Limited Palettes | Oil Painting Process + Chat

[@SamReevesWrites]

All of these studies are brilliant, but to me, in the last image, the way the far side of the face turned away from us was perfect. It is really nice to watch your videos because you are not only phenomenally skilled but you are also humble. This comes out not only in your words but also in the tone of your voice. You make us feel as if you are learning as we do.

[@coopart1]

Just joined your channel. I like your lectures ! thanks for sharing. I started painting in the early 1980's and really LOVE the Art community these days. People sharing process from all over the world !

[@JeremyMyser]

I love your comment about being interpreters instead of literal translators. For a long time I held the highest goal in art was realism and only recently I've moved past that to valuing the communication of a message, or story, or dare I say feeling. A camera can handle the realism, I'll take bristles and a tube of paint to speak my message

[@arezuameri4374]

the way you talk it's warm and calming exactly how a teacher should talk tnx for your guidance 🧡

[@MCGrafite]

Wow! Amazing!

[@Dimegg]

You are a true storyteller, with paint and with words. Just what I needed as inspiration in the morning.

[@ozzyali6389]

One of the best videos on the limited palette, especially in reference to Zorn. I love the analogies and the simple way you articulate things that can seem complex. Bravo and please keep these coming. You're incredibly skilled and a huge inspiration x

[@duncansutherland47]

Great great video! Thank you for your analogies. They are “colorful” and very helpful. A friend sent me this one and I will be looking forward to viewing more of your work.

[@felipegaonar]

These were all great studies, thanks for the videos, the palette reminds me of the palette used by Odd Nerdrum.

[@vladhampir.]

Just wanted to say: been following your channel for a few months and I love every video you put out.... love watching your process and love how you breakdown sometimes complex subjects. I work mostly in watercolor but a lot of your advice is universal for artists who work in other mediums!

[@rockykelley]

Stunning image. This video was a joy to watch. Can't wait to see more of your work.

[@stephenspiteri_zunkus]

Always a pleasure watching and hearing your thoughts being put down.

[@MyJr29]

Cynthia, this video was so helpful and I think it finally got my gears turning as far as approaching color and working with it comfortably in my paintings. I've been attending art school studying illustration for two years and taken color theory classes, but this video got me more inspired to work with color than that haha. Thank you, and keep up the great work!

[@patrickshields6356]

Hi Cynthia, I enjoyed this like I have all your other videos. I work in the film industry so your Art Director descriptions are particularly concise and speak to the "message (story)" of the piece as well as the wonderful explanations of youas you're working. A master of your medium!

[@isaniart]

You sound like you’re smiling while you talk. It makes me smile, too

[@leandrorodriguesdacosta6144]

I think a good way to get over this phobia is to avoid painting portrait commissions because by doing your own stuff you can be more expressive, try different color mixing or brush strokes and above all DON'T BE AFRAID OF MAKING MISTAKES, just go with the flow.

[@mastershansc]

So good. Thank you so much for taking your time to make videos for this channel. I am both super jealous and incredibly inspired by you! lol so thank you again so much!

[@blackwingvalleylover]

Even though I've painted for over 20 years I find your videos so inspiring and soothing. I love that you work directly with paint on the canvas / rather than pencil. Such a talent.

[@danattack4779]

It's really well done and nice of you to bring us into your studio and getting over color phobia. And the canvas is just rite. I like it. Personally I like and adore painting and I enjoy it alot like watching this channel. Nice vid.

[@faiqa.amirart]

This video is so helpful and your words are really inspiring. I'm soo in love with you. You last comment about limitations becoming strengths gave me chills and has left me all teary.

[@adildraws]

Wonderful

[@ktb.creates5701]

I love your videos and I love you even more after hearing your ff7 reference!

[@jordanbecerra2681]

Couldn’t agree with you more on this subject using a limited palette. I’m always such a big advocate for beginners to go black and white and use a limited palette. I’m currently doing a lot of my own practice with a Zorn palette and it helps tremendously. Thank you for the video. Definitely inspirational :)

[@SheppardArts]

Yay Jordan!! Miss ya, buddy :)

[@jordanbecerra2681]

Cynthia Sheppard miss ya too, gurl! Hopefully we’ll see each other around for another painting sesh soon ☺️

[@johncollado1151]

Great video, Cynthia... I really enjoy the way you combine both traditional and digital comparisons. Helps to understand the concepts.

[@Evil.Tomato]

This was so cool to watch! I think this also made me feel better, as I often have some difficulty figuring out the value of more saturated colours, so it was nice to understand why that is :)

[@mattt3819]

Awesome video, really shows how much of an impact structure and lighting really are.

