This image of my sketchbook shows some of the planning process. After arranging my subject matter about 200 different ways, I settled on this final design. Then came time to select my color palette. I like to work with complementary colours, and in this piece, I settled on a split complementary palette of Blue, Green and Orange.
The exact shade of blue I wanted for the book was mainly what I was working out, along with whether Cadmium Red would be a better red than a cooler red such as Quinacridone Rose. I wanted a warm colour palette so the Cadmium it was! Cerulean Blue Deep ended up being the best blue for this piece, it was closer to the split complement of orange.
Final colours used (all are M.Graham Acrylics unless noted below)
Titanium White
Titan Buff (Golden)
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Red Light
Hooker's Green
Cerulean Blue Deep (Golden)
Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Umber
Completed Painting