Rating: 
Summary: I like his paintings, but his palette is too limited
Review: Unlike at least one reviewer, I like Kevin MacPherson's bravura style. True, he could use bolder color and value contrasts at times, but he does an excellent job at capturing the nuances of a warm, slightly hazy day.The only negative criticism of MacPherson's work is that, in my view, his palette is a little TOO limited. I have tried a limited palette roughly similar to his (titanium white, cadmium yellow light, alizarin crimson or cadmium red light, ultramarine blue, and Winsor [actually phthalocyanine] green) and I have found that a limited palette works much better using TWO yellows (a warm and a cool), two reds (same as the yellows), two blues (ditto--and no, I am NOT a Rush Limbaugh fan [LOL]), plus titanium white. The most I could ever limit my palette to and still have great chromatic flexibility is the following:
titanium white
cadmium lemon yellow (cool)
cadmium yellow medium (warm)
cadmium red light (warm)
quinacridone red or quinacridone magenta (cool) ultramarine blue (cool)
phthalocyanine blue (green shade)(warm) That being said, this is still a great book. I can hardly wait for MacPherson's proposed book of pond scenes outside his window.
Rating:
Summary: I like his paintings, but his palette is too limited
Review: Unlike at least one reviewer, I like Kevin MacPherson's bravura style. True, he could use bolder color and value contrasts at times, but he does an excellent job at capturing the nuances of a warm, slightly hazy day. The only negative criticism of MacPherson's work is that, in my view, his palette is a little TOO limited. I have tried a limited palette roughly similar to his (titanium white, cadmium yellow light, alizarin crimson or cadmium red light, ultramarine blue, and Winsor [actually phthalocyanine] green) and I have found that a limited palette works much better using TWO yellows (a warm and a cool), two reds (same as the yellows), two blues (ditto--and no, I am NOT a Rush Limbaugh fan [LOL]), plus titanium white. The most I could ever limit my palette to and still have great chromatic flexibility is the following:
titanium white
cadmium lemon yellow (cool)
cadmium yellow medium (warm)
cadmium red light (warm)
quinacridone red or quinacridone magenta (cool) ultramarine blue (cool)
phthalocyanine blue (green shade)(warm) That being said, this is still a great book. I can hardly wait for MacPherson's proposed book of pond scenes outside his window.
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