[@kaylawade3787]

Bless you for the FF7 reference. ❤️

[@SofiaPereira]

These are stellar studies, with so little you can do so much! Awesome demo Cynthia

[@artbyshackleton3270]

Great video! I’ve only just delved into limited colour painting; coming from mostly using charcoal. I’ve definitely learnt a few things from your video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@deanerhockings-reptilianhu8701]

Awesome- have worked exclusively with graphite and have been fearful of using colour after a few disasters early on. I am utilising the more limited approach and I've learned loads. Thank you!

[@kellyramirez7465]

This video was dropped by the heavens!

[@dannyvoight7348]

The Gold Saucer FF7 comment punched me right in the nostalgia. Haha, such a great reference and so appropriate! Lovely work, as always. I was honestly pretty shocked by the value comparison of the red hood vs the background.

[@danielmc2080]

In my class I am only allowed to use acrylics but you are really making me want to start using oils! I hope to improve my traditional painting and maybe try oils in the summer. I used a zorn palette for a traditional acrylic study after watching this vid and learned a lot! Thanks for the awesome video as always!!

[@joeywheeler2771]

Thanks for clearing a lot of things up! I think I'll use greyscale while painting for a bit to get a better feel for oil :D

[@tanglingheadphones]

Thank you so much for this. I've always wanted to get into oil painting, but as someone whose background has been predominantly digital, the medium has always intimidated me, especially with the crazy high price point of its supplies where I live compared to other countries. Your channel's inspired me to give it a serious go this year. I've been waffling between a "core" RYB + white palette and a Zorn palette for a while now since my funds are so limited, but I think I'll go for a modified Zorn palette first and see how it goes. Thank you for sharing so much with your viewers!

[@elliotwoods17]

I'm in the same situation! Painting in oil is so intimidating when you're used to the low risk and flexibility of digital art. This video really makes me want to try again though!

[@osomatsumatsuno63]

The undo button and Transform/Move Tool is killer! :(

[@naenoart]

You are so inspirational! :0 I'm seriously in awe of your work and you have such a nice personality that it's really relaxing to listen to you… Also, I love how geeky you are x') Keep it up and I'm looking forward to the next video!

[@SheppardArts]

Hahaha, I'm glad people seem to appreciate that I'm a giant nerd :)

[@patrickcrowe1611]

lots of useful information. thank you very much

[@sky2333]

Love you Cynthia! you're amazing and talented

[@joechristieartstudio7751]

I love the term chaos engine!!!! And also the ff7 reference

[@michaeljohnangel6359]

Brava Cynthia: another great instructional video!!! I'm going to share this with all our students at the Angel Academy of Art, Florence. If ever you come to Florence, let us buy you a drink.

[@SheppardArts]

Absolutely! And thank you again for the kind words.

[@duncanmills5453]

Fascinating and so very useful. Many thanks for sharing your talent.

[@nafr5893]

Omg the final fantasy reference lol, I love your work and I love learning from your videos!

[@BigDaddyZakk420]

Love using the Zorn palette. Most of my studies are monochromatic and when I do work in color I almost always limit my palette. Absolutely wonderful work, you're by far my favorite art channel on YT. Also, awesome FFVII reference you threw out there 👌🏻

[@ysvyri]

Thank you for another great episode, I've been quietly bingeing these for a few weeks now. I'd love to hear more thoughts on story-telling and how to get more of that into an illustration, especially through indirect, abstract or symbolic methods and I'd love to see more digital stuff.

[@SheppardArts]

Definitely, on all counts!! :D Can't wait to do more stuff like that. I wish there were, like, 400 more hours in a day.

[@ysvyri]

Cynthia Sheppard for sure! I also listened to your One Fantastic Week interview by chance last night and I enjoyed hearing you talk about translating your emotions into your pieces, if you have any more to say on that it would be absolutely great. Thank you for taking the time to make these Cynthia!

[@nicanicanii3923]

been waiting for this since your instagram post

[@fiction-]

I have recently discovered I have some artistic talents and I am so glad I found this channel. I've only dome two oils in my life, and both were Bob Ross follow alongs. They turned out pretty okay if I do say so myself but expanding and learning more is my goal. So thank you. You break it down simply for those of us who don't have an art degree.

[@SarahBurnsStudio]

These are all gorgeous! Your explanation was wonderful, thank you so much!

[@milapesic8638]

Great talk as always! Love the girl with red cloak!

[@cbolivar3518]

You are amazing!!!!! Greetings from Colombia!

[@amandabergkvist1285]

I never thought I'd say this to a random stranger on youtube, but man, I love you so much.

