Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Association announces me as a new Signature Member...

...And I am honored. 

LPAPA is one of the most influential plein air groups on the West Coast and its home turf is smack dab in the place that gave birth in the 1920s to a unique American form of art: California Impressionism. So this is a recognition I am thrilled with and I look forward to both painting more, and teaching down in Southern California as a result.

LPAPA is a great group of painters and supporters, all dedicated to the history, art, and craft of painting outdoors. And I meet many of them at events all across the country. When I do it feels like running into family when you are far from home...

Some photos from the past three years down in SoCal, all shot during a Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational...

My first quickdraw at the Montage...

Another QuickDraw, of the Rock Pile, a local surfing spot right under the Laguna Art Museum...

Ah, the light. The tides are coming in and the light is sinking...

Attempting a small scale William Wendt up in Laguna Canyon, as if there ever was such a thing...

More painting below the art museum...

Crystal Cove paint out - up on the table to get a better view and discourage distractions...

The best day ever at the office, painting the Keyhole - had a fever of 103 F as I painted this...

More painting on rocks...

Another Rock Pile painting...

Painting at San Juan Capistrano Mission, the old sanctuary which collapsed back in the late 1800s.

(If this video doesn't load for you FB'ers, visit http://www.thomaskitts.com)

And out painting the sunset at Corona del Mar, the light being the reason to travel south...

Thanks LPAPA. These are awesome memories for me!

In the News: Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot...

I was just interviewed regarding the painting I donated to LPAPA'a "Canvas for a Cause" fund raiser today by a Southern California newspaper, an affiliate of the LA Times...

The article is now online and the print version goes out tomorrow. The reporter who interviewed me was nice, on the ball, and asked excellent questions about plein air paintings and the upcoming event. I was impressed.

You can read the article here:

http://www.coastlinepilot.com/news/tn-cpt-0503-plein-air-laguna-20130501,0,1861397.story

Or if that link goes dead in the future you can read about it here:

http://archive.is/FnsrH

Or simply click on the image below and get out your magnifying glass...

Happy painting!

Canvas for a Cause: Collect Fine Original Art from Some of the Best Plein Air Painters in the USA...

To my dedicate Southern California Collectors...

The Adobe Garden | Mission San Juan Capistrano

16 x 20 | oil on panel 2011- 2012

I have donated a significant, framed 16 x 20 inch painting of the Mission San Juan Capistrano to the LPAPA fund-raiser you find below. It is your opportunity to collect a nice piece of historical SoCal and support a great art organization at the same time.

I painted it during the 2011 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational and re-worked it significantly in the studio last month. So it is a rare and very developed piece, once carefully constructed to flicker with color when hung under indoor light, I hope you'll come out to the auction to consider it. And of course, if not this painting, then one from the incredible line-up of other artists you find below. Heck, if I didn't already have a conflict I'd bring my own checkbook as the bidding will all start low and you couldn't possibly find work of this caliber anywhere else.

I'll be returning to the Laguna Beach Invitation again in October 2013. I hope to see you all again when I do!

Thomas

http://www.lpapa.org/auction/auction.html

PRESENTS "CANVAS FOR A CAUSE" SILENT AUCTION FUNDRAISER MAY 4, 2013   5pm - 8 pm Wine & Cheese Reception WOMAN'S CLUB OF LAGUNA BEACH                                   Details of Event 40 of LPAPA's artists have contributed framed masterpieces for a unique silent auction - all opening bids to start at $350. - Silent Auction Bidding starts at 5:30 pm Section A closes at 6:30pm Section B closes at 7:00 pm Section C closes at 7:30 pm You are being invited to join us for some wine, cheese, and the opportunity to take home one of these remarkable works of art ! PARTICIPATING ARTISTS Daniel Aldana - Michael Alten - Ebrahim Amin - Ken Auster Pierre Bouret - John Burton - Judith Cameron - Hui Lai Chong Rick Delanty - Mark Fehlman - Kay Flierl - Susan Gordinier Carolyn Hesse-Low - Jeff Horn - Debra Huse - Thomas Jefferson Kitts Paul Kratter - Greg LaRock - Calvin Liang - Kim Lordier Viv McCord - Erich Neubert - Michael Obermeyer - Rita Pacheco Jesse Powell - Jenifer Prince - April Raber - Peggi Kroll-Roberts   Ray Roberts - Pauline Roche - Grace Schlesier - Jeff Sewell Randall Sexton - Jason Situ - Michael Situ - Doug Stotts Bryan Mark Taylor - Kim Van DerHoek - Wendy Wirth Jim Wodark - Jeff Yeomans  100% of Proceeds Support LPAPA's Programs (Community Outreach, Educational/Mentorship, Scholarships, etc.) Woman's Club of Laguna Beach 286 St Ann's Drive Laguna Beach, CA 92651 LAGUNA PLEIN AIR PAINTERS ASSOCIATION A non-profit organization was founded in 1996 to assist artists  by bringing them information and opportunities for advancement.  LPAPA, with a membership of over 300, maintains a strong presence  for plein air painting in the contemporary world of art. For more information about this event go to: www.lpapa.org  or contact LPAPA Executive Director, Rosemary Swimm 949-376-3635 info@lpapa.org  Be sure and mark your calendars you don't want to miss this! VIEW THE PAINTINGS!

