Cadmium free and loving it.

[Marvin Mattelson]

For the past two years I have eschewed the presence of cadmiums from my palette and have never been happier. Of course my palette is geared towards painting naturalistic and not electric skin tones.

Although I was successful using cadmium colors in my own work, my students struggled to control them. There seemed to be a fine line between controllable color and the gaudiness on one side and muddiness on the other, so I decided to look for a better alternative.

I equate trying to mix the colors of flesh with cadmiums to be like learning to parallel park in a Boeing 747. It can be done but I think it's overkill.

I was drawn to the palette of William McGregor Paxton, who in my humble opinion was the greatest colorist of flesh. Paxton theorized that if we come from dust and return to dust we should use dust (earth colors) when painting flesh.

The effects upon my student's work has been nothing short of phenomenal, not to mention my own. It's almost impossible to paint a bad looking flesh tone if you approach it intelligently.

My complexion colors are Venetian Red, Indian Red, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Ivory Black and Flake White. This array of colors is more than sufficient to capture the subtle variations and nuances found in human skin. I may introduce some other colors into the shadows based on reflections from the surroundings areas.

In addition to my flesh colors I listed above, I always put out Ultramarine Blue, some sort of Permanent Alizarin, and Viridian Green. On very rare occasions, if I need a more chromatic hit, I use Michael Harding's GENUINE Naples Yellow Light (not to be confused with the dull variety of naples yellow most manufacturers offer) and Michael Harding's Vermilion.

I also use neutral grays to reduce the chromatic intensity of my colors. Finding the proper complement for each pigment I use would only serve to increase the number of colors on my palette reducing the potential for a harmonious painting.

I offer the portrait I recently posted of Sylvia http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...3&pagenumber=1 as an example of the kind of rich color that can be achieved without resorting to the use of cadmiums.