[@GudokiArt]

damn, that video was awesome cynthia!, i love the way that you go with the subject that you're talking about, i love you girl haha

[@spasenachevski1993]

Really beautiful explanations... but the Lady in red as a painting... really beautiful...

[@lucaslopes3256]

Such an amazing video. Thank you so much for the videos! I can't wait to get good enough to do some work for MtG :)

[@artfx9]

Thank you for sharing!

[@official.misticblair]

Damn it... it's so inspirational, yet so much painful and self-destructing to watch your videos. I guess it's time for me to stop complaining, and do the hard work. Not for $ not with rush, but to get back my feelings about art. I used to love sitting for hours sketching, but my confidence got broken by watching too many videos, trying to achieve instant results. Thanks for your effort to put this all together Cynthia! You're great artist :) And I hope one day I'll show you my sketches saying 'woho, because of you, I found that fire inside to sketch again' . Peace out, let the creativity be with you!

[@michaelmcewan432]

Great work

[@AhmedAldoori]

Excellent video - thanks for sharing! Great work Cynthia :)

[@TioMaui]

Awesome I learn so much from watching your videos thank you!!!!

[@brooklyn6049]

You are amazing. Keep it up

[@Byggfagkatalogen]

Really beautiful paintings, subbed and waiting to see more from you 😃

[@Peteru69]

Wish I could like your videos multiple times. I don't work in oils, but that doesn't stop me from getting good value and entertainment out of these. Plus it makes me want to pull out my oils and actually learn to paint with them. Would it be silly if I painted on cardboard (I have a lot of that), as a way of learning?

[@DaveGreco]

Fantastic as always Cynthia!

[@duantorruellas716]

Great work cynthia , I've been working in black white and grey's alot . It happened when I started working in grissaille and I realized I really like the limited pallet of just 2 colors b/w , but I saw there was a whole range of greys in between. It's ironic because before that i was using the Zorn pallet , I have all the colors it's just that I do alot of fantasy art and I dont have to match color like in landscape or portrait work. I like the way you use the bright red and oranges in your work around your figures. I dont consider myself a colorist at this point because I dont incorporate it in the work , but I can make any color from the primaries and b/w. Thx for the great insight into your style , and the subjects you cover that are so informative and relevant to the art. --- Duan T ○☆●

[@BradThor]

Cynthia, I have really enjoyed your videos. Thank you for doing them as Ive learned so much from you. One thing Id love to see is what your setup looks like... how you orient your reference at your easel... and how its all laid out. Personally, I have an old laptop and screen that I have setup at my easel and it works great but Im always interested in how professionals setup their reference images... (ie, do you use printouts or a monitor?)

[@SheppardArts]

That's really close to how I do it, actually- I tend to be pretty low-budget, and I have one of my late grandma's tv trays from the 1960s that I rest my laptop on off to the right of my easel- you can see it briefly at the beginning of this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXy2naWoh9yoj8k

[@AngeNamnNamnsson]

The perfect character to paint for the unlimited palette episode should be Darth Sidious. Thanks for the video!

[@mathilda6763]

This is pretty cool. A while ago I failed miserably trying to paint a portrait with just red tones and white. I should have introduced something to it that reduces the saturation. Guess paint over it and start again?

[@JaredCullum]

I love your videos! Thank you!

[@vaishnavidhargalkar7016]

Enjoyed ur video Learning so much from ur video Thank u

[@vidyawitch]

Wow! This was amazing. Your one video has the power of three videos. The red one is my favorite. So mysterious and intense. And the look of her eyes is so dense. These videos need re-watching many times. So much to learn and mull over. Hope that teacher's palette expanded to more colors eventually...truly inspiring how her limitation couldn't limit her. Do you ever drink tea? :) Would you talk about how you became so good at art? Thank u and good day.

[@MsCristina38]

What beautiful paintings, a pleasure to watch them come to life. I’m curious, did you use photos for reference for the 3 people? Thank you.

[@SheppardArts]

Yes, I used reference photos licensed from Adobe Stock.

[@MsCristina38]

Thank you

[@myrkflinn4331]

You got that deep voice I love, damn! And the music is fitting the theme you make!

[@myrkflinn4331]

Wait, you made this music? It says 'music by me' in the description. So you play an instrument? A very creative soul you are then! ~O.O~

[@SheppardArts]

So far I've made all the music for my channel, because I enjoy writing music as a side-hobby. I build the tracks that I compose in Logic Pro, so it's not so much about playing individual instruments as it is songwriting/production in this case. But thank you :)

[@justine.Semidea]

I love your video so much

[@romeovoid]

Just came across your video, and watched all on my limited lunch break. There's something so captivating about you manner of speaking. Funny, I am just about to dip my toes into digital painting and was feeling overwhelmed about the prospect of utilizing the millions of colours in photoshop, this video is extremely timely. Do you have a recommendations on adapting the use of an actual palette, with its limited blobs and blending abilities, in a digital painting tool?