Renoir Actually Painting... (1915)

(Click if you can't play the video here)

Someday I would like an assistant to hand me my brushes too.

Enjoy,

Thomas

Coming Home...

...From the Plein Air Convention in Monterey and a fantastic three day workshop in Carmel. It will be good to hit the sheets tonight.

More to come...

My ride to the Plein Air Convention...

Ha!

Bryan Mark Taylor and his new Strada Plein Air Easel...

The well-known Californian plein air painter Bryan Mark Taylor has been working on a new kind of outdoor easel for the past two years. When he shared an early prototype with me back in 2011 he said his intention was to create something that would be bomb-proof. That caught my attention because I’d just had a French easel collapse on me in the field during a competition. Bryan has been hard at work since then, sharing a few developmental steps along the way, and now his easel is in production and available for purchase.

He calls his easel the “Strada”. It is aptly named because in Italian strada means “road or passage way”, and Bryan’s goal was to invent a new way to paint en plein air.

Bryan is a professional plein air artist himself so he is intimate with the highs and lows of painting outdoors. At a competitive plein air event he may set up and tear down his easel five or six times a day. So to him, ease of use is a high priority.

Last month Bryan called to tell me the Strada was shipping I said “Great, when could I see one?” He told me one was already on the way and asked if I would give it a try and post a review. Since I am always interested in painting gear I agreed. 

Disclaimer: Bryan and I are painting friends. While I am happy to talk about the Strada I want to state I have no connection to the easel. (Aside from being offered one to try out.) I have been using with the Strada for almost four weeks now and believe I can discuss the pros and cons of it in a fair and objective way.

What the Strada should be compared against:

There are essentially three kinds of plein air easels in production today: the classic wooden French easel which originated during the mid-19th century, and its modern day counterpart, the Soltek; the Gloucester easel, which became de rigueur for seascape painters on the East Coast during the early 20th century; and the relatively new lightweight pochade box that can be attached to a tripod. The Strada falls into the pochade box category, which includes the Open Box M, the Easy-L, the Alla Prima Pochade Box, and the Guerrilla Box. (I have painted with all of these easels at some point but currently use the Open Box M.)

No single easel design is perfect for every situation – so having a new option for outdoor painters is a boon. And yes, the Strada offers a unique and interesting spin to the pochade category.

Build Quality:

The Strada is made entirely out of aluminum and this permits it to be trim and functional and impervious to effects of humidity and moisture; two things which can trouble any wooden easel. The Strada’s shell and weld-joints appear quite solid and the entire surface is coated with a pleasant medium value gray. It feels like you could drop it without deforming the shape so I believe the Strada could survive multiple blow-downs in the field. But honestly, I didn’t actually push it over to find out.

Besides the pachode box itself, the Strada comes with a interior plexiglass mixing area and a S-hook you can use to hang a can of solvent on. You can also purchase one or two side shelves to lay your painting gear out on, or to provide additional mixing area in a pinch. Bryan is keeping the price for a shelf modest.

