Someone asked me how my set up looked when I paint.

Well this is it:It is not very exciting, but then again, I’m still a student, so I take what I get 😉

I sit on the floor of my apartment, comfortably perched on top of of a pillow with the painting in my knee.  I know this isn’t the best, but it is the best I can do here. At home, back in Sweden, I have a nice easel I can put my feet up on and just sit and happily paint for days.

After having spread the plastics on the floor (I don’t want to have stains on the carpet.. they are so hard to clean out – so I’m taking the easy way out – Plastics!) I start setting up my palette.

This is the colours I use with my portraits. And that is all. 4 colours all in all.
If I’m on the daring side, or if the portrait really needs it, I MIGHT just add a tiny bit of blue to the mix. But that is very rare.
This way, having all colours mixed from just 4 colours makes the paintings have some harmony, as there is almost no colours that will stick out if they are mixed.

The colours I use are (with the brand first):

1. Sennelier – Chinese Vermillion (upper right corner of palette)
2. Sennelier – Titanium White (Lower right corner)
3. Old Holland – Yellow Ochre Light (middle right side)
4. Old Holland – Mars Black ( To the left of the vermillion)

I always have them in this order, with more or less mixed in between them. Usually I have a slight green colour between the red and the blue, but I didn’t need it this time, so it is not on the picture.
Always using the same order makes for easier and quicker mixing as you will always know where the colour you need is.

Also, I’m quite picky with my colours, and they have to have the right consistency and pigment for me to use them. The 4 mentioned above are by far my favorites. I tend to always go for the two brands when getting other colours, as I know the consistency is more or less the same.

The reason I have an Old Holland Yellow Ochre light instead of a Sennelier is because the Sennelier is a bit more loose, and for portraits I like the firmness. But they are both perfeclty fine when I’m working with still lifes.

I hope this helps! 🙂