[@SheppardArts]

Thank you! And I do- something I used to do when I was managing my "option paralysis" digitally, was create my own range of color swatches on a separate layer within my painting, and I sampled from them rather than the color picker. Have fun and good luck with your digital painting adventures!

[@TheCalvurrendo]

would you please show us your process on painting a portrait in digital art ?

[@fabmediastudios3512]

The black that should be used is one with a cool blue undertone.

[@patrickcrowe1611]

missing your demos.

[@positivenergylife]

Beautiful and fast :D I paint so sloooww :D

[@macmckulis7440]

I love how you made a comparison to Final Fantasy VII, amazing chanal thanks

[@wyrmoffastring]

Dat FF7 comparison tho

[@M32_722]

This was so madly helpful!!! If i could ask, what camera do you use to record??

[@arelcrest]

I'll use less colors next time. :D

[@thomaskauffman983]

You have a lovely, juicy style. Blessings!

[@orangecatandsuch]

Hey Cynthia, do you happen to have a list of books/resources on oil painting/painting in general (technique, theory, and/or inspiration)? I've been a big fan of James Gurney's book Colour and Light, but I'm looking for other books in a similar vein. I know it's a fairly big ask, but any help is appreciated, thanks!

[@grenader6409]

Can you do Peter Paul Rubens(or other artist) master copy? I think it would be interesting for viewers. It can be only small detail.

[@maciejgrzegorzoprzadek7401]

Your voice is so hypnotizing and so dynamic. You should consider doing dubbing in cartoons

[@myrkflinn4331]

Twin Peaks the Black Lodge also has a simple palette that gives off a narrative vibe of where you are and what it hides or means. It is about the story and the vibes you want to give off. After awhile of drawing or painting, you'd get a clutch for storytelling or creating an atmosphere specifically aimed towards your piece or theme. I chose a very muted one, not only in colour but appearance, shading. As if these things have no value or name, but are there anyway. It seems like an excuse to avoid 'detail', using these methods like in the video or such, but that is not true. It's simply playing with it and being smart or thinking about composition, theme, style, etc... I did colour pieces often too, and it was for school of course, but I was told I didn't do a bad job and I always draw muted things in my free time otherwise. It means I still learn about colour theory, even if people don't see me do that in front of them tho. Whatever, all matters is what you want out of it and there will always be academics with the muted earth tones and there will always be the rebels going ham on any colour they could get.

[@myrkflinn4331]

Well, take the last piece as an example of how I prefer to work. I did the white red and black theme last year a lot xd but very beginner like tho. Well, after these loads of comments of mine, you've done a great job with the commentary! Very helpful

[@UrsulaDorada]

Cynthia, quick question: you start by oiliing in the board right? With linseed? (sorry the noob question)

[@SheppardArts]

I don't oil the board before starting, I just mix a lot of medium (Liquin) with my paint while I'm doing the block-in. That's not to say that you CAN'T oil the board, it's just not part of my alla prima process- I only oil over large areas if I'm going over another layer of paint. Good question, though!

[@UrsulaDorada]

Thank you Cynthia :D

[@lumix9756]

Cynthia where are you? You haven't made a video in ages and I totally miss you

[@meow-gz1fy]

I have so many oils that I've never used simply because I don't think I could deal with the long dry time? When creating these pieces did you produce each one in one sitting or over multiple days?

[@SheppardArts]

Yes, all of these were done alla prima, in a single session. Everyone's got their preferences, and I enjoy being able to work wet-in-wet for a few hours at a time, but there are also retardants and drying agents like cobalt dryer (which is highly toxic, but effective) that you can add into your paint to meet somewhere halfway. The medium I use (Liquin) also speeds up dry time so if you paint thin enough it won't take more than a day or maybe two to be ready for another pass.

[@sharkeys]

The Gold Saucer comment caught me off-guard haha

[@shadowkissedoli]

Are you using references? In genereal, is it ok to use pics fro painting? I am using, I have to, I am not that skilled to do all by miself, but somehow it bothers me. Does it look like I am cheating?

[@ImTheReal]

[@gms9810]

I'm poor and can't afford liquin, I just use linseed oil

[@TeddyBear-br2co]

First

[@TeddyBear-br2co]

Oh, and great video. Envy your ability to do face poses whilst capturing the emotion with dramatic lighting.

[@naedolor]

Those cadmium paints are expensive AF

[@nicholassmith3341]

I am color blind and now confused lol