Setting up the Strada in the field:

Bryan’s primary objective was to make setting up and tearing down up as quick and easy as possible and he succeeds at it. The defining characteristic of any clamshell design is it opens up like – well, a clam – and until now, all the easels in this category use a combination of hinges, slotted sliding bars, and knobs to fix the painting support open. The Strada cleverly reduces the hardware down to two friction hinges that hold the painting support open. So there is nothing to slide, adjust, or tighten down once you open the lid. You simply pull out the latch, flip open the lid, insert a canvas, and start pushing the paint around. It can’t get more quick than that. It works like a laptop. The lid, which supports your canvas, has a full 180º range of movement so you can set it at any angle you like.

When you are done with your painting you pull it off and close the lid. Then, you stuff the Strada into a backpack or roller bag with the rest of your gear and move on.

If you pair the Strada with a professional-grade tripod and quick release plate the combination is almost as stable as any high-end pochade design I’ve used. Almost. There is a little wiggle you'll have to live with if you like the convenience of the easy open hinges. The friction hinges on the Strada are spec’ed to a 20,000x life cycle and Bryan tells me he will replace them without cost if they should prematurely fail. In other words, if you open and close your Strada five times a day, every day of the year, the hinges are rated to last almost eleven years.

There are some design nigglies to be aware of. The primary one has to do with what kind of support you like to paint on. The Strada canvas/panel support rails accepts 3/4 or 1 inch stretcher bars and panels that range from 1/8 to 3/8 in thickness. You can insert a thinner panel – say one of the Raymar Featherlites™ – but if you do you’ll need to double up the panels to fill the gap. Bryan tells me the easel is now shipping with a couple of #8/32 locking nuts which can be used to reduce the gap on the pins and thus will hold a standard panel more firmly. I didn’t have them for my testing but will stop by a hardware store and pick some up this weekend.

The Strada’s painting support holds a canvas or panel along the top and bottom using a sliding t-bar and friction based compression. When my easel arrived there wasn’t enough resistance in the slot to grip a panel tightly so Bryan told me to bend the T-bar slightly to increase the friction. This fixed the issue. (Bryan also tells me the easels are now being shipped with the T-bar pre-bent.) The lower rail can be raised to accommodate a tiny painting or to lift a larger one away from the mixing area. Both the upper and lower rails have integrated pins to hold a panel in place, and if you prefer to paint on stretched canvas there are lips which hold it against the back as well. Unfortunately, the bottom lip can interfere with painting along the lower edge of a panel so I may grind it off. I rarely paint on stretched canvas anyway. A nice touch would be for Bryan to offer an second lower rail without the lip. Then the rails could be swapped out as needed.

Bryan has reduced every elements of the Strada down to its simplest form possible and many elements serve multiple functions. For example, the sliding T-bar not only works as a latch to hold the easel shut it also serves as the top rail to hold your painting while you work. And when the easel is closed the top and bottom rails hold the plexiglass palette in place as you carry it around. So packing up and moving to a new location is easy. Just shut the lid and go.

As a bonus, the Strada can be placed on your thighs like a laptop, or set on a flat surface without a tripod. Definitely a bonus for anyone who wants to travel without a bulky tripod. 

Holding a painting support:

Fancy bells and whistles are very nice but the primary duty of an easel is to hold a painting steady at a comfortable height.  While there is no limit to how wide a canvas the Strada will hold (theoretically) there is a practical limit to the height it can hold, and it runs a little beyond 16 inches or so. You can insert a taller canvas or panel if you wish but the compression of the top rail will begin to loosen and you may experience some rocking as you paint. I don’t view the 16 inches as a limit specific to the Strada because every pochade box of this size I’ve used has a similar height or width restriction and anyone who wants to paint larger in the field should immediately skip to the French or Gloucester easel. Bottom line: if you don't paint more than 16 inches vertically in the field the Strada is an option to consider.

My one serious complaint has to do with the top rail. I often paint in direct sunlight without an umbrella. So the top rail can cast a shadow across your painting if the angle is right. This won't be an issue for those who prefer to paint on a canvas, but since I don’t I’ll likely grind off the offending projection and reserve the Strada for panels only.

The mixing area and palette:

Every pochade box design has one advantage over the French and Gloucester easels, and it is the convenience of mixing your colors directly underneath your painting. That is one of the reasons I prefer them in general. I dislike bending over a palette at my waist, or constantly nodding up and down as I work. It turns out my spine doesn’t like it either. So if your back has been troubling you consider switching to a pochade box design. Any model will alleviate the pain.

