Quick answer: The Zorn palette uses four colors: yellow ochre, a warm red (traditionally vermilion, today usually cadmium red light), ivory black and titanium or lead white. To set it up, place the colors along the top of your palette in the order white, yellow ochre, red, black, with a generous pile of white. Mix a short value string and a skin-tone string before painting, and remember that black mixed with white reads as a cool blue-gray in this palette.
Four tubes, no blue, no green, and yet portraits painted this way can look full of color. That is the appeal of the Zorn palette, a limited set named after the Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860–1920). It is especially loved by portrait and figure painters because nearly every mix lands in a believable range of human skin, hair and fabric.
This guide covers exactly which paints to buy, how to set up the Zorn palette on your mixing surface, how to make a mixing chart, and how to get “blues” and “greens” out of a palette that has neither. Because you’re only laying out four colors, a compact mixing surface works well; our guide to the best small palettes for detail painting covers good sizes and materials.
The Four Zorn Palette Colors
| Color | Modern choice | Pigment code | Role in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Titanium white, or titanium-zinc. Lead (flake) white for oil painters who handle it safely | PW6, PW4, PW1 | Lightens and cools every mix |
| Yellow | Yellow ochre | PY43 or PY42 | Soft, earthy yellow; the base of skin and greens |
| Red | Cadmium red light, or pyrrole red / a vermilion hue | PR108, PR254 | The only saturated color; warmth and life |
| Black | Ivory black (bone black) | PBk9 | Darkens, and acts as a cool “blue” when mixed with white |
Ivory black matters more than it seems. It has a slightly warm-brown undertone at full strength but leans bluish when tinted, which is what gives the palette its cool notes. Mars black is denser and more opaque, and it gives a different, flatter gray. If you want the classic look, buy ivory.
Did Zorn really use only four colors?
Honest answer: not always. Art historians and conservators have noted that Zorn’s surviving palettes and paintings show he sometimes used additional colors, such as blues and greens, especially in landscapes and water scenes. The “Zorn palette” is better understood as a teaching tradition inspired by the restrained color of many of his portraits than as a strict rule he followed. That doesn’t make it any less useful.
How to Set Up the Zorn Palette Step by Step
- Start with a clean, mid-toned surface. A gray glass palette or a wooden palette helps you judge these subtle mixes better than bright white.
- Squeeze white first, at the end nearest your brush hand. Use a large pile, around the size of a walnut for oil, because white appears in most mixes.
- Add yellow ochre, about 2 inches from the white. Grape size is plenty.
- Add the red next. Cadmium red is strong, so a pea to marble-size amount lasts a long time.
- Add ivory black at the far end, about the same amount as the red.
- Leave the center open. With only four piles you have a large mixing field, so you can keep separate zones for lights, mid-tones and shadows.
This order runs roughly light to dark and warm to cool, so neighboring colors are compatible if they touch.
Make a Zorn Palette Mixing Chart
Before your first painting, spend half an hour on a chart. It shows the true range of the palette and builds the mixing instincts you’ll need.
- On canvas paper, rule a grid four squares wide by four high.
- Along the top row, paint each color pure.
- In the second row, mix each pairing at roughly 50/50: ochre + red, ochre + black, red + black, and a mix of all three.
- In the third and fourth rows, tint each of those mixes with white in two steps, light and very light.
You’ll quickly see the main “families”:
- Ochre + red: warm oranges and terracottas, the backbone of lit skin.
- Ochre + black: olive and moss greens, surprisingly natural.
- Red + black: deep burgundy-browns and warm darks.
- Black + white: cool blue-grays that pass for blue next to warm colors.
- All three + white: a range of soft neutrals for backgrounds and shadow edges.
Pre-Mixing Strings for Portraits
Portrait painters using the Zorn palette often premix a few strings before they start, which speeds up the painting and keeps color consistent.
A basic skin string
- Mix a mid-tone base of yellow ochre and cadmium red with a little white, adjusted to the general skin color of your subject.
- Split it into five piles.
- Add progressively more white to the lighter piles and a touch of black (or red plus black) to the darker ones.
- Line the five values up from light to dark.
Cool and warm modifiers
- A tiny amount of black and white added to a skin mix gives the cool, greenish-gray half-tones often seen around the jaw, eye sockets and temples.
- Extra red brings warmth to cheeks, nose, ears and knuckles.
- Extra ochre warms and softens reflected light in shadows.
Because every mix comes from the same four tubes, transitions between these areas look natural without much blending.
Getting Blue and Green from a Palette with Neither
The Zorn palette relies on relative color: the eye judges a color mostly by what surrounds it. A neutral gray placed against warm orange skin looks bluish. You use that effect deliberately.
- For “blue” clothing or backgrounds: mix black and white, then neutralize with a speck of ochre if it looks too cold. Surround it with warm color and it will read as blue.
- For greens: yellow ochre plus black gives olive greens. Tint with white for sage tones, or add a touch of red to push them toward brown-green.
- For skies: very pale black-and-white mixes, kept slightly warmer near the horizon, can suggest an overcast sky. A clear, saturated blue sky is beyond this palette.
Zorn Palette vs Other Limited Palettes
| Palette | Colors | Strength | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zorn | Yellow ochre, cadmium red, ivory black, white | Skin tones, warm-cool harmony | No true blue or bright green |
| Earth triad | Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, ultramarine, white | Real blues, gentle landscapes | Less saturated reds |
| Primary triad | Hansa yellow, pyrrole red, phthalo blue, white | Wide, bright hue range | Harder to keep harmonious |
The Zorn approach is unusual because it uses black as its only cool color. That makes it narrower than an earth triad, but it also makes skin and warm interiors almost foolproof, which is why it’s so often recommended for portrait study.
