Inspired by the French Barbizon School of painters, the first to break with academic tradition and to paint en plein air in the early 19th century, American Tonalist painters emphasized feeling and mood in their landscape paintings. Specific time of day and season became the subject, chosen to evoke both drama and tranquility.
Imaged above is an example of an early American Tonalist oil painting, A Winter Sky by George Inness, 1866. While close control of values is a hallmark of Tonalism, these paintings were and continue to be about color as much as about value. Color was modified, held in reserve, by complementary mixing to create neutrals and keeping edges soft to create space and atmosphere.
A New Set – Colors for a Tonalist Palette
Working from the later 19th century into the early 20th, the early American Tonalist painters would not have had the benefit of bright modern pigments such as the Phthalo’s and Quinacridones, but Cadmium Yellow, Prussian Blue and the Mars Colors were available. Our new Colors for a Tonalist Palette set provides all three, along with useful colors to control value and create atmosphere, including our warm Ship Rock and the new French Anthracite Gray.
Here are a few mixed greens created from Prussian Blue with an intense warm Cadmium Yellow and also with the more neutral Mars Yellow from the set:
Notice in the examples above how natural the result is even with the Cadmium Yellow, helped by the fact it is a very warm Cadmium! The cooler mixing Mars Yellow enables a more neutral mixed green that can be given even more nuance with our Ship Rock. This light, warm premixed gray easily changes the value and makes these mixtures more atmospheric.
Suggesting Calm with Tints
Our new set also contains two useful light colors, Rosso Ercolano Extra Pale and Orchid, to modify strong primaries or mixtures, and suggest a restful quiet vision of nature and overall harmony of softened tones.
Here are a few examples using our Basic Red, Cadmium Yellow, and genuine Prussian Blue with these magical colorful tints:
A New Transparent Black
Our Colors for a Tonalist Palette also includes a transparent black, the new French Anthracite Gray. This unique very dark gray-black is gentle in mixing strength, neutral in tone, and ideal for delicate shadows or minor adjustments to mixtures.
Mixed with warm yellows, the French Anthracite Gray creates a variety of green golds, its transparency allowing the yellows to shine through the mixtures. With our Cadmium Yellow, the result is distinctly green and glowing, with our Mars Yellow, the result is more neutral and softly burnished.
To learn more about Tonalism, including numerous examples from both past and present day painters, visit the website of the American Tonalist Society here.
To view our new Colors for a Tonalist Palette set, visit our website at this link. Use it with your existing palette or pair with our Corot Landscape Set or our Set of Color and Light that features colorful chromatic grays.