Due to it’s efficient design, the Strada’s mixing area is 14 x 16 inches. But if you are used to placing your piles of paint along the top edge of your palette you’ll need to readjust to laying them down along the sides. Otherwise you may gum up the hinges in short order. This doesn’t strike me as much of a concern and I expect to quickly readjust.

The Strada ships with a white plexiglass sheet to mix on. The expectation is that you will leave it in the lower pan. You might like mixing on plexiglass, but I don’t like doing so. It scratches easily. So I’ll either replace it with custom cut piece of tempered glass caulked into place or simply pull the plexiglass out and mix directly on the bottom of the pan. (I’ll probably go with the glass since I prefer to use a razor blade to scrape areas clean as I work.) If I decide to mix directly on the bottom of the pan there will be a few protrusions to contend with – one being the threaded tripod mount in the center – but if you’ve ever seen one of my other palettes you’ll understand that bumps and knots of dried paint don’t concern me. What you decide to do about Strada’s mixing area will be up to you.

Summary:

As I mentioned at the outset, there are basically three kinds of plein air easels, with some version being well thought out and built to solid specs – and others rickety pieces of crap aimed at the unsuspecting newbie. In my experience the best solutions focus on simplicity and durability. The Strada is the first spin on the clamshell pochade box design I’ve seen in a while that offers something new. The friction hinges are a real convenience and the substantial aluminum construction is another. The Strada may not appeal to the most romantic of souls – the plein air painter who weeps for being born a century too late – but it should appeal to the practical outdoor artist who wants a no-nonsense bomb-proof solution. This easel was designed and brought to market by a seasoned pro and I believe it has a great future.

The Strada will be the easel I take when I want to travel fast and light and plan to paint at small sizes. It will be good to have on a backcountry trek, or when I expect my gear to take a beating from a pack mules or a rough stretch of whitewater. Or from those ubiquitous TSA luggage monkeys who like to play a game of ring-toss with my duffle bags after the airplane lands.

Pros: Fast and simple to set up and tear down. A trim form that provides a generous mixing area for the size. Solid build quality. Feels good to use. When closed, reduces air flow into the mixing area, which is good because it slows the drying of paint left on the palette. Ideal for rough travel.

Cons: Somewhat finicky with thin or large panel supports. Some wiggle. Plexiglass mixing area. Top rail can cast a distracting shadow in direct sunlight. Lower rail can interfere with brushwork along bottom edge.

Price: $299, as of April 2013

For more information and where to buy: http://www.stradaeasel.com

OMG! It's a Flash Mob Rembrandt!...

( Click here if you can't view this clip via Facebook... )

And oh yes, the original...

Ha!

The Contemporary Outdoor Painters' Palette...

On April 10th, I will be lecturing on the outdoor palette at the 2nd Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo. 

And besides talking about my palette, I thought it would be a hoot to survey what colors other plein air painters use outdoors. For the most part, I use a set of primary and secondaries, warm and cool versions of each, plus a few earth colors as shortcuts. I tend to mix down unwanted intensity using complementary hues, or by sometimes working a little burnt umber into a color to lower its value and saturation as Sargent, Sorolla, and Zorn did – although admittedly, they were far better at it than I. (ha!) 

Minor note: The color sphere illustrations you see in this post will appear in my upcoming book, "Color and the Direct Method of Oil Painting". In the chapter on mixing, they explain how to use complementary and related hues to modify value and chroma. I will announce the availability of the book after the Plein Air Convention...)

And speaking of the convention... If you are going to be there and want to hear my talk you should pre-register for it asap. Don't wait. I have been told the room is filling up and may max out. I will talk about these palettes, what they can do in the field, and I will also demo how to mix with them. Plus there will be a Q & A session so you can follow up with specific questions. My lecture will be at 9:30 am on the first day.

After completing this survey I was surprised to discover how similar everyone's palette was, and how similar we used them. Surprised because I chose well-known plein air painters from all over the country – even reaching out to Europe to Marc Dalessio – artists who have different looks to their paintings. (Links to their websites have been provided below.) From the extended conversations we had on the phone it was clear everyone relies on the warm and cool theory of color mixing.