Zorn Palette in Different Media
Oil
The palette is most associated with oil. Slow drying lets you blend skin transitions softly. Fat over lean still applies: thin your first block-in with solvent and use medium only in later layers.
Acrylic
The same four colors work, using acrylic yellow oxide or yellow ochre, a cadmium or naphthol red, and a mars or carbon black (ivory black is less common in acrylic lines). Acrylic dries fast, so mix strings on a stay-wet palette. Our guide to how a wet palette works explains how to keep premixed values usable for days.
Watercolor and gouache
Gouache handles the Zorn palette well because it has its own white. In watercolor, the paper replaces white, and black can look heavy if used thickly, so keep it in thin glazes.
A First Zorn Palette Painting, Start to Finish
A simple head study or a still life of warm and neutral objects (bread, an onion, a terracotta pot, a white cloth) is an ideal first subject. A suggested sequence:
- Tone the canvas. Rub in a thin mix of yellow ochre and a touch of black thinned with solvent, then wipe it to a light middle value. Let it set up for an hour or so.
- Draw with red and black. Use a thin mix of cadmium red and ivory black, a warm brown, to place the main shapes.
- Block in the shadows. Mix a dark from red and black, with a little ochre if it looks too purple. Keep shadow paint thin.
- Block in the lights. Use your premixed skin or object string, applied thicker than the shadows, following fat over lean.
- Add the half-tones. Between light and shadow, lay down cooler mixes with a bit of black and white. This is where the palette’s “blue” quietly appears.
- Refine edges and accents. Use the purest red for the warmest spots and almost pure white for the brightest highlight. Save these until the end.
Plan on two to three hours for a small study. The aim of a first painting is to learn the palette’s range, not to finish a masterpiece.
Paint quantities for a typical session
For a 12 x 16 inch oil study, a reasonable starting amount is a walnut-size pile of white, a grape-size pile of yellow ochre, and pea-to-marble amounts of red and black. White runs out first, so keep the tube nearby. Cadmium red is strong and expensive; you’ll usually need less than you think.
Variations on the Zorn Palette
Once you’re comfortable, small swaps change the mood:
- Burnt sienna instead of cadmium red: softer, more muted skin and a cozier overall feel.
- Payne’s gray or a dark blue-black instead of ivory black: stronger cool notes and slightly more convincing blues.
- Adding a fifth color: a small amount of ultramarine or cobalt for clothing or sky, while keeping the Zorn base for skin.
- Raw umber instead of black: warmer shadows, gentler contrast.
Common Zorn Palette Mistakes
- Using too much black, which makes shadows dead and gray. Mix darks from red and black first.
- Too little white, forcing you to stop mid-portrait.
- Choosing the wrong black. Mars black gives different, denser grays than ivory black.
- Expecting saturated blues and greens. If your subject wears a vivid blue shirt, add a blue or choose a different palette.
- Over-blending. The palette’s soft harmony already does a lot of the work; heavy blending can make the result muddy.
Is the Zorn Palette Right for Your Subject?
It shines on portraits, figures, nudes, warm interiors, candlelit scenes, autumn and winter landscapes and monochrome studies. It struggles with tropical seascapes, spring gardens, bright clothing and clear blue skies. If your subject sits mostly in warm, earthy and gray territory, the palette is a natural fit. If it depends on saturated cool color, add one blue or pick a different limited set.
Clean-Up Notes
Cadmiums and lead white call for care. Don’t eat or drink while painting, wipe paint off skin promptly, and keep solvent rags out of the household trash until they’re safely dried or stored in water in a closed metal container. For the palette itself, scrape and wipe while the paint is still soft; our palette cleaning guide covers glass, wood and plastic surfaces.
FAQs
What colors are in the Zorn palette?
Yellow ochre, a warm red (originally vermilion, now often cadmium red light or a pyrrole red), ivory black and white. Some painters substitute similar colors, but those four define the classic version.
Why is the Zorn palette good for portraits?
Its mixes fall naturally within the range of human skin tones, from warm lights to cool half-tones. Using only four colors also keeps the painting harmonious and makes value control easier.
How do you get blue with the Zorn palette?
Mix ivory black with white. On its own it looks like a cool gray, but next to warm skin tones and oranges it reads as blue. The effect depends on contrast with surrounding colors.
Can you use the Zorn palette with acrylics?
Yes. Use acrylic yellow ochre or yellow oxide, a cadmium or naphthol red, a black and titanium white. Because acrylic dries quickly, a wet palette helps keep premixed skin strings workable.
Is ivory black necessary for a Zorn palette?
It’s the traditional choice because it turns bluish when tinted and is more transparent than mars black. Other blacks work, but grays will look denser and less cool.
Is the Zorn palette good for beginners?
Yes. With only four colors, beginners learn value and temperature quickly, and portraits gain natural harmony. Its limits on blues and greens are worth knowing before choosing a subject.
Final Thoughts
Lay out white, ochre, red and ivory black in that order, paint one mixing chart, and premix a skin string before every portrait. Within a few sessions you’ll see how much range four tubes can hold. A small, well-proportioned surface keeps this setup tidy; compare options in our roundup of compact palettes for limited-color work.
