The Zorn Palette: Mastering colour with less

Note: Last May, I was lucky to join an Art Group Nelson workshop led by Caroline Jones that was all about the Zorn Palette. I was excited to lean into it and find out more.

In the age of sprawling paint sets and rainbow-saturated canvases, the idea of painting with just four colours might sound limiting — or even impossible. But for 19th-century Swedish painter Anders Zorn, this minimal approach was a gateway to mastery.

Enter the Zorn Palette — a famously limited yet powerful colour palette that continues to be a favourite among artists, educators and painters who crave richness, subtlety and harmony. Whether you’re a beginner learning to mix colours or a seasoned painter seeking discipline and control, exploring the Zorn Palette is like stepping into a masterclass in restraint, observation, and warm harmony.

Let’s unpack:

• What the Zorn Palette is

• Its historical roots

• Why it works so well

• How to use it in your own practice

What Is the Zorn Palette?

At its most classic, the Zorn Palette consists of just four colours:

1. Titanium White (or Lead White in Zorn’s day)

2. Yellow Ochre

3. Vermilion (or a modern substitute like Cadmium Red Light)

4. Ivory Black

And that’s it. (I have to admit that in Caroline's workshop, she added cobalt to the mix so that we could go a bit into the violets. That gave some nice pops of colour!) No ultramarine, no viridian, no alizarin crimson. Just four humble pigments — yet with them, Zorn managed to create warm, lifelike portraits, glowing skin tones and atmospheric paintings that still impress today.

The magic? These colours are carefully chosen and incredibly versatile when mixed. It actually blew my mind just how many colours and could be drawn from so few!

Who Was Anders Zorn?

Anders Zorn (1860–1920) was a Swedish painter and etcher renowned for his portraits, nudes and genre scenes. He gained international fame in his lifetime and painted many prominent figures, including several U.S. presidents.

Zorn was technically brilliant, but what really made his work sing was his ability to create vibrancy and naturalism using a restrained palette. His brushwork was loose but masterful, and his control of value and temperature gave his paintings a luminous quality.

Zorn didn’t always use a limited palette, but many of his most iconic works were created using this tight selection of pigments.

Why Use a Limited Palette?

At first glance, the idea of working with so few colours might feel like putting a creative straightjacket on your work. But in reality, a limited palette can be incredibly freeing.

Here’s why:

1. Colour Harmony Becomes Automatic

Because every colour on your canvas is mixed from the same small set of pigments, everything naturally “belongs” together. This unity creates a pleasing sense of cohesion, even in complex compositions.

2. You Learn to Mix Better

With fewer colours, you have to really understand how pigments interact. You’ll start to see how to create subtle shifts in temperature and value. You begin to gain a better sense of colour relationships overall.

3. Focus Shifts to Value and Composition

When you're not overwhelmed by colour choices, you start paying attention to what truly matters in a painting: value, edges, brushwork and structure.

4. It Simplifies Decision-Making

Too many choices can cause creative paralysis. The Zorn Palette narrows your options, which can lead to more decisive, confident painting.

Let’s Break Down the Four Colours

1. Titanium White

A modern staple, titanium white is bright and opaque. Zorn likely used lead white, which had different handling qualities, but titanium is a safe and accessible substitute. Use it to lighten mixes, create opacity and adjust value and temperature.

2. Yellow Ochre

This is an earthy, muted yellow that’s incredibly useful. It’s not as bright as cadmium yellow, but it mixes beautifully into warm neutrals. Use it to create flesh tones, warm up shadows and  mix subtle greens (with black).

3. Vermilion (or Cadmium Red Light)

You'll notice that this is a strong, warm red. Vermilion was Zorn’s original choice, but cad red light or even scarlet lake can substitute well. Use it to add heat to skin, push saturation in key areas and mix orange tones with yellow ochre.

4. Ivory Black

Here’s where it gets interesting. Ivory black is technically a very dark, cool blue. When mixed with white, it behaves like a muted blue-grey. Use it to replace blue in skies or cool shadows, neutralize other mixes and create a variety of desaturated hues.

“Wait… No Blue?”

That’s right. There’s no actual blue on the Zorn Palette. (Again, Caroline's workshop featured the addition of cobalt, which probably just made it a bit easier for us to mix those purple hues.) But here’s the twist: ivory black + white = blue-ish grey. And that’s often enough.

When mixed with yellow ochre, ivory black creates a desaturated green. When mixed with red, it makes browns and muted purples. The range is surprisingly broad — and the limited chroma forces you to focus on temperature and tone, rather than eye-popping saturation.

Zorn’s paintings show that you don’t need a tube of blue to suggest a blue sky or cool reflected light. You just need a good grasp of contrast and colour relationships.

What Can You Paint with the Zorn Palette?

The Zorn Palette is famously suited to portraits (especially Caucasian skin tones), figurative painting, still life and interior scenes. But with practice, you can push it toward landscapes (especially autumnal or low-light), monochrome studies, atmospheric city scenes and master copies.

The palette’s subtlety excels at capturing light, mood, and form, especially in warm, earthy environments.

Tips for Getting Started

1. Start with a Grisaille

Before jumping into full colour, try using just black and white to create value studies. This helps you get a feel for form and contrast.

2. Limit Yourself on Purpose

Even if you own 40 tubes of paint, set them aside for a few sessions. Keep just the four Zorn colours on your palette. You'll discover new ways to solve problems. If you feel really stuck, grab that tube of cobalt.

3. Try a Portrait

Mixing lifelike skin tones is a classic Zorn exercise. Try painting a head or hand using just these four colours. You’ll be amazed how expressive the results can be.

4. Experiment with Temperature

With just warm red, warm yellow, and cool black, you can make surprisingly hot and cool shifts. See how you can create contrast without saturation.

Final Thoughts: Power in Simplicity

The Zorn Palette teaches us something essential: you don’t need more, you need better understanding. In a world full of colour overload, stepping back to just four colours feels radical — even revolutionary. But it connects us to something deep and enduring: the ability to express more with less.

Zorn did it. Many great painters still do. And you can, too.

So go ahead — squeeze out those four colours, grab a canvas or sketchpad, and see what magic you can make.