With few exceptions (Jill Carver, Jean LeGassick, and myself), the artists I spoke to tended to put more colors on their palette when in the studio. Perhaps it is because they have more time to deliberate indoors or maybe it has something to do with working at a larger scale. In any case, when a painter first goes outside he or she quickly learns their subject is in a constant state of flux. There is no time to mess around and every fifteen minutes it becomes a new painting. (Frustrating, isn't it?) At most, we have a window of a few hours to create a masterpiece, and because of that the best outdoor work tends to embrace expediency. So perhaps that is why all the artist converged on a similar set of hues. Because in capable and experienced hands, the mixing of intense warm and cool primaries can convincingly express the effects of temperature and light.

Side Bar: The Limited Palette It should be noted many plein air painters purposely work with a reduced palette; which means two or three hues plus a white, and the results can be spectacular. The paintings of Kevin McPherson and Lori Putnam come to mind, with many more artists worthy of mention. But there are physical limits to what subtractive mixing can encompass and such limits make it impossible to represent the entire spectrum of light. So if any readers out there prefer a limited palette out of choice or virtue, I salute you. I paint with a reduced palette too now and then, like when I went to Spain and Morocco last October. It helped to lighten the load. And also, back in the mid-90s, I painted four years with only Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White. So I appreciate the appeal of a limited palette.

If anything may be generalized about the contemporary outdoor palette, it is likely to contain both warm and cool versions of the primaries and secondaries. Which makes it similar to the palettes used by a lot of 19th century Impressionists. With exceptions, of course. Today, modern synthetics such as Indian Yellow, Transparent Oxide Red, and the super saturated Pthalos – which can become the crack-cocaine of the plein air enthusiast – often usurp their 19th century counterparts. But the idea of mixing with warm and cool primaries still holds.

The findings of my informal survey are offered below. The information is only accurate as of March, 2013. The palettes you see here may change over time because few painters hold to the same set of color over a lifetime.

And finally, thank you to all the artists who participated! Any mistakes or misrepresentations found in this post are mine and mine only. Caused by my misunderstanding or bad typing while on the phone. Egregious errors will be corrected, if requested.

Thomas

_______________

Ned Mueller
Website: http://www.nedmueller.com



Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson
Transparent Brown Oxide
Chromium Oxide Green
Viridian
Cobalt Blue
French Ultramarine Blue
Ivory Black
Titanium White

Extras colors for travel, primarily reserved for colorful indigenous apparel:
Permanent Red Rose
Pthalo Green

A few tips and advice and advice from the artist:

• Mix your earth colors
• Make most greens using black + orange or black + yellow
• Black can used as a color, particularly in making greens, and beautiful subtle violets and such
• Adding white to a hue will cool the temperature
• Too much white will make a color turn pasty
• Set the middle values and darks dark enough to avoid pasty lights
• Sometimes works on a white ground, sometimes works on a tinted ground
• Anticipate how a white canvas makes your initial values appear darker than they actually are
• Mix on a neutral gray palette, about 10 - 20 percent gray.
• When toning a canvas, use a fairly neutral color -- Ned often uses Cadmium Red + a blue

Prefers to work on an oil ground, often pre-tinting it with a color before applying to canvas

Final words of advice:
Have fun, and keep a sense of humor…


_______________

Artist: Jennifer McChristian
Website: http://jennifermcchristian.com



Palette:

Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red Medium
Thalo Red Rose
Alizarin Permanent
Ultramarine Blue
Yellow Ochre
Indian Yellow
Titanium/Zinc White

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• All greens are mixed
• Keep a gray pile going
• Mix complementary hues together to create neutrals and earth colors
• Average out the value and color in an area during block-in
• Reduce the form of your subject down to four values
• Add reflected color (or bounced light) after block-in
• Work from large to smaller shapes

In terms of mixing, considered this to be the order of importance...

#1 Value, #2 Temperature (or Hue), #3 Intensity

Extra:
Establish shadow pattern immediately and work from dark to light as much as possible.


