Universal Principles of Art

16 COLOR AS LIMIT

A LIMITED COLOR RANGE YIELDS EXPRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES

Limiting the color range within a painting can allow the creation of a work that has a distinctive identity, look, or atmosphere. By forcing a constrained range of color to create a fully rendered world, the painter can often create striking and sometimes highly emotive effects.

Limiting the color range within a work does not preclude representational or realist approaches. Creating an illusion requires that color relationships displayed in the world are transferred to the canvas. These relationships can be maintained even when the range of colors is restricted. Thus if we were to paint only with reds, we would be able to decide which was the yellowest red and even which ...