normal rhythm.
Then his beta blockers were decreased and he was able to get out of bed and out of the hospital after 7 days!
His recovery at home was slow. His sugar had to be checked 5 times a day as well as his blood pressure and pulse and rhythm.  Thank goodness I am a cardiac nurse practitioner as he required quite a bit of home care.  The insulin was stopped.
He missed Thanksgiving Dinner with the family, as he just could not handle being around people just yet. He had started walking and making little progress then the fainting spells returned and he was back 'out of rhythm'.  He was found to be in atrial fib-flutter and he was readmitted and had to be shocked again.
Now Christmas is just over  week away and we are hoping he feels like participating with our family. He is feeling better, walking more, and the depression is gone! He starts cardiac rehab on Monday and his surgeon is going to let him drive himself as long as he puts his heart-shaped pillow on his chest under the seatbelt.
He can't play golf or go fishing and his hunting season is shot this year, but he is so thankful his severe heart disease was found before a heart attack occurred.  He is patient and knows this was all in God's plan and he will be back to his hobbies soon enough!!
I will share some pictures of his ordeal.

 Before the TIA's. Out Golfing.

 In the cardiac cath lab.

 In the cath lab seeing all the blockages.

First day after bypass surgery.

 Having the cardioversion (shock to heart).

 After the cardioversion, able to sit up, without fainting!

 Being discharged after 7 days in hospital.

 First attempt at walking outside, using a walker just in case!

Made it back home!!!

I have not painted hardly at all since September, as I have been taking care of my husband.  Now that he is on his road to recovery,  I have decided to once again try the 30 paintings in 30 days in January, but this time work on my palette. My mind is just not yet into creating. God willing I hope to finish the 30 days.  This will be my third attempt. Painting is my passion and I am looking forward to getting back to it. Hope you join me!