_______________

Artist: Jesse Powell
Website: http://jessepowellfineart.com



Palette – Yes, all of these are out at the same time:
Cadmium Lemon Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Yellow Ochre
Raw Sienna
Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson
Rose Madder/Quinacridone
Raw Umber
Iron Oxide Red
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Viridian
Terre Vert
Sap Green
Titanium White

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• Use a gray pile
• Mix on a medium gray glass palette (Value 5 or 50%)
• Think in terms of warm and cool
• Mix most of your color from primaries and secondaries
• Mix most colors to their final appearance on the palette, w/exception of color bands in the sky being cross-blended on the canvas
• Add the impasto and bravura brushwork at the end

Recommends lining up 20 paintings to see if a single color appears too often. If so, take the color off the palette for a while.


_______________

Marc Dalessio
Website: http://www.marcdalessio.com



Palette (remarks in brackets are by Marc):
Lead or Titanium white [I prefer the handling of lead, but I’m currently using titanium for health and environmental reasons]
Cadmium Yellow [from Michael Harding or I’ll grind my own Cad Yellow light from Zecchi]
Zecchi’s Roman Ochre
Vermilion [hand-ground from Doak. Though I sometimes use the Zecchi one outdoors]
Cadmium Red Medium [either Harding’s or hand-ground from Zecchi]
Alizarin [either hand-ground, or I was using Doak’s Florentine Lake for a while too]
Cerulean Blue [$70 a pop from Old Holland, or hand-ground if I need a lot for a large painting]
Ultramarine Deep [from Old Holland]
Manganese Blue [from Old Holland]
Cobalt Blue [either Old Holland or Harding]

Additional:

• The palette I started with included Naples Yellow, an earth red (Pozzuoli, English…etc), and Veridian. I have also used high chroma oranges and purples for specific projects with orange trees, irises and such.

_______________

Jill Carver
Website: http://jillcarver.com

Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Orange or Yellow Ochre, and sometime both
Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium/Zinc White

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• All greens are mixed
• Keep a gray pile going
• Use a little Pthalo green mixed with Alizarin to create a cool gray for tin roofs. But avoid using Pthalo in a green mix.
• First try to use the innate value of your hues before mixing white into them.
• Consider the effect of a color's opacity or transparency when mixing.

Extra:
Uses Open Box M side shelf to increase her mixing area (visible in the photo above). Quarantines her whites and lighter values on the side palette to keep them clean.


_______________

Marc Hansen
Website: http://marchansonart.com

Palette:
Titanium White [Utrecht mixed 50/50 w W&N Griffin Alkyd White]
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep [Rembrandt]
Cadmium Red Light
Venetian Red, Terra Rosa, English Light Red [a warmer version of terra rosa]
Alizarin Crimson
Transparent Oxide Red [Rembrandt warmish]
Ultramarine Blue [Deep version)
Colbalt Blue
Viridian
Yellow Ochre [lighter version of an ochre]

Fill-in colors:
Indian Yellow
Quinacridone Rose

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• Use Cool and warm pairing of hues when mixing
• Mix neutrals and tertiaries using complements
• Make grays with viridian and alizarin and white, then modified them with other hues
• Ultramarine and ochre is a good start to a green
• Use thin washes for your sketch or block in
• Sketch color should be determined by situation, meaning, are the darks you see warm or cool?
• Use 3 or 4 shapes to sketch in initially, keeping them in the light value range, then add darks before working up to lighter passages.
• Shoot for the correct hue, value, and chroma on your first attempt, then correct the color as needed (the direct method of oil painting)
• Mix the color you need on the palette before applying it to the canvas

Extra:
Prefers to paint on titanium/oil ground




_______________

Jean LeGassick
Website: http://jeanlegassick.com

Palette (The following are the colors Jean has used for years):
Cadmium Lemon Yellow
Hansa Yellow Orange (a deep yellow)
Quinacridone Red
Pthalo Blue
Pthalo Green (sometimes, but with reserve)
Zinc White

However, Jean is lately been working with what she calls a modified Zorn palette, which is what is pictured above:
Yellow Ochre
Alizarin Crimson Permanent
Pthalo Blue
Ivory Black
Zinc White

From Jean: 

"This palette also includes my secondaries pre-mixed from a limited palette of yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, pthalo blue, and black. Also I want to show the paint in the divided tray I usually use. (So I may transfer the paint from one pochade to another, or back to my studio palette, or, it can be easily wrapped and stored in the refrigerator if I know I won't be painting for several days.)"

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• Change the colors on your palette now and then to prevent your mixing from becoming formulaic – it will also make you look for accurate color
• Consider starting a painting in the field and completing it in the studio (Jean says she often works a plein air painting to an 85% finish, then completes it indoors)
• If a certain painting requires an extra color use it regardless of your working palette.
• Mix your color with a palette knife to keep it clean
• Paint with a palette knife as well as a brush
• A palette knife discourages nit-picking or investing too much detail in a painting

Extras:
Paints with water-mincible oils for health reasons and because of how they handle with a knife.

Likes to use Zinc White, for its transparency, its stiffness, and the fact that it takes longer to dry.

_______________

Colin Page
Website: http://www.colinpagepaintings.com

Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Orange (Considers this a 'cheater' color, meaning, a shortcut)
Cadmium Red Light or Medium (does not use much of this hue)
Quinacridone Red
Alizarin Yellow (Instead of Yellow Ochre) (Williamsburg)
Windsor Blue Green Shade
Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Sienna

A few tips and advice from the artist:

• Mix your greens
• Keep a gray pile going
• Use complements to create neutrals and earth colors

Extra:
Enjoys painting backlit subjects and will accentuate temperature contrasts for effect

Often uses Quinacridone + Ultramarine to establish shadows

Arranges his cool hues on left side of palette, and warm hues along the top, with white in a corner.


_______________

Ray Roberts
Website: http://www.krollroberts.com

Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson of some other Rose Color
Dioxazine Purple
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue [on occasion]
Cerulean Blue Hue
Viridian
Sap Green
Thalo Yellow Green [Utrecht or Grumbacher]
Titanium White

A few tips and advice and advice from the artist:

• Use complementary hues to create your neutrals
• Also use split complements to make neutrals as well, (for example, Cad Orange + Dioxazine Purple, or, Cad Orange + Viridian)
• Try to reserve the white of the ground for lighter hues
• Sketch in with a warm neutral hue

_______________

Stephen Griffin:
Website: http://www.mcbridegallery.com/griffin.html

Palette:
Cadmium Lemon Yellow or Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Cadmium Orange/Scarlet
Cadmium Red Deep
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Blue
Yellow Ochre (used as a shortcut for mixing)
Terra Rosa (Shortcut)
Titanium White

A few tips and advice and advice from the artist:

• Mix with Warm and Cool Primaries
• Use complementary mixing to create neutrals
• Paint on a white ground. The white permits keying the painting towards any hue.
• Try to start with high chroma and keep it high as possible.
• Terra Rosa + Ultramarine mixed together are good for your sketch in

Extra:
Stephen's palette and painting method is loosely based off of Emile Gruppe's palette, via his son, Robert C. Gruppe. It is also influenced by the theories and methods of Charles Hawthorne as well.

Every now and then Steve goes back to painting using only Cadmium Red Deep, Cad Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue to remind himself to be attentive to the color he sees.


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Thomas Jefferson Kitts
http://www.thomaskitts.com

Palette (not all of these colors are put out on the palette every painting session but they are always in the painting kit):
Cadmium Yellow Light or Lemon [Often, but not shown here]
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Medium [Often, but not shown here]
Cadmium Red Deep
Alizarin Crimson, Anthraquinone, or Quinacridone [I lean towards Anthraquinone these days]
Cobalt Violet or Dioxazine Purple [Not shown, but usually Cobalt Violet]
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Hue or Manganese Blue Hue
Viridian
Yellow Ochre

Burnt Umber

Lead or Titanium White


A few tips and advice and advice from the artist:

• Keep the white out of your darks and use as little of it as possible in the mid-values; try to use the equivalent value of your hues before adding white
• Reserve the white or unpainted area of your canvas for the lighter values
• Mix neutrals and earth colors with complementary hues
• Keep a gray pile going
• Don't over mix on your palette; allow flecks of purer color to remain
• Push pure color into dead areas on the canvas if needed, again, don't over mix
• After block-in, work from dark to light and thin to thick, as much as possible
• Be prepared to scrape down and area and re-paint it again
• Save the bravura brushwork for the end
• Keep things simple in the field and paint directly; don't hope indoor work will save a plein air painting

Extra:
My present plein air palette is very similar to the outdoor palette used by Sorolla, as far as it can be determined. Bu I am still working out how the h*ll he